TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's ruling party on Tuesday selected Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire ex-prime minister who is widely believed to be the country's most influential figure, as its lead candidate for a parliamentary election on Oct. 26, Georgian media reported.

Georgia’s Fulton County has hired a team of independent monitors to observe its operations for this year’s general election.

Former President Trump maintains a slight edge over Vice President Harris in Georgia, but the race in North Carolina remains too close to call, according to a pair of polls released Monday from Quinnipiac University.

Greater Georgia has announced that they will be targeting approximately 180,000 unregistered Georgians ahead of the state’s registration deadline. The deadline to register to vote in the presidential election in November is Oct.

A judge set a date to hear a lawsuit that seeks to block rules passed by the Georgia State Election Board, which GOP defenders say helps secure elections.

A lawsuit arguing that county election board members in Georgia have the discretion to not certify election results has been dismissed on a technicality.

Pollster Kevin Wagner said the contests are now "really, really close" in two swing states where Trump held comfortable leads earlier this summer.

The once-wonky Georgia State Election Board has burst into the limelight this year as a new Republican majority – made up of a retired obstetrician, a former state senator who put out feelers for a Trump administration job and a right-wing media personality – push ahead with new rules that could create chaos in November.

President Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia since former President Clinton. But in 2024, Republicans are fighting to regain the 16 Electoral College votes up for grabs.

After a special session in 2023 redrew the congressional district lines, the political makeup of the districts has shifted slightly. Still, it's often an uphill battle to unseat incumbents in the congressional delegation,