Georgia votes in election shadowed by ex-president’s arrest

By SOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE
Associated Press

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgians voted in municipal elections across the country that were seen as a test of strength for the ruling party and which opposition parties hope could lead to an early national election. The Saturday elections came a day after the arrest of exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who had returned to the country to try to bolster opposition support despite facing prison on convictions for abuse of power that were declared after he left Georgia. Opinion polls showed more than half the electorate were undecided ahead of the election in which the ruling Georgian Dream party and the United National Movement founded by Saakashvili are the main contenders.