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ELECTION CODE OF GEORGIA | |
---|---|
Document number | 5636-რს |
Document issuer | Parliament of Georgia |
Date of issuing | 27/12/2011 |
Document type | Organic Law of Georgia |
Source and date of publishing | Website, 10/01/2012 |
Registration code | 010190020.04.001.016032 |
Consolidated publications |
Consolidated versions (09/02/2023 - 03/07/2023)
Organic Law of Georgia
Election Code of Georgia
Section I – General Part
Chapter I – General Provisions
Article 1 – Scope of the Law
This Law regulates relations connected with preparation and conduct of elections of the President of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, a municipality representative body Sakrebulo, a municipality executive body – a Mayor, and those connected with preparation and conduct of referenda and plebiscites. This Law establishes the rights and guarantees of election participants, the procedure for ensuring the lawfulness and transparency of expenses related to elections/referenda, for the establishment of the Electoral Administration of Georgia and its powers; and, where so provided for by this Law, the procedure for resolving disputes and imposing liability.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 2 – Definition of terms
For the purposes of this Law, the terms used herein have the following meaning s :
a) referendum – a nation-wide polling by secret ballot aimed at overall, equal, and direct expression of will to decide especially important national issues, which is conducted throughout the territory of Georgia;
b) plebiscite – a nation-wide polling by secret ballot for identifying the opinion of voters or part of voters concerning especially important national issues, results of which are of recommendat ory character for the public authorities;
c) elections – electoral process, the objective and outcome of which is to elect public officials and representative bodies of public authority;
d) general elections – regular or extraordinary elections:
d.a) regular elections – elections held because of the expiration of the term of office of a representative body of public authority or a public official within the time frame defined by the Constitution of Georgia, this Law, the Constitutions of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara, and the respective laws;
d.b) extraordinary elections – elections held as a result of pre-term termination of the tenure of a representative body of public authority or a public official;
e) by-elections – elections held under the majoritarian electoral system in the respective electoral district as determined by this Law in order to fill a vacant seat of the representative body of the state authority;
f) re-run elections – repeat elections held as determined for regular elections, provided that:
f.a) one candidate runs in elections held under the majoritarian electoral system and his/her candidacy is withdrawn as defined by this Law;
f.b) none of electoral subjects running in the elections held under the proportional electoral system passes an electoral threshold or failure of elections is declared in more than half of the electoral districts;
f.c) election results are declared void by a court decision;
g) repeat voting – the voting conducted again in an electoral precinct (precincts) where polling results have been declared void;
h) second round of elections (run-off) – voting conducted in cases and within the time frame defined in this Law, when a winner cannot be determined in the first round of elections;
i) election (polling) day – the day of holding general elections, by-elections, or re-run elections, as well as run-off or repeat voting;
i1) electoral/referendum period – a period of time from the day when a legal act issued on calling an election/referendum comes into force through the day when a summary protocol of the final results of the election/referendum is published by a respective election commission.
j) elections held under the proportional electoral system – election of members of the Parliament (MPs) of Georgia and of members of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo based on party lists;
k) elections held under the majoritarian electoral system – election of members of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo according to single-seat majoritarian electoral districts;
l) suffrage – active and passive right to vote;
m) active suffrage – the right of a citizen of Georgia to participate, by casting a vote, in general elections, referenda, and plebiscites held for electing the people’s representatives to the representative body of public authority and for holding public offices;
n) passive suffrage – the right of a citizen of Georgia to run for the representative body of public authority and for public office;
n1) votes of participants in the elections/referendum – the number of votes to be determined by the sum of valid ballot papers in a ballot box/boxes and which does not include votes received through ballot papers declared void.
o) electoral registration – registration by the chairperson of an appropriate election commission of parties, initiative groups of voters, party lists, and individual candidates for Mayor and Sakrebulo nominated under the majoritarian procedure in order to obtain the right to run in elections;
p) candidate for electoral subject – a person nominated for registration in the respective election commission to run in elections;
q) electoral subject – a party, an initiative group of voters, a candidate for member of public authority representative body, or a candidate for public official registered by the chairperson of an appropriate election commission;
q1) (Deleted – 2.7.2020, No 6723);
r) Electoral Administration of Georgia – the Central Election Commission of Georgia (‘the CEC ’ ) and its staff, the Supreme Election Commissions of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara (‘the SEC ’ ) and their staff, the District Election Commissions (DECs) and the Precinct Election Commissions (PECs);
s) Electoral Administration officer – an election commission member and staff;
t) party – a political association of citizens acting under the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens that is registered by the chairperson of the CEC to run in elections;
t1) (Deleted – 2.7.2020, No 6723);
u) (Deleted – 21.7.2018, No 3266);
v) candidate for President of Georgia – a citizen of Georgia registered by the CEC, and nominated by not less than 30 members of the Election Panel for participation in Presidential elections of Georgia;
w) candidate for Mayor– a citizen of Georgia registered by the chairperson of the relevant election commission to run for Mayor;
x) candidate nominated under a party list – a citizen of Georgia entered in a party list registered by the chairperson of the respective election commission to run in elections of the Parliament of Georgia or for a municipality representative body Sakrebulo;
y) majoritarian candidate – a citizen of Georgia nominated in an electoral district by a party/initiative group of voters registered by the chairperson of an appropriate election commission to participate in elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo;
z) electoral district – an operation area (administrative electoral division) where elections and referenda are organised and held;
z1) (Deleted – 21.7.2018, No 3266;
z2) local majoritarian electoral district – a single-seat electoral district established for the election of the members of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo under the majoritarian system;
z3) electoral precinct – administrative electoral division established as determined by the legislation of Georgia for polling and vote counting during elections or referenda;
z4) municipality representative body Sakrebulo – the Sakrebulo of the capital of Georgia – Tbilisi, the Sakrebulo of a self-governing community, and the Sakrebulo of a self-governing city;
z41) municipality executive body – a Mayor;
z5) political official – the President of Georgia, a Member of Parliament of Georgia, the Prime Minister of Georgia, other members of the Government of Georgia and their deputies, members of the Supreme Representative Bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara, heads of the Governments of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara, a member of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo and the executive body – a Mayor, and a State Representative;
z6) political/pre-election advertising – commercial broadcast by mass media (‘the media ’ ) aimed at promoting/hindering the election of an electoral subject, where the electoral subject and/or its sequence number are displayed and which contains the signs of election campaign or appeals for or against the issue put forward for referendum/plebiscite;
z7) election campaign – a set of measures carried out by an electoral subject/candidate for electoral subject aimed at running in and winning elections;
