Walking along a narrow muddy lane blanketed by overnight snow, Gandro Jakhutashvili arrived early Saturday morning at a makeshift polling station in a kindergarten of the mountainous Georgian capital to avoid the crowds of voters.
"There will be too many people if we came late," the 20-year-old Georgian said, accompanied by his mother who teaches English in the Caucasus nation that is to choose a new leader in asnap election called by former president Mikhail Saakashvili.
"There's no alternative, Saakashvili is the only choice," Jakhutashvili said outside the voting room of the No. 27 polling station, echoing views of his mother queuing in a line with ID cards in hands.
The voting does not appear to change much of his life.
"I don't think my life will change after the voting, but just hope it will not get worse," he said, gazing at a dozen people who wait their turn to be sprayed on fingers with fluorescent liquid that can be detected by a handset light sensor used by the guard at the door.
But there are people longing for some change in their life.
"I will vote for an oppositional candidate and I'm sure the opposition will win the election," said salesman Mirian Patarkatsashrili, 20, who hopes for a better life that will make people "feel ourselves secure and free."
Patarkatsashrili said he was beaten up by two policemen in last November's street protest in Tbilisi which was put down by riot police and sparked criticisms against Saakashvili who resigned later and decided to bring forward the election from the second half of 2008 to Saturday.
There are some 3.3 million eligible voters and more than 3,500 polling stations nationwide for Saturday's elections being held amid rigging allegations by the opposition which plans to public protests after polling day.
"For me, it's already good for voting in the station," said Christian Thierry, an observer from the French embassy, commenting on the procedures and facilities inside the voting room which was crowded mostly with election workers and observers.
However, the French diplomat, who just came from Sudan four months ago, pointed out some flaws, saying the open-air polling booths are subjected to monitoring by two cameras on the other side of the wall.
Other voters, however, are focusing on their own future.
"The most important task is to settle social problems such as unemployment," said Katcharava Giorgi, an engineer who was the first to vote at the No. 27 polling station said and cast his ballot sealed in a white envelop to a transparent polling box.
Georgians started to cast votes in the snap presidential election Saturday morning, during which Saakashvili is vying for the nation's top job with six other candidates.
Opinion polls showed that Saakashvili and business tycoon Levan Gachechiladze are front runners among the seven candidates.
Saakashvili, who was predicted to gain more than 40 percent of support, has to win more than half of the vote to be re-elected. Otherwise, a run-off will be held between the top two candidates.
Source:Xinhua
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