as their common candidate. The Georgian Labour Party supported its leader Shalva Natelashvili as a candidate instead of Gachechiladze, and the New Right nominated MP Davit Gamkrelidze as their candidate. Saakashvili was nominated as his party's candidate on 23 November. Twenty-two citizens of Georgia expressed willingness to run in the elections. According to the Georgian election code each of them had to submit at least 50,000 signatures of supporters in order to be registered by the Central Election Commission as official candidates. In total, thirteen candidates submitted signatures, but only seven were recognized by the Central Election Commission (CEC) as eligible to run for the presidency: Levan Gachechiladze, nominated by the nine-party opposition coalition Davit Gamkrelidze, leader of the New Right Gia Maisashvili, leader of the Party of the Future Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the Georgian Labour Party Badri Patarkatsishvili, a business and media tycoon Mikheil Saakashvili, the ex-president and the leader of ruling United National Movement Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia, the only female presidential candidate and the leader of the Russian-leaning Hope Party. Conduct In addition to local watchdogs, 29 international or foreign organizations (including OSCE, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and International Crisis Group) observed the elections. Early on election day all polling stations were opened with the exception of the highland village of Shatili where heavy snow thwarted the process. Exit polls Exit polls The first exit poll results were conflicting according to a survey commissioned by 4 TV stations (Georgian Public Broadcaster, Rustavi 2, Mze, and Achara TV) from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Ilia Chavchavadze State University and two think-tanks – the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) and the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS). The exit polls found Mikhail Saakashvili winning with a narrow absolute majority of 53.5% of the votes, with Levan Gachechiladze coming second with 29.1%. Voter turnout was 46.4%. Twenty-three percent of respondents refused to say for whom they had voted. The poll had a margin of error of 2%. The figures were provisional, with final results not expected for another few hours. According to a relatively unknown Ukrainian think tank "Common European Cause", which claimed to have interviewed 10,000 people at 200 polling stations, Gachechiladze won the most votes (31%), followed by Saakashvili (24.4%) and Patarkatsishvili (20.3%). Results Reactions The opposition candidates claimed the polls were rigged and the exit-polls false. Supporters for