z8) canvassing – appeal to voters in favour of or against an electoral subject/candidate, as well as any public action facilitating or impeding its election and/or containing signs of election campaign, including the participation in organisation/conduct of pre-electoral events, preservation or dissemination of election materials, work on the list of supporters, presence in the representations of political parties;
z9) election/referendum campaign expense– the sum of funds of an electoral subject/referendum participant for an election/referendum campaign, as well as all goods and services obtained free of charge (reflected in market prices), except for free air time cost as determined by this Law;
z10) information on the election/referendum campaign expense – information on the election/referendum campaign expense, all goods and services received free of charge, donation source, amount and date of the receipt of donation;
z11) electoral donations – funds deposited by natural and legal persons to the account of the respective electoral subject during the election/referendum campaign, as well as all types of material value and services obtained free of charge, except for free air time cost as determined by this Law;
z12) electoral documents – an application, complaint, letter, protocol, ballot paper, special envelope, a legislative act of the Electoral Administration of Georgia, a check-list, registration book, list of voters, voter invitation card, or a statement of a member of an election commission incoming and outgoing at an election commission;
z13) biometric registration – taking a biometric photo and recording personal data (questionnaire survey) as determined by this Law, as well as holding a Georgian citizen’s electronic identity card or a Georgian citizen’s biometric passport, except when that document is issued after biometric registration under this Law;
z14) campaign material – a poster, flag or any other material on which an electoral subject/candidate for electoral subject and/or his/her sequence number is displayed;
z15) Agency – the Legal Entity under Public Law (LEPL) – the Public Service Development Agency within the Ministry of Justice of Georgia;
z16) Beneficiary of support – persons defined under Article 12(4-5) of the Civil Code of Georgia;
z17) polling station – a building or a part of a building where a polling room of a PEC is located;
z18) photocopy – a copy made by means of a photocopier;
z19) Election Panel – a special body consisting of 300 members approved under an ordinance of the CEC, in order to elect President of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3402 of 20 March 2015 – website, 31.3.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 3 – Basic principles for holding elections, referend a , and plebiscite s
Basic principles for holding elections, referend a , and plebiscite s in Georgia shall be:
a) universal suffrage to participate in elections/referend a /plebiscite s :
a.a) any citizen of Georgia, who has attained the age of 18 before or on the day of an election/referendum/plebiscite and who meets the requirements defined by this Law, shall enjoy active suffrage, except for the persons who, under the Constitution of Georgia and/or this Law, have a restricted active suffrage;
a.b) all citizens of Georgia who meet the conditions determined by this Law, except for persons whose passive suffrage have been restricted under the Constitution of Georgia, this Law, the Law of Georgia on Combating Drug-related Crimes, and the Law of Georgia on Combating Crimes against Sexual Freedom and Inviolability shall have passive suffrage;
a.c) a citizen of Georgia who, by a court judgment, is placed in a penitentiary facility for an extremely serious crime, or, by a court decision, is recognised as a beneficiary of support and is placed in an appropriate inpatient medical facility under, may not participate in an election, referendum and plebiscite;
b) equal suffrage:
b.a) voters shall participate in elections, referend a, and plebiscite s on equal grounds;
b.b) every voter of the same electoral district shall have an equal number of votes;
c) direct suffrage:
c.a) elections in Georgia shall be direct;
c.b) an MP of Georgia, a member of the Sakrebulo of a self-governing city/self-governing community, and a Mayor of a self-governing city/self-governing community shall be elected directly by voters;
c.c) President of Georgia shall be elected by the Election Panel by open ballot without-debate voting;
d) secrecy of ballot and free expression of the will of voters:
d.a) an election, a referendum, and a plebiscite in Georgia shall be held by secret ballot, except for Presidential elections of Georgia;
d.b) coercion and/or intimidation of voters and violation of the secrecy of voting shall be prohibited. Such action shall result in criminal liability of a violator.
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3402 of 20 March 2015 – website, 31.3.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 3562 of 1 May 2015 – website, 18.5.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 5772 of 17 March 2020 – website, 23.3.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 7097 of 3 September 2020 – website, 4.9.2020
Article 4 – Publicity of elections
According to and for the purposes of this Law, the activities of the Electoral Administration of Georgia, electoral subjects, state authorities, and municipality bodies shall be open and public.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 5 – Calculation of terms under this Law
1. During elections, all the terms under this Law, including the terms for judicial recourse and for delivery of a court judgment, shall be counted in calendar days (including weekends and holidays as defined by the labour legislation of Georgia).
2. Words ‘in N days from the given day’, ‘within N days’ period from the given day’, ‘not earlier/not later than N days from the given day’, ‘not earlier/not later than the Nth day from the given day’ shall imply the beginning of counting from the day following the indicated day.
3. Words ‘N days before the given day’, ‘not earlier/not later than N days before the given day’, ‘not earlier/not later than the Nth day before the given day’ shall imply the beginning of counting from the day preceding the indicated day.
4. Unless otherwise determined by this Law, the initial time limits for the arrangements and procedures related to the elections/referendum to be conducted shall be counted from the day when the legal act on fixing the elections/referendum becomes effective.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Article 6 – Announcement of an election/referendum/plebiscite day as a day off
Elections/referenda/plebiscites may be held on any day of the week. The day of a general election/referendum/plebiscite shall be a day off. The day of a by-election/extraordinary election of a municipal representative body/extraordinary election of a municipal executive body shall be a day off only within the jurisdiction of a respective electoral district/electoral districts.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Chapter II – Electoral Administration of Georgia and its Powers
Article 7 – Status, system, and composition of the Electoral Administration of Georgia
1. The Electoral Administration of Georgia is an independent administrative body that shall be independent from other public bodies, within its powers, and shall be established according to this Law. This Law shall define the powers and procedures for establishment of the Electoral Administration of Georgia.
2. The Electoral Administration of Georgia shall be composed of:
a) the CEC and its staff;
b) the SEC and its staff;
c) the DECs;
d) the PECs.
3. The CEC is the supreme body of the Electoral Administration of Georgia that shall, within its powers, manage and control election commissions at all levels, and ensure the uniform application of the electoral legislation throughout the territory of Georgia.
4. If general elections and the elections of the Supreme Council of Ajara are held simultaneously, DECs and PECs formed for general elections shall perform the duties of DECs and PECs.
5. The staff of the CEC and the SEC (except for persons employed under labour contracts) shall be public servants and the Law of Georgia on Public Service shall apply to them.
Organic Law of Georgia No 4392 of 27 October 2015 – website, 11.11.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 168 of 21 December 2016 – website, 28.12.2016
Article 8 – Election commission rules of operation
1. The rules of operation for an election commission shall be defined by this Law and the regulations of a respective commission to be adopted by the CEC, by a decree.
2. A session of an election commission shall be called by the chairperson or upon request of the deputy chairperson of the commission.
3. A session shall be duly constituted if attended by a majority of the total number of the election commission members.
31. The total number of the election commission members shall be the sum of the number of commission members elected in accordance with this Law and the number of commission members appointed by the parties that have acquired the right to appoint a member of the election commission under this Law.
