Polling stations opened in Georgia on Sunday for citizens to elect their president for the last time through direct voting before elections become the prerogative of the legislature.

Salome Zurabishvili and Grigol Vashadze from the opposition are seen as clear favorites in the polls, which are open to more than 3.5 million voters. </s> Voters go to the polls in five states </s> ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Georgia officials to reopen voter registration in a suburban Atlanta congressional district ahead of a runoff in a heated special election.

Georgia set the registration deadline for March 20, which was 30 days before special election in April. Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel, the top two vote-getters, advanced to a June 20 runoff in the typically conservative but now competitive district.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten ruled Thursday in favor of advocacy groups who argued that Georgia violated federal law by preventing more new voter registrations before the runoff. He ordered the state to extend the deadline to May 21.

State election officials argued a runoff is a continuation of an initial election under Georgia law and warned last-minute changes would be difficult. </s> Georgians are casting their ballots on Sunday in the last direct presidential election, after the nation’s constitution was amended eight years ago. Under the new law, the popular vote is to be replaced in 2024 by an electoral college, comprised of lawmakers and delegates from local administrations. The tight race is fronted by former foreign ministers, Salome Zurabishvili, and Davit Bakradze. Zurabishvili, 66, is running as an independent, but is endorsed by the ruling liberal Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party. Her main opponent Bakradze, 46, is from the opposition European Georgia party. The vote has been marred with reports of various scuffles and fiery arguments erupting between politicians and activists at some of the polling stations. </s> After the announcement of the first exit polls in the presidential election in Georgia

Exit polls showed a tight race between the candidate supported by the ruling Georgia Dream party, Salome Zurabishvili, and Grigol Vashadze of the centre-right coalition Strength is in Unity.

Both candidates received around 40 per cent of the vote, Georgian media reported. One candidate would have to receive more than 50 per cent of the vote in order to avoid a second round.

As the results were becoming clearer, Georgia Dream said late Sunday that there would have to be run-off election.

About 3.5 million people were eligible to vote, with 25 candidates running in Sunday's election.

Turnout was 46.7 per cent according to preliminary data from the elections committee. </s> TBILISI – Voters in Georgia are casting ballots in a presidential election that could see the country become the first Caucasus nation to elect a female president.

The October 28 presidential election, Georgia's seventh since 1991, will be the last in which the head of state will be elected by direct ballot. In 2017, the constitution was amended so that future presidents would be elected by a 300-member College of Electors, comprising parliamentarians and local and regional political representatives.

Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze was among the first to cast his ballot in the capital, Tbilisi.

"I voted for prosperity, Georgian traditions, and our European choice," he told reporters after voting.

Some 3.5 million are eligible to cast ballots in the election, which is being monitored by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

By midday, turnout stood at almost 16 percent, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

CEC spokeswoman Ana Mikeladz said voting was proceeding peacefully across the country with only a few minor procedural issues arising.

Polls were scheduled to close at 8 p.m. local time.

French-born former Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili, 66, is among a record 25 candidates in a bruising race notable more for its dirty tricks and mudslinging than debate on policy.

Zurabishvili, who is running as an independent even though she has the backing of the ruling Georgian Dream party, headed by former prime minister and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, has faced personal attacks over her background and been branded a traitor for saying a brief war with Russia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008 occurred because "we yielded to Russia's provocation."

The campaign has also been marked with several releases of secretly recorded audio tapes alleging bribery among state officials, a murder plot implicating former President Mikheil Saakashvili, and claims of witness tampering and torture in politically charged cases.

"If there is a sufficient mobilization of Georgian Dream supporters, Salome Zurabishvili should score a first-round victory," Ivanishvili said.

Independent opinion polls are hard to come by in Georgia, but party-backed surveys suggest the main contenders are Zurabishvili; Grigol Vashadze, also a former foreign minister who is running for the opposition United National Movement (UNM; and former parliament speaker Davit Bakradze, nominated by the opposition European Georgia party.

The first-round winner needs more than 50 percent of votes to avoid a runoff between the top two candidates.

If Zurabishvili doesn't clinch a majority of votes in the first round, Ivanishvili said "there is no doubt" she will win a runoff.

If Zurabishvili wins the vote, she would become the first woman outside the Baltics to be elected head of state in a post-Soviet republic.

A woman has previously served as acting president, however.

Nino Burjanadze was twice thrust into the role of president, once just after the 2003 Rose Revolution and again when President Mikheil Saakashvili stepped down in late 2007 to call an early presidential election following a political crisis over a violent crackdown on opposition protesters. Burjanadze was parliament speaker at the time.

