Voting is under way in the former Soviet republic of Georgia in a parliamentary election pitting the ruling Georgian Dream party against a divided opposition that champions integration with the West.
Georgian Dream has been in power since 2012 and is seeking another four-year term. The party has portrayed the election a choice of peace or war, saying that if the opposition were win, it would drag Georgia into war against Russia.
The opposition has framed the October 26 vote as a choice between the West and Russia and between democracy and authoritarianism, a narrative echoed by officials in the United States and Europe who have been critical of Georgian Dream for democratic backsliding.
A new electoral system means parties or coalitions have to meet a threshold of 5 percent to make it into parliament. That has motivated Georgia's opposition parties to form coalitions that have a reasonable chance of making it over the threshold.
Georgian Dream was founded by billionaire former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man. The Kremlin has made no secret that it prefers a victory for Georgian Dream.
Opinion polls show that Georgians are broadly supportive of joining the European Union and NATO but are also keen to avoid conflict with Russia and are deeply conservative on issues such as LGBT rights.
Among the controversial bills that Georgian Dream has passed is a law requiring groups that receive 20 percent or more of their funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents."
Opponents dubbed it the "Russia law," describing it as authoritarian and inspired by similar laws used to curb dissent in Russia.
Passage of the legislation earlier this year drew massive protests and prompted the United States to impose sanctions on several Georgians and threaten to end aid to Tbilisi.
The European Union may consider temporary cancellation of its visa-free regime with Georgia if the elections are "not free and fair," the bloc's ambassador to Tbilisi said in September.
Other controversial legislation has clamped down on gay rights.
The four opposition parties that are most likely to cross the 5 percent threshold are Unity -- To Save Georgia, a coalition led by the former ruling United National Movement (ENM); Coalition for Change, largely made up of former ENM-affiliated figures; Strong Georgia, an ideologically eclectic coalition that has tried to position itself as neither ENM nor Georgian Dream; and For Georgia, a party that broke away from Georgian Dream.
In the campaign they directed their fire at the ruling party rather than each other, having the common goal of ending 12 years of rule by Georgian Dream reviving Georgia's stalled bid to join the European Union.
They have agreed that in the case of an opposition victory, they will allow President Salome Zurabishvili to form a technocratic government that would restore good relations with the West and repeal the most authoritarian laws that Georgian Dream passed in the run-up to the campaign.
For the first time, Georgia will be using a new electronic ballot-counting system -- with a paper backup -- with results expected one to two hours after polls close at 8 p.m. local time.