4. A commission decision shall be deemed adopted if supported by a majority of the members present at the session (unless this Law provides for a higher quorum), but by not less than one-third of the total number of the election commission members. The decisions of an election commission regarding the decisions made by lower election commissions, including the nullification of electoral district/precinct results, the opening of packages received from the election commission, and the counting of election ballot papers, shall be adopted by not less than two-third s of those present at the session.
5. In the case of an equal number of votes, the chairperson of the session shall cast the deciding vote.
6. Issues of human resources shall be resolved at a session of the election commission by a majority vote of the total number of the commission members, unless otherwise established by this Law.
7. The chairperson of the session and the secretary of the election commission shall sign minutes of sessions.
8. The session minutes shall be executed within one day from the session.
9. An election commission member who objects to the decision of the commission shall have the right to express his/her dissenting opinion in writing, which shall be attached to the minutes of the session. At the same time, a member having a dissenting opinion shall respect and obey the decision delivered by the commission. An election commission member shall have no right to impede, by his/her action/omission, the execution of a properly adopted decision.
10. An election commission shall accept, issue, and register electoral documents until 18:00 of the working day, except for cases defined by this Law.
11. Upon receipt of an application/complaint, the date and time of its receipt shall be recorded in the registration book of an election commission, as well as in the notice delivered to the applicant/complainant. The commission shall consider the application/complaint and shall make an appropriate decision.
12. The applicant shall confirm by signature in the registration book receipt of any document from an election commission.
13. An election commission shall not consider an application/complaint if the chairperson of an election commission has issued an ordinance on dismissing the application/complaint without prejudice.
14. Electoral documents shall be available to everyone, except as provided for by the legislation of Georgia. An election commission shall make the electoral documents and election information available to all interested persons within two days after such a request, and if more time is required to prepare the above information, an election commission shall make it available under the procedure established by the General Administrative Code of Georgia. When copies of the electoral documents and election information are requested, the fee and the payment procedure shall be regulated according to the legislation of Georgia.
15. A sessions of an election commission shall be open. It may be attended only by members of a superior election commission and commission representatives, staff members of a respective and superior election commissions, representatives of media accredited in the respective commission, one representative of electoral subjects in a respective commission, one observer from a domestic observer organisation registered with the respective commission, no more than two observers from an international organisation registered with the CEC together with an interpreter. In case of obstructing the work of an election commission and disturbing the peace, the decision on the issue of expelling a troublemaker (including a member of the commission) from the session of the election commission shall be made by the election commission, which shall be recorded in the minutes of the session. Expulsion of a troublemaker from the session of the election commission shall also imply his/her expulsion from the building of the election commission/polling station. The decision on the issue of expelling the troublemaker from the building of the election commission shall be made by the chairperson of a respective election commission by an ordinance.
16. The following individuals shall have the right to stay at a polling station:
a) members of the CEC, DECs and PECs;
b) representatives of the CEC and DECs;
c) a representative of an electoral subject registered with a respective PEC;
d) representatives of the press and media registered with the respective commissions;
e) observers.
17. Everyone authorised to stay at a polling station shall carry a badge (certificate) indicating his/her identity and title.
18. In case of obstructing the work of an election commission and disturbing the peace, the decision on the issue of expelling a troublemaker from the administrative building shall be made by the chairperson of the commission by an ordinance, and during a session, the decision on the issue of expelling a troublemaker from the session shall be made by the election commission, which shall be recorded in the minutes of the session.
181. If in the case of making a decision on expulsion of a person from an election commission session, a commission building, a polling station in accordance with the rules established by this Law, this person does not voluntarily comply with the decision, the chairperson of the commission shall apply to the police. The police shall immediately enforce the decision to expel the person.
19. An election commission member shall be obliged to participate in the commission activities as from the day of his/her appointment (election) in the respective commission.
20. A DEC or PEC member is obliged to sign a summary protocol of polling or election results. If the DEC or PEC member objects to the information reflected in the protocol, he/she may indicate the same in the respective section of the summary protocol of polling and election results and attach a written dissenting opinion to the protocol. In the case of dissenting opinion, the DEC or PEC member is obliged to sign the summary protocol of the voting results in the appropriate section for the signature of the commission member.
21. An election commission member is not the representative of his/her appointer/voter. An election commission member shall be independent in his/her activities and shall act only according to the Constitution of Georgia, law, and respective subordinate acts. Any pressure upon an election commission member or any interference in his/her activities with the aim of influencing his/her decision shall be prohibited and punishable by law.
22. If the commission chairperson and deputy chairperson are simultaneously, or the commission secretary is temporarily unable to perform the duties defined by this Law, and if under the same Law an action falling within the exclusive authority of the chairperson or the secretary is to be carried out, the commission shall elect, without delay, under the procedures defined in this Law for the election of relevant officials, an acting chairperson or a secretary from among his/her staff. The powers of the acting chairperson of the commission shall cease once the commission chairperson or deputy chairperson is able to perform their duties, and the powers of the acting secretary of the commission shall cease once the commission secretary is able to perform his/her duties.
23. If an election commission does not have a chairperson or a deputy chairperson, the commission secretary shall call a session to elect the commission chairperson and shall chair the commission until the chairperson is elected, and if the commission does not have a secretary, the senior member of the commission shall call and chair the commission session until the chairperson is elected.
24. If the election commission chairperson is absent or by order of the chairperson, a deputy chairperson shall act for him/her; in the CEC, a deputy chairperson of the CEC that has been elected on the basis of Article 11(2) of this Law shall act for the chairperson, and if he/she is absent, a deputy that has been elected on the basis of Article 11(1) of this Law shall act for him/her.
25. A person authorised to be at a polling station, as well as a person authorised to attend a session of a commission, shall have the right to photograph and video film, except in a polling booth, without obstructing the electoral process/the work of the election commission session. It is prohibited to photograph and video film or otherwise process the information or data that, according to this Law, is not/are not considered as public information, except when the photographing and video filming or processing is allowed by this Law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 9 – Remuneration
1. In the course of elections/referenda, members and head officers of the CEC and DEC, as well as the CEC staff and employees of the Legal Entity under Public Law (LEPL) called the Centre for Electoral Systems Development, Reforms, and Trainings shall receive double remuneration.
11. During by-elections, double remuneration under paragraph 1 of this article shall be paid only to DEC members and head officers in the electoral district where the by-elections are held.
2. PEC members and head officers shall receive remuneration from the funds allocated for holding elections, from the 30th day before Election Day until a summary protocol of polling results of the higher DEC is drawn up.
3. The amount of remuneration of the head officers and members of the CEC, DECs and PECs, and of the CEC staff members shall be determined by the CEC in accordance with the Law of Georgia on Remuneration in Public Institutions.
4. For a temporary DEC member, a member of the DEC auxiliary or technical staff, or a PEC member, who:
a) is entered into the Integrated Database of Socially Vulnerable Families, the remuneration earned under this article shall not be included in the total family income and his/her state funding shall not be discontinued;
b) receive a social package under the Ordinance of the Government of Georgia on Determination of Social Packages, his/her social package shall not be discontinued.
