”I won my district (Saburtalo District, #1 Precinct). I received approximately 50% of the votes in this precinct. Mr Nika Melia completely lost his district-Precinct #6 of the Mtatsminda District."
Debates among Tbilisi mayoral candidates were held at the Sheraton hotel on 9 July 2014. Davit Narmania and Nika Melia, candidates participating in the second round of Tbilisi’s mayoral elections, were debating against each other.
According to Davit Narmania, he received approximately 50% of the votes in his precinct (Precinct #1 of the Saburtalo District). At the same time, Nika Melia, candidate from the United National Movement, lost in his own district, Precinct #6 of the Mtatsminda District. Melia responded to the fact stated by Narmania and noted that he received 20 votes less than the candidate from the Georgian Dream in his own district.
FactChecktook interest in the statements made by these Tbilisi mayoral candidates and decided to verify the results at their polling stations.
According to the information published on the web site of the Central Election Commission, 638 out of 1449 voters participated in the election in Precinct #6 of the Mtatsminda District. Nika Melia, candidate from the United National Movement, received 213 votes. Davit Narmania, candidate from the Georgian Dream, received 251 votes which is 38 votes more than what Melia received. In terms of the percentage, the results are as follows: Nika Melia received 33% of the total number of votes while Davit Narmania received approximately 39% of the total number of votes.
As for the second part of Davit Narmania’s statement, 587 out of 1,575 registered voters in Precinct #1 of the Saburtalo District voted in the elections. According to the results recorded in the precinct, Nika Melia received 151 votes while Davit Narmania received 285 votes. In terms of the percentage, the results are as follows: Nika Melia received 26% of the total number of votes while Davit Narmania received approximately 49% of the votes.
Conclusion
According to the Central Election Commission, Davit Narmania received 38 votes more and 6% more of the total number of votes than Nika Melia which cannot be called a ‘complete victory.’ Accordingly, that part of Davit Narmania’s statement is clearly excessive.
As for the second part of Davit Narmania’s statement, he received approximately 49% of the total number of votes in Precinct #1 of the Saburtalo District.
Accordingly, FactCheck concludes that Davit Narmania’s statement, “I won my district (Saburtalo District, #1 precinct). I received approximately 50% of the votes in this precinct. Mr Nika Melia completely lost his district, Precinct #6 of the Mtatsminda District," is HALF TRUE.
