Shevardnadze Reelected in Georgia
President Eduard A. Shevardnadze easily won a second term as leader of this small former Soviet republic Sunday in an election the opposition said was marred by massive vote fraud.
Central Election Commission officials called the race for Shevardnadze with 74% of the votes counted. Shevardnadze had 80% of the vote, and ex-Communist leader Dzhumber Patiashvili trailed far behind with 16.5%, election officials said.
Four other candidates received small numbers of votes.
Shevardnadze, 72, was a heavy favorite going in. His only real challenge was getting more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.
Patiashvili alleged that there had been massive vote-rigging by the government. The opposition was considering filing a protest.
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