5. Remuneration of the CEC and DEC staff members, training centre staff members, PEC support and technical staff members, the DEC temporary and the PEC staff members and representatives of electoral subjects shall not be subject to the payment of pension contribution as provided for by the Law of Georgia on Funded Pensions.
Organic Law of Georgia No 157 of 26 December 2012 – website, 30.12.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 2485 of 29 May 2014 – website, 2.6.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1836 of 22 December 2017 – website, 29.12.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 10 – Composition of the CEC and procedures for electing the CEC Chairperson
1. The CEC shall be composed of not more than 17 members. Among them shall be the CEC Chairperson, two deputies of the CEC Chairperson and the CEC Secretary. The CEC Chairperson shall at the same time be a member of the CEC. Termination of the powers of the CEC Chairperson shall concurrently result in the termination of his/her membership. The Parliament of Georgia shall elect 7 members of the CEC, upon recommendation of the President of Georgia, while the parties shall appoint not more than 9 members of the CEC under the procedure established by this Law.
2. The President of Georgia shall, under the procedure established by this article and Article 12 of this Law, select and nominate to the Parliament of Georgia the candidates for the CEC Chairperson.
3. The CEC Chairperson shall be elected by the Parliament of Georgia under the procedure established by the rules of procedure of the Parliament of Georgia, upon recommendation of the President of Georgia. If the CEC Chairperson is elected by a majority of at least two thirds of the total members of the Parliament of Georgia, his/her term of office shall be five years; otherwise, his/her term of office shall be six months. If the new CEC Chairperson is not elected before the terms of office of the current CEC Chairperson expires, the terms of office of the current CEC Chairperson shall be extended until the new CEC Chairperson is elected.
4. A candidate for the CEC Chairperson may be a legally competent citizen of Georgia from the age of 25, who is non-partisan, has higher education, is fluent in the official language of Georgia, meets the requirements of Article 12(5)(b-f) of this Law, this paragraph, and Article 27(2) of the Law of Georgia on Public Service, and has at least 5 years’ working experience.
5. A resolution of the Parliament of Georgia on electing the CEC Chairperson shall be submitted to the CEC within seven days after it is received.
Organic Law of Georgia No 4392 of 27 October 2015 – website, 11.11.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 168 of 21 December 2016 – website, 28.12.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 1348 of 30 December 2021 – website, 6.1.2022
Article 11 – Procedure for electing deputies of the CEC Chairperson and the CEC Secretary
1. One deputy of the CEC Chairperson and the CEC Secretary must be elected from among the CEC members elected by the Parliament if Georgia. At least 2 members of the CEC shall have the right to nominate the candidates for Deputy Chairperson of the CEC and the Secretary of the CEC. One and the same candidate may be nominated only twice.
2. One deputy of the CEC Chairperson must be elected from among the CEC members appointed by the parties provided for by Article 13 of this Law, who are not members of the parliamentary majority. A candidate shall be nominated by a majority decision of the CEC members appointed by the parties defined by this paragraph. If none of the candidates is supported by the aforementioned majority, the candidate shall be identified by casting lots among the CEC members appointed by the parties defined by this paragraph that will express their willingness to be elected as a deputy of the CEC Chairperson. A candidate shall be deemed elected as a deputy of the CEC Chairperson if he/she is supported by a majority of the total number of the CEC members. If the candidate fails to be supported by the aforementioned majority, a repeat voting shall be conducted. The candidate shall be deemed elected as a result of this voting if he/she is supported by at least one third of the total number of the CEC members. If the deputy of the CEC Chairperson is not elected under this paragraph, his/her election procedure shall start from the beginning.
3. If the Deputy Chairperson of the CEC or the Secretary of the CEC provided for by paragraph 1 of this article fails to be elected, his/her duties until the election of the aforementioned official shall be performed by a CEC member that has received the most votes during elections, and in the case of an equal number of votes, a person identified as a result of casting lots shall perform the duties of the Deputy Chairperson of the CEC and the Secretary of the CEC.
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 12 – Procedure for electing the CEC members
1. The President of Georgia shall select candidates for CEC membership under the procedure established by this article and submit them to the Parliament of Georgia. The term of office of the CEC members elected by the Parliament of Georgia shall be 5 years, unless otherwise established by this article.
2. A candidate for CEC membership shall be selected on an open competition basis.
3. The President of Georgia shall, not later than 30 days before the term of office of a CEC member expires, and if a vacant position occurs, not later than 15 days from its occurrence, issue a decree on holding a competition and setting up a competition commission. The competition commission shall be composed of not less than 9 and not more than 11 members. The competition commission may be comprised of the representatives of those entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities registered only in Georgia that have at least 7 years’ experience of working in the field of elections, or protection of democracy or human rights, and whose activities, both financial and content-wise, are publicly available; and the representatives of higher educational institutions that hold elective academic ranks. The competition documents shall be submitted not later than 14 days after the competition is announced. If the above timeframe coincides with the election period, the President of Georgia shall announce the competition not later than seven days following the announcement of the final results of election. The powers of a CEC member shall terminate once a new member is elected. The competition commission shall make a decision by a majority of the total number of members.
4. A candidate for the CEC membership may be a legally competent citizen of Georgia from the age of 25, who is non-partisan, has not been a member appointed by a party to the election commission, an electoral subject or its representative within the last 5 years, who has higher education, is fluent in the official language of Georgia, meets the requirements of Article 27(2) of the Law of Georgia on Public Service, has at least 5 years’ work experience, and holds a certificate of an electoral administration officer.
5. The following individuals may not be elected/appointed as a CEC member:
a) a person who does not hold a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer;
b) a person who has been dismissed from a position in the Electoral Administration by the election commission or the court for violating the electoral legislation of Georgia, – for four years after the day of his/her dismissal;
c) a person who has been recognised as an administrative offender by court for violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia, – for four years after the entry into legal force of the court decision;
d) a person with previous conviction;
e) an electoral subject/a candidate for electoral subject, or its representative;
f) an observer.
6. If at least twice as many candidates as the number of CEC members to be elected are not nominated within a period defined by this Law, the competition shall be continued for the period during which at least twice as many candidates as the number of the CEC members to be elected are nominated.
7. The list of candidates for the CEC membership with their biographies shall be published within two days after the time limit for nominating candidates expires.
8. A competition commission shall, not later than 5 days after the period for nominating candidates expires, nominate to the President of Georgia for nomination to the Parliament of Georgia for election at least twice as many and not more than three times as many candidates as the number of CEC members to be elected. Voting results of all the candidates participating in the competition and the reasons of the competition commission members for supporting a candidate or refusing to support him/her shall be indicated in the records of a session of the competition commission, which is public. The President of Georgia shall, not later than 7 days after the candidates are selected, make a decision on selecting the candidates for the CEC membership or refusing to select them. If the candidates are selected, the President of Georgia shall nominate to the Parliament of Georgia for election twice as many candidates as the number of the CEC members to be elected. If the President of Georgia fails to select candidates, he/she shall announce another competition.
