Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili won 52.5 per cent in today's presidential election, an exit poll showed, giving him just enough for victory without a second-round run-off.
The exit poll, conducted by a group of non-governmental organisations and commissioned by television stations, put main opposition challenger Levan Gachechiladze on 28.5 per cent. Official results have not yet been released.
Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president prepares to cast his vote at a polling station in Tbilisi, Georgia, today. Herman Avakian/Bloomberg News
The election is the first big test of voters' faith in the 'Rose Revolution' of 2003 that swept Saakashvili to power on a tide of euphoria, but which many people complain has failed to deliver the improvements they hoped for.
US-educated Saakashvili shocked his Western allies in November by crushing anti-government protests and they now want Georgia to prove its commitment to democracy.
"This election is a watershed election that will make a determination as to their commitment," said US Congressman Alcee L. Hastings, head of the main Western observation mission.
Across Georgia - about the size of Ireland with around 4.5 million people - voters braved heavy snow to reach polling stations, and the electoral commission said turnout was high.
Georgia, birthplace of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, lies at the heart of the South Caucasus - a strategic transit route where a major pipeline pumps oil from the Caspian Sea to Europe, and Russia and the United States are battling for influence.
All previous elections since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union have been heavily one-sided or called fraudulent and today's poll is seen as the first genuinely competitive vote.
Polls indicate Saakashvili (40), is likely to win the seven-candidate race but it is unclear if he will gain the 50 percent needed to avoid a second round run-off.
Saakashvili, who swept to power in a peaceful revolution in 2003, needs to prove his commitment to democracy after shocking Western allies by violently crushing anti-government street protests in November. The west will watch the vote for fairness.
Saakashvili has lost support since a landslide election win four years ago and polls disagree on whether he will win more than 50 per cent of the vote and avoid a second round against main rival Levan Gachechiladze, a 43-year-old wine producer.