While opposition leaders in Georgia alleged widespread violations during the January 5 special presidential election, the electoral atmosphere was calm at voting stations in and around Tbilisi. Supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili, who is seeking re-election, insisted that opposition leaders were trying to conjure up electoral irregularities where none existed in an attempt to justify a new round of political protests.

Opposition leaders in Georgia stopped short of declaring the election invalid after a day that featured heavy voter turnout. Tina Khidasheli, a leader in the opposition Republican Party and a member of the main nine-party opposition alliance, the United Public Movement, characterized the situation as "troubling." At a news briefing late January 5, she listed several alleged violations that the opposition coalition had been informed about, including suspected cases of merry-go-round voting and ballot-box stuffing in regions outside of Tbilisi. Opposition leaders could provide no evidence to prove their allegations.

"Right now I don't have a full picture," Khidasheli told EurasiaNet. She then sought to draw a connection between the special presidential election and the parliamentary vote in 2003 that sparked the Rose Revolution. "The situation [today] is much more troubling [than it was in 2003] and panic is much higher [among the people]," she claimed.

An exit poll, commissioned by four television stations, said Saakashvili had gained 52.5 percent of the vote. That figure, if it stands up in the official results, would give Saakashvili an outright victory and avoid a run-off. The main opposition challenger, Levan Gachechiladze, received 28.5 percent, according to the exit poll. Disgraced media tycoon, Badri Patarkatsishvili, attracted 6 percent of the vote. The remaining four candidates split the remainder. Opposition leaders immediately challenged the accuracy of the exit polling results.

At a news conference during the afternoon of January 5, local observers from New Generation - New Initiative noted that there were a few "serious violations" at voting stations. But in general the observers said the election was proceeding "normally."

Most allegations concerned the practice of merry-go-voting. According to opposition leaders, Mikheil Saakashvili's party, the National Movement, had supposedly organized transport for its supporters, who were taken from voting station to voting station to cast multiple ballots. Saakashvili spokesperson Davit Bakradze dismissed the allegation as political sour grapes, saying that opposition leaders were merely trying to "create the grounds" for causing social disorder in the future.

"If there will be an overall perception in Georgian society that these elections are fair, if there will be an overall perception in the international community that there elections are free and fair, then it will be very difficult to get any legitimacy for protests against those elections," he told EurasiaNet.

"That is why it is very important for us [Saakashvili supporters] to show that the climate of the elections is fair," Bakradze continued. "That is why they already disseminate that much information about the elections [so that] they can create the grounds for tomorrow's allegations that these elections are not free and fair. That's a political issue; that is not an election-related or technical issue."

According to him, the questions surrounding the buses are inconsequential, since carousel voting is only possible if there is no system to check a voter's registration status inside the polling station. Bakradze noted that there are "very strict procedures" including video cameras in the polling stations and voter ink to insure every voter just casts one ballot.

"For vote carouselling, you don't need buses; you need a relevant system inside the voting station," he said. "[I]t does not matter whether [the voter] got to that polling station using a yellow bus, mini bus, horse, bicycle or anything else. Once a person enters the voting station there are very strict procedures."

Khidasheli and other opposition leaders have questioned the Central Election Commission's ability to safeguard against voter fraud. However, observers from opposition parties at several polling stations told EurasiaNet that they saw no problems with the voting procedure. According to Giorgi Tskriashvili, an observer at the 16th voting station in Rustavi for candidate Davit Gamkrelidze, everything was "normal" during the day.

"There have not been any problems," he said, adding that no one had tried to vote several times and there had not any disturbances in the polling station or outside.

Bakradze confirmed that the National Movement rented several buses to "mobilize and help voters," portraying it as a get-the-vote-out initiative. He stressed their function "ceased" once they reached the voting station. The Tbilisi Mayor's office also provided free transportation in Tbilisi.

According to the Central Election Commission and other monitors, voter turnout was high; by 5 pm a reported 46, or an estimated million and a half voters, had cast their ballots.

Saakashvili urged Georgians to go cast ballots, despite inclement weather across the country. "[Georgia's] fate is in our hands, in the hands of each Georgian citizen," he told journalists after voting. "If our citizens are active, our future will face no threat. Future generations will thank us because we did not stay at home today, despite bad weather."

Both sides warned of potential violence outside of the polling stations and allegations of intimidation were aired throughout the day. Khidasheli said there were numerous instances in Tbilisi of activists "wearing red scarves and hats" [the color of the National Movement] trying to "intimidate" voters before they could cast their ballots.

According to media reports, the most serious instance of intimidation was in the village of Ude in Samtskhe-Javakheti region in the south west part of Georgia. Kakha Merabishvili, reportedly a representative from the opposition New Rights party was beaten; while party members accused the government of ignoring the situation, Justice Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili announced in the afternoon of January 5 that a suspect, identified as David Chalandarashvili, had been arrested.

The government, meanwhile, accused former state minister and opposition supporter Giorgi Khaindrava of "physically insulting" Dodo Zhorzholiani, a Saakashvili supporter according to Georgian media reports. Khaindrava was not available for comment.

Other allegations made by the opposition included a charge that many polling stations lacked a sufficient supply of provisional ballots for people registering on election day. Opposition leaders also cited a case of attempted ballot box stuffing in Telavi, while complaining that mass media outlets were not giving them sufficient broadcast time to air their allegations.

The Justice Ministry and the Central Election Commission are looking into the allegations, along with the police, according to authorities.

According to Khidasheli, opposition coalition was still mulling how to respond to the election results, although she noted that they are already considering challenging the tally in court. Gachechiladze told journalists he was in a "fighting mood" when he cast his vote in his home district of Vake in Tbilisi. "Of course there are violations, but our HQ is ready to respond to every violation," he told journalists according to Georgian media reports.