9. The Parliament of Georgia shall elect CEC members under the procedure established by the rules of procedure of the Parliament of Georgia not later than 14 days after the President of Georgia submits candidates for the CEC membership to the Parliament of Georgia.
10. One and the same candidate for election to a vacant position of a CEC member may be nominated only twice.
11. The term of office of a CEC member who is elected by less than two thirds of votes of the total number of members of the Parliament of Georgia shall be 6 months.
111. If a new CEC member is not elected before the term of office of a current CEC member expires, the term of office of the current CEC member shall be extended until a new CEC member id elected.
12. A resolution of the Parliament of Georgia on electing a CEC member shall be submitted to the CEC within 7 days after it is made.
Organic Law of Georgia No 4392 of 27 October 2015 – website, 11.11.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 168 of 21 December 2016 – website, 28.12.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3907 of 6 December 2018 – website, 14.12.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 1348 of 30 December 2021 – website, 6.1.2022
Article 13 – Procedure for appointing CEC members and terminating their term of office by parties
1. A party shall have the right to appoint one CEC member if the party was registered by the CEC Chairperson for participation in the Georgian Parliamentary Elections, and it was granted a mandate of a member of the Parliament of Georgia under Article 125(4), (5) and (9) of this Law.
2. If the number of parties provided for by paragraph 1 of this article is more than 9, at the time of appointing a CEC member, the priority shall be given to a party that has received more votes in the Georgian Parliamentary Elections.
3. If the parties have received the equal number of votes in the Georgian Parliamentary Elections, at the time of appointing a CEC member, the priority shall be given to a party that has passed the electoral registration earlier.
4. A party shall have the right to withdraw a CEC member it has appointed. He/she may not be withdrawn from calling elections until the final results of the elections in question are summed up. A party shall have the right to appoint a new CEC member within the aforementioned period of time only when an appointed member resigns or dies.
Organic Law of Georgia No 877 of 27 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 7097 of 3 September 2020 – website, 4.9.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 7098 of 3 September 2020 – website, 4.9.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 704 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 14 – Powers of the CEC
1. The CEC shall:
a) ensure, within the scope of its powers, holding of an election, a referendum, and a plebiscite, oversee the process of implementation of the electoral legislation throughout the territory of Georgia, and ensure its uniform application;
b) adopt, by a decree, the regulations of the Electoral Administration;
b1) determine, by a decree, issues related to labour relations and work incompatibility of CEC members and elected members of a DEC;
b2) ensure, within the scope of its powers, holding of regular, re-run and extraordinary elections of the President of Georgia;
c) have, in exceptional cases, if it is impossible to meet certain requirements/terms defined in this Law, the right to determine, by a decree, electoral events and timeframes for upcoming elections/polling, and to submit a proposal, if necessary, to the President of Georgia for fixing another date of elections according to this Law;
d) define, by an ordinance, the conditions and procedures for giving appropriate information to accused/convicted persons eligible to vote in penitentiary institution s;
e) establish, by an ordinance, electoral districts and/or specify their boundaries, as determined under this Law;
f) have, where necessary to solve the issues defined by this Law, the right to create a special group by an ordinance adopted by at least two-thirds of the total number of members, define the powers and the term of the group;
g) have, if any lower election commission does not or cannot fulfil the obligations under the legislation of Georgia, the right to terminate the powers of the commission by ordinance adopted by at least two-thirds of the total number of members and create an interim group to be responsible for exercising the powers until a new commission is established;
h) define, by an ordinance, a schedule for electoral events according to the timeframes defined by this Law;
i) call, by an ordinance, extraordinary elections, re-run elections, by-elections, repeat voting, and second round of elections;
j) verify, on its own initiative or based on an application/complaint, under the procedure determined in this Law for resolution of electoral disputes, the legality of decisions and acts of election commissions and their officials, and if any violation is identified, cancel or change the decisions and acts by its ordinance; decide, by an ordinance, on opening of packages from the respective PEC and re-counting of ballot papers/lists of voters. If ballot papers are re-counted, the CEC shall notify thereof all the electoral subjects and observer organisations whose representatives attended the counting of ballot papers at an electoral precinct, and shall ensure, upon request, the attendance of their representatives at the re-counting process;
j1) define, by an ordinance, the quota of members to be nominated by political parties in the Election Panel;
j2) approve, by an ordinance, members of the Election Panel under the procedure established by the Constitution of Georgia and this Law;
j3) register, by an ordinance, a candidate for President of Georgia;
k) based on summary protocols of polling results of DECs and PECs, considering the final decision of the court about violations of the electoral legislation of Georgia, determine results of elections of the Parliament of Georgia (under party lists), elections of Tbilisi Sakrebulo held under the proportional election system, elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi, and of a referendum/plebiscite, on which a CEC summary protocol of the election results shall be drawn up;
k1) determine results of the Presidential elections of Georgia, on which a CEC summary protocol of the Georgian Presidential Election results shall be drawn up;
l) grant, by an ordinance, an election/referendum/plebiscite the status of observer to a non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity defined in this Law, as well as to an international organisation, an organisation registered in another country, and a group of representatives of government agencies of another country;
m) determine, by a decree, the procedure for distributing and utilizing state funds allocated for holding an election, referendum, and plebiscite;
m1) define, by an ordinance, the number of auxiliary and technical personnel for the DECs and the minimal and maximal amounts of their official salaries;
m2) approve, by a decree, the statute of the CEC advisory group;
n) determine, by an ordinance, the form of election/referendum/plebiscite ballot papers; texts of ballot papers for parliamentary elections of Georgia, presidential elections of Georgia, mayoral and Sakrebulo elections of Tbilisi, and for a referendum/plebiscite; types of election boxes, election envelopes, and election commission seals; types of electoral documents that are not covered by this Law but are essential for organizing elections;
o) be accountable to the Parliament of Georgia and submit a report to it within 60 days after summarising results of each election;
p) ensure computer processing of polling/election results received from DECs and provide their immediate posting on the CEC website, and if a decision is made according to subparagraph j) of this paragraph, post the decision on the CEC website as well;
q) manage the activities of DECs and hear their reports from time to time;
r) ensure publication of information materials on its official website and their distribution;
s) adopt, by a decree, the regulations for certification of Electoral Administration officers and competitions for selecting CEC staff members and DEC members;
t) ensure monitoring of training conducted by LEPL Centre for Electoral Systems Development, Reforms, and Training;
u) consider election-related applications and complaints under the procedure established by this Law, and make an appropriate decision within its authority, including, when there is an appropriate ground for it, make a decision to dismiss an application/complaint without prejudice;