With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Alan Crosby and Interfax </s> Ya think there will be more motivation for Democrats to vote after today? Yep. Buzzfeed:

A federal court on Thursday ordered Georgia officials to extend the voter registration deadline through at least May 21 to be eligible to vote in the special election runoff in Georgia's sixth congressional district between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff.

The Georgia NAACP and others argued in a lawsuit that the rules violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which bars states from having registration deadlines greater than 30 days before an election.

On Thursday, US District Judge Timothy Batten held a hearing in the case — and sided with the challengers and against the state. </s> Georgians to vote in last direct election for president

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Sunday's election will be the last time residents of the former Soviet republic of Georgia get to cast a ballot for president — that's if any of the 25 candidates gets an absolute majority.

Opinion polls suggest that none of the candidates will exceed the 50 percent needed for a first-round victory and that the country on the Black Sea will have to choose between Sunday's two top candidates in a runoff that would be held by Dec. 1.

Under constitutional changes that began in 2010, Georgia is transitioning to being a parliamentary country. After the upcoming president's six-year term ends, future heads of state will be chosen by delegates. The presidency's powers already have been substantially reduced, with the prime minister becoming the country's most powerful politician. </s> ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge on Thursday ordered Georgia officials to reopen voter registration in a suburban Atlanta congressional district ahead of a heated special election that's seen by many as a test of President Donald Trump's influence.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten ruled in favor of civil rights advocacy groups who argued that Georgia violated federal law by preventing more new voter registrations before the June 20 runoff.

Georgia had set the registration deadline on March 20, 30 days before the first round of voting in April. Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel, the top two vote-getters, advanced to a runoff in the conservative 6th District. Democrats hope Ossoff, who came within 2 percentage points of outright victory in the first round, can upset Handel in the tight race. Trump raised funds for Handel in a recent Atlanta visit.

Batten, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2005, ordered the state to extend the deadline to May 21 and to allow any district resident registered by that day to cast a ballot in the runoff. He said he wouldn't order the state to publicize the change but that he expects the Secretary of State, Georgia's top elections official, to update his website with the new information.

Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Brian Kemp, said the state will comply with the judge's order.

Batten said in court that his Thursday order only applies to the June runoff and not to future elections.

Jill Boyd Myers, one of the people on whose behalf the lawsuit was filed, moved from Atlanta to suburban Sandy Springs in the 6th District two days after the March 20 registration cutoff. Despite having been registered to vote in Georgia since she moved here from Ohio in 2011, she was upset to learn she wouldn't be eligible to vote in the runoff.

"This just felt like a real prohibition of our rights as citizens," she said after the hearing, adding that she was thrilled with the judge's ruling.

Attorneys for the state argued that federal law allows states to determine voters' qualifications, including registration deadlines. The state constitution defines a runoff election as a "continuation of the general election," and allows only those eligible to vote in the initial election to cast a ballot in the runoff, attorneys wrote in court documents laying out the state's argument.

"It's one contest with one electorate," state attorney Josiah Heidt told the judge.

Georgia's attorneys also provided declarations from state and local election officials, who were concerned that a last-minute change would leave little time before the runoff to prepare.

Batten acknowledged the arguments that it would be difficult for the state to be ready in time, but said he saw nothing to show it would be impossible.

Chris Harvey, director of the state's Division of Elections, said in a court filing that a new registration deadline would force rapid testing by the equipment vendor and the Kennesaw State University's Center for Election Systems before early voting begins on May 30.

That could raise the risk of a "serious mistake" that damages the election's integrity, he wrote.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a Washington-based advocacy group that sued on behalf of civil rights organizations, argued that the state has been aware of their concerns since the end of March.

"We're talking about taking away the right to cast a ballot in a very important election regardless of who you are," Julie Houk, with the Lawyers' Committee, said in court.

Kate Constantini, a spokeswoman for Handel's campaign, sees the lawsuit as a partisan maneuver.

"When the Democrats can't win following the rules - rules they themselves authored and enforced - they file partisan lawsuits to change them," Constantini said in an email. "This lawsuit should be seen for exactly what it is: A partisan attempt to change the rules for a nakedly partisan outcome."

Ossoff, in an emailed statement, urged all voters to exercise their rights.

"Voting rights are constitutional rights," he said. "I encourage all eligible voters to ensure that they are registered and make their voices heard on June 20th and in all elections, regardless of their party or political persuasion."

Emory University political science professor Alan Abramowitz predicted the decision will benefit Ossoff more than Handel. He said Republicans will be older, longtime residents and more likely to be registered already. Democrats can cultivate a growing number of Latino or Asian-American residents who have moved into the district in recent years but aren't yet registered, he said.

"Everything points to this being a very close race, and it's likely to be decided by one or two points," Abramowitz said. "Even a few hundred new voters could conceivably tip the balance."
Voters in Georgia go to the polls for a legislative election.