Georgians are voting for a new parliament today but the opposition accused President Mikheil Saakashvili of trying to rig the election and vowed to hold a huge protest rally in the capital.
The West sees the election as a test of Saakashvili's commitment to democracy as he steers his ex-Soviet Caucasus country towards the NATO military alliance, a step that has riled giant neighbor Russia.
Many people say the democratic credentials of the 40-year-old US-educated lawyer were badly tarnished when he sent riot troops in to crush protests last November. Opponents say he stole victory in a snap January presidential poll, a charge he denies.
The media-savvy Saakashvili, a fluent English speaker who has Western support in his row with Russia over its support for Georgia's two separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, says he wants a "beautiful" vote.
"In Georgia our democracy is alive and well," he proclaimed after casting his ballot with his Dutch wife who voted for the first time as a Georgian citizen.
President Mikheil Saakashvili has been accused of trying to rig the election
"Georgia is really a role model for many countries in this region and we intend to stay this way despite all the external pressures we are coming under," he said. He added his party would win but there would be more parties in the new parliament.
With a population of 4.5 million and a booming $10 billion economy, Georgia lies at the heart of the Caucasus where the United States and Russia vie for influence over a key transit route for oil and gas from the Caspian to Europe.
Opinion polls show Saakashvili's United National Movement party will win most of the 150 seats. But opponents cried foul.
"They are doing everything to falsify the polls," Levan Gachechiladze, the leader of the opposition coalition, said after casting his vote.
"In the evening we will hold a huge rally -- 100,000 people will come out and we are going to announce the true results of the poll." Voting started at 0800 (0400 GMT) and polls close at 2000 local time (0800 GMT).
Saakashvili swept to power in the peaceful 2003 "Rose" revolution, promising market reforms, a commitment to democracy and re-orienting his country towards the European mainstream.
The opposition says Saakashvili's rhetoric about democracy masks intolerance of dissent and says the revolution that put him in power was a U.S.-managed farce.
NATO, which has offered Tbilisi a path to membership, has said it will be watching to ensure the election is fairly held.
The West's main election monitor said in a report it had substantiated several cases of intimidation by state employees seeking support for Saakashvili's party and that news coverage by television stations was skewed in favor of the ruling party.
Saakashvili has made much of what he says is the threat from Russia, which last month deepened ties with the separatist regions and sent more troops to Abkhazia. He said today Russia was acting aggressively over the two rebel regions.
He has also concentrated in his campaign on pledges to eradicate poverty in Georgia where about one third of people live below the official poverty line.
But many Georgians are unhappy with soaring prices for fuel and food. The opposition says Saakashvili has failed to tackle unemployment and high-level corruption remains rampant.