v) be responsible for creating a unified list of voters, for its computer processing, and for posting on the CEC official website the information designated as public (first name, last name; photo; date of birth; address as specified in the identity card of a citizen of Georgia; for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the occupied territories of Georgia – an actual address as well; for individuals registered without indication of address, individuals removed from registration according to the place of residence and those whose registration has been declared invalid by decision of the Agency – the address of their actual residence; the date of registration of a voter in the unified list of voters). The lists of voters belonging to ethnic minorities in the electoral precinct shall also be posted on the CEC official website during the election period in the language that they understand;
w) determine, by a decree, an additional rule for making a unified list of voters and polling procedures;
w1) be authorised to determine, by a decree, conditions and procedures for the submission of applications via electronic means by electoral subjects, observer organisations and observers appointed by such observer organisations, representatives of media and mass media, for the conduct of election registration/accreditation, the submission of applications by representatives of parties/electoral subjects via electronic means for the appointment of the commission members and representatives, and other matters related to the election procedures except for those related to the polling day;
x) approve, by an ordinance, upon recommendation of the CEC Chairperson, a staff list and a cost estimate;
x1) establish, by an ordinance, the procedure for using and fuelling vehicles in private possession by employees of the Elections Administration of Georgia and Legal Entity under Public Law called the Centre of Electoral Systems Development, Reforms and Trainings;
y) approve, by a decree, the procedures and conditions for special training of PEC members;
y1) determine, by a decree, conditions for the premature exoneration of DEC and PEC members from a disciplinary liability;
z) determine, by an ordinance, the form for reporting on expenses related to DEC elections/referenda;
z1) maintain the database on the election commission members who violated the electoral legislation of Georgia and the violation was confirmed by court, who were dismissed from the Electoral Administration office by an election commission or court for violating the electoral legislation of Georgia , and who were imposed disciplinary liability measures for culpable non-performance or improper performance of their official duties;
z11) maintain the database of persons holding certificates (of an Electoral Administration officer, a PEC member, or the head of a PEC), which is processed in accordance with the requirements established by the Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection;
z2) approve, by a decree, the regulations of the LEPL – Centre for Electoral Systems Development, Reforms, and Trainings;
z3) adopt, by a decree, the Code of Ethics for the Electoral Administration officers;
z4) approve, by an ordinance, a budget statement of the Electoral Administration of Georgia for the next year;
z5) approve, by an ordinance, strategic and annual action plans of the Electoral Administration of Georgia;
z6) determine, by an ordinance, the conditions and procedure for holding of elections in the Armed Forces units of Georgia dislocated abroad;
z61) approve, by a decree, the additional procedure for completing and checking the list of supporters;
z62) elect, by an ordinance, representatives of the CEC and define their powers;
z63) when different elections are held at the same time, determine, by an ordinance, the additional procedure and time limits for defining the sequence number of an electoral subject;
z64) not later than the 57th day before the Georgian Parliamentary Election day, define, by an ordinance, the list of facilities having the right to conduct drug testing;
z7) determine, by an ordinance, a minimum number of signatures of supporters for the candidates nominated by an initiative group of voters;
z71) determine, by an ordinance, members of the Election Panel, who are nominated by respective political parties from among the members of municipality representative bodies according to the quota determined by this Law;
z72) exercise other powers vested by this Law.
2. All CEC decrees shall be published in the Legislative Herald of Georgia (‘Sakartvelos Sakanonmdeblo Matsne’) and may also be published through other media. A CEC ordinance relating to the issues defined in paragraph 1(f-l) of this article shall be published within three days after they are adopted.
3. The CEC shall also be authorised to adopt a decree on the issues falling within its authority, and regarding the election and other procedures that are not covered by this Law and/or other legislative acts.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3562 of 1 May 2015 – website, 18.5.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 4392 of 27 October 2015 – website, 11.11.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 4706 of 23 December 2015 – website, 8.1.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 168 of 21 December 2016 – website, 28.12.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 15 – Powers of the CEC Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, and Secretary
1. The CEC Chairperson shall be the senior official of the Electoral Administration of Georgia.
2. The CEC Chairperson shall:
a) perform all administrative duties in the CEC;
b) preside over CEC sessions;
c) administer CEC funds;
c1) define, by an ordinance , the amount of financing of parties on the basis of the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens;
c2) define, by an ordinance, the number of persons employed at the election administration of Georgia on labour contracts;
d) register parties and initiative groups of voters participating in elections (for elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi), and their representatives to the CEC, under the procedure established by this Law;
e) register party lists, and candidates for Mayor of Tbilisi city;
f) grant appropriate certificates to representatives of parties and initiative groups of voters participating in elections (for elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi city);
g) grant appropriate certificates to candidates for Mayor of Tbilisi city;
g1) (Deleted – 28.6.2021, No 703);
h) grant an appropriate certificate to an elected member of Parliament of Georgia, the Mayor of Tbilisi and a member of Tbilisi Sakrebulo, and if the powers of a member of Parliament of Georgia and a member of Tbilisi Sakrebulo are prematurely terminated, the above certificate shall be granted to their legal successors;
i) furnish the Interim Credentials Commission of a newly elected Parliament of Georgia with all documents necessary for verifying the powers of elected MPs, and after setting up the respective Standing Committee, furnish the Standing Committee with the same documents;
j) (Deleted – 22.12.2022, No 2475);
k) except for the issues falling within the authority of the CEC as defined by law, based on an order of the CEC Chairperson, assign administrative and financial duties to the head of a CEC structural unit for a particular period;
l) give assignments to the Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, other members and employees of the CEC staff according to the regulations of the Electoral Administration;
m) exercise other powers granted by the election legislation of Georgia.
3. The CEC Deputy Chairperson shall:
a) act for the CEC Chairperson under Article 8(24) of this Law;
b) exercise certain powers of the CEC Chairperson by an ordinance of the CEC Chairperson and with the CEC consent (the ordinance shall clearly specify scopes and terms of assigned powers).
4. The CEC Secretary shall:
a) distribute all electoral documents and correspondence submitted and addressed to the CEC;
b) register, by an ordinance, representatives of a party and an initiative group of voters participating in elections of the Parliament of Georgia and municipal bodies (for elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi city) to DECs, and grant appropriate certificates to them;
b1) register, by an ordinance, representatives of a party and an initiative group of voters participating in elections of municipal bodies (for elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi city) to DECs, and grant appropriate certificates to them;
c) register, by an ordinance, observers appointed in the CEC by a non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity/international organisation with a status of election/referendum/plebiscite observer, register observers sent by the state bodies of another country, and issue observer certificates to them;
d) accredit, by an ordinance, representatives of the media and issue accreditation cards to them;
e) draft summary protocols of election results;
f) exercise other powers granted by the electoral legislation of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 16 – The CEC staff
1. The CEC staff shall ensure organisational, legal, and technical support of elections and referend a.
2. The CEC regulations shall determine the structure, rules of operation, and powers of the CEC staff.
3. An Electoral Administration officer (except for the commission members appointed by a party as defined in this Law) shall have limited involvement in party activities.
4. Unless otherwise determined by this article, a person may not be employed as a CEC staff member if he/she does not have a certificate of a public officer and a certificate of an electoral administration officer granted by the CEC, except for a person employed under a labour contract.
5. The CEC shall, by a decree, compile the list of agencies and employees on the staff list activities of which are not directly linked with the electoral procedures and who are not required to have a certificate of an electoral administration officer granted by the CEC. A certificate of a public officer is not required for a person who meets the requirements under Article 29(2) of the Law of Georgia on Public Service.
Organic Law of Georgia No 4392 of 27 October 2015 – website, 11.11.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 168 of 21 December 2016 – website, 28.12.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Article 161 – The CEC advisory group
1. The CEC shall, within 10 days after the elections are called, approve, by an ordinance, the composition of the CEC advisory group. The CEC advisory group shall be set up for the electoral period, with not less that 9 and not more than 15 members.
2. The CEC advisory group shall be composed of a representative of the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia and the international and/or local experts selected by the observer organisations.
3. The CEC advisory group shall submit to the CEC the recommendations with regard to the dispute review process. This group, by a CEC decree, may be granted additional functions, in particular, observing the process of repeat counting of the voting results.
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 17 – Legal Entity under Public Law (LEPL) – Centre for Electoral System Development, Reform, and Training
1. The Centre for Electoral System Development, Reform, and Training (‘the Training Centre’) is a legal entity under public law established on the basis of the Election Code. Powers of the Training Centre shall be defined in the legislation of Georgia and the regulations of the Training Centre.
2. The CEC shall exercise state control over the Training Centre.
3. The following shall be the duties of the Training Centre:
a) support electoral reforms;
b) draft , within its authority, proposals and recommendations for the improvement of electoral systems;
c) train and ensure professional development of Electoral Administration personnel and other interested individuals through close cooperation with local and international organisations;
d) (Deleted – 2.7.2020, No 6723);
e) conduct the certification of Electoral Administration officers under the procedure defined by the CEC decree;
e1) conduct the certification of PEC members and heads of PECs under the procedure defined by the CEC decree;
f) conduct election monitoring within its competence.
4. The CEC Chairperson shall, with the consent of the CEC, appoint and dismiss t he head of the Training Centre . The consent of the CEC shall be obtained by an ordinance.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 18 – Electoral districts
1. For Parliamentary Elections of Georgia, Georgia is a unified multi-seat electoral district.
2. The numbers of members of the representative body of a municipality – Sakrebulo elected under majoritarian and proportional electoral systems, and local majoritarian districts shall be defined by Law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 4706 of 23 December 2015 – website, 8.1.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 19 – Setting up of DECs
1. A DEC is a standing territorial body of the Electoral Administration of Georgia. The CEC shall set up a DEC by at least two thirds of the total number of the CEC members . A DEC has an official seal with its name on it, a stamp, and a settlement and current bank accounts. The DEC chairperson and accountant are responsible for the DEC expenditure authorised by the CEC. A DEC may spend funds allocated for elections from any account opened with any commercial bank and/or its branch office.
2. The CEC shall be authorised to set up, by an ordinance, one DEC within the boundaries of one municipality, and 10 DECs in Tbilisi municipality. The boundaries of a municipality concerned shall be the jurisdiction of a DEC.
3. The term of office of a DEC member shall be five years. The term of office of a DEC member elected by the CEC under paragraph 5 of this article after elections are called shall be defined for the period from his/her appointment till the announcement of the final results of the elections in question.
4. Five members of a DEC shall be elected by the CEC for a five year-term by at least two thirds of the total number of members, unless otherwise established by this Law.
5. After elections are called, members of a DEC shall be appointed by the respective parties under the procedure established by Article 13 of this Law. Three members of a DEC shall be elected by the CEC by at least two thirds of the total number of members for the period until the final results of the elections in question are announced, unless otherwise established by this Law.
6. The d ecision of a party on the appointment of a DEC member must be submitted to the CEC within 7 calendar days after calling elections.
7. A party shall have the right to withdraw and appoint a DEC member only 3 weeks before the polling day. A party shall have the right to appoint a new DEC member during the last 3 weeks before the polling day if only an appointed member resigns or dies, and when a person cannot exercise powers of a DEC member by virtue of a court decision.
8. A person nominated as a DEC member shall not be considered a DEC member if the deadline for submitting the documents defined under Article 20(13) of this Law is not met, and/or the documents submitted are incomplete or inaccurate and the deficiencies in the aforementioned documents have not been corrected within the time limit set by this paragraph. If the documents submitted fail to comply with the requirements established by Article 20(17) of this Law, the CEC Chairperson shall, within two days, notify the entity that has appointed the DEC member of this fact (indicating the discrepancy). The corrected documents must be returned to the CEC within three days.
9. A person appointed as a DEC member by an authorised party shall not be considered a DEC member either if it is revealed that this person, at the time of his/her nomination to the CEC, is a member of the same or another election commission, and/or a person nominated fails to meet the requirements under Article 20(17) of this Law. In this case, the CEC Chairperson shall, within two days, notify the authorised party of this fact and shall additionally allow it a period of one day to nominate a new DEC member.
10. The head officer of a DEC shall be elected by the DEC from among the commission members elected by the CEC for a term of 5 years, by a majority of the total number of members .
11. A DEC may not be located in the same building where the administration of a state representative, the municipality representative body Sakrebulo or the City Hall, a party, a court, a police division, or a division of the State Security Service of Georgia are located.
12. A party or the election headquarters of a party/an initiative group may not be located in the building where the DEC is located.
13. The DEC Chairperson shall have the right, during the electoral period, to hire, under labour contracts, auxiliary and technical staff members (except for an accountant) for the DEC in the number determined by an ordinance of the CEC. The auxiliary and technical staff members of the DEC shall not be the public servants under the Law of Georgia on Public Service and they shall not fall under the requirements on incompatibility of offices established by the legislation of Georgia.
14. The DEC Chairperson may hire, under a labour contract, as many accountants as defined under paragraph 13 of this article until the end of the procedures provided for by Article 53(5) of this Law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 4392 of 27 October 2015 – website, 11.11.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 4706 of 23 December 2015 – website, 8.1.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 168 of 21 December 2016 – website, 28.12.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 20 – Procedures for appointing/electing a DEC member/head officer
1. A DEC shall consist of not more than 17 members appointed/elected within the period and under the procedure established by this Law by the subjects defined by the same Law.
2. After a respective vacant position becomes available, a DEC shall elect the DEC head officer, at the very first session of the DEC, from among the DEC members appointed by the CEC for a 5-year term, by a majority of the total number of members, through roll-call voting. The term of office of a DEC head officer shall be defined for his/her period of membership in the DEC.
3. Not less than 2 members of the commission shall have the right to nominate candidates to the DEC chairperson, deputy chairperson, and secretary.
4. The same candidate may be nominated only twice.
5. If a DEC fails to elect a head officer within the established timeframe, the commission member who receives the most votes during elections shall perform the duties of the head officer until he/she is elected; and in the case of equal votes, the person elected by casting lots shall perform the duties of the head officer.
6. The CEC shall issue an ordinance for the conduct of competition not later than 60 days before the term of office of a DEC member expires or not later than three days after his/her term of office terminates early.
7. The CEC shall elect a DEC member not earlier than20 and not later than10 days before the term of office of the DEC member expires. The DEC head officers shall be elected within the same timeframe.
8. If the term of office of a DEC member elected by the CEC terminates early, the CEC shall elect the substitute within 15 days (and within seven days after announcing Election Day). The DEC head officers shall be elected within the same timeframe if their term of office terminates early.
9. The term of office of 3 DEC members elected by the CEC under Article 19(5) of this Law , and the term of office of the DEC members appointed by the parties provided for by Article 13 of this Law shall be terminated immediately after the final results of the elections are announced.
10. Candidates for DEC membership shall be selected by open competition.
11. Candidates for DEC membership shall be non-partisan persons with higher education, fluent in the official language of Georgia, and holding a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer.
12. Any capable citizen of Georgia, who has attained the age of 21 and who meets the requirements of this Law, may participate in a competition. The deadline for submission of competition documents shall be as follows:
a) if the term of office expires – within 14 days after the competition is announced;
b) if the term of office terminates early - within10 days after the competition is announced, and if elections are called - within two days after the competition is announced.
13. A competition application shall specify: first name and last name, education (higher), occupation, scientific degree (if any), address (according to a Georgian citizen’s identity card (registration certificate)), work place and position, contact address and telephone number (if any) of a candidate, number and name of an electoral district, in which the candidate wants to become a DEC member. The candidate shall sign the application and shall enclose with it:
a) two photos;
b) a photocopy of a Georgian citizen’s identity card or a photocopy of a Georgian citizen’s passport;
c) a photocopy of a document of higher education of the candidate (as well as academic (scientific) degree, if any);
d) a photocopy of a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer;
e) employment record and description of the election-related experience of the candidate (if any).
14. If the submitted documents are inconsistent with the requirements provided for by this article, the CEC Chairperson shall notify the candidate of it (specifying the discrepancy) within two days. The corrected documents shall be returned to the CEC within two days, but not later than the registration deadline.
15. The CEC shall publish the list of candidates on its official website after the deadline for receiving documents expires.
16. The CEC shall elect DEC members by roll-call voting. Each candidate shall be voted for individually. A candidate supported by a majority of at least two thirds of the total number of CEC members shall be deemed elected. If the number of these candidates turns out to be more than the number to be elected, the candidates among them with better results shall be deemed elected. If the winner cannot be identified due to an equal number of votes received by the candidates, they shall be put t o a vote immediately to identify the winner among them. If the winner cannot be identified again, he/she shall be identified by casting lots. If a DEC member cannot be elected according to the procedure established by this paragraph, the candidates shall be put t o a vote again. During repeated voting, the candidate supported by a majority of the total number of the CEC members shall be deemed elected. If not all vacancies are filled yet, the competition for the remaining vacancies shall be announced from the beginning.
17. The following persons may not be elected/appointed as DEC members:
a) a person who has not been granted the certificate of an Electoral Administration officer;
a1) a person who has not reached the age of 21 by the date of nomination as a member of the District Election Commission;
b) a person who has been dismissed from post at the Electoral Administration by the election commission or the court for violating the electoral legislation of Georgia – for 4 years after the day of his/her dismissal;
c) a person who has been recognised as an administrative offender by court for violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia, – for 4 years after the entry into legal force of the court decision;
d) a person with previous conviction (except when a fine has been imposed as a sanction)
e) an electoral subject/candidate and his/her representative;
f) an election observer;
g) a representative of print media and other means of mass communication accredited in an election commission in question.
171. Except as provided for by paragraph 17 of this article, the following persons may not be elected as DEC members either:
a) a person who, after calling of any of the last two general elections conducted or the last two by-elections conducted, has been a member of an election commission, an electoral subject or a representative of an electoral subject appointed by a party;
b) a person who has been a sponsor of any party from the beginning of the year the last general elections were conducted or from the beginning of the year the last by-elections were conducted.
172. For the verification of information about the sponsors of parties, the Legal Entity under Public Law (LEPL) – the Anti-Corruption Bureau shall provide the CEC with the opportunity for the proper accessibility and verification of an electronic database of the sponsors of parties.
18. If a person is elected/appointed as a DEC member, he/she shall, within seven days, meet the requirements defined by this Law for the restriction of activities and official incompatibility.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 21 – Powers of a DEC
A DEC shall:
a) ensure, within its powers, the conduct of elections, referend a, and plebiscite s , oversee the process of implementation of the electoral legislation of Georgia, and ensure its uniform application;
b) establish and specify, by an ordinance, the boundaries of electoral precincts;
c) have, if a lower PEC is unable or fails to perform the duties assigned to it under the legislation of Georgia, the right to request the CEC to suspend the powers of th at commission by a majority decision of the total number of DEC members;
d) determine, by an ordinance, the text of ballot papers for the elections of the municipality bodies to be held in the electoral district;
d1) open the respective election documentation and count the voting results again when the number of votes given to an electoral subject, the total number of voters participating in the elections and/or the number of ballot papers deemed void has been altered in the summary protocol of the voting results drawn up by a PEC in such a way that it is not accompanied with the amendment protocol. Where this is the case, the DEC shall only count/check the election documentation counting/checking of which is sufficient to verify the veracity of the aforementioned datum/data altered, and if the result of the counting/checking of the documentation is not the same as the datum/data altered, the DEC shall re-count both the ballot papers and the number of voter signatures in all types of voters’ lists;
d2) not later than the 6th day from the polling day, identify 5 electoral precincts at a commission session, by random selection from the electoral precincts within the territory of an electoral district, to open the packages received from the PECs of these electoral precincts and to re-count the voting results. Where this is the case, the DEC shall re-count the ballot papers, and if the result of the re-counting of the ballot papers is not the same as the data in the summary protocol of the polling results, the DEC shall re-count the number of voter signatures in all types of voters’ lists. In order to identify electoral precincts by a random selection under this sub-paragraph, the electoral precincts provided for by sub-paragraphs d3 and d4 of this article shall not be taken into account;
d3) open the respective election documentation and re-count the voting results when the sum of the number of ballot papers deemed invalid and the number of votes given to the electoral subjects is 5 or more than 5 more than the total number of voters participating in the elections as specified in the summary protocol of the polling results drawn up by the PEC. If this is the case, the DEC shall re-count the ballot papers, and if the sum of the number of ballot papers deemed invalid and the number of votes given to the electoral subjects is not the same, as a result of re-counting of the ballot papers, as the total number of voters participating in the elections as specified in the summary protocol of the polling results drawn up by the PEC, the DEC must re-count the number of voter signatures in all types of voters’ lists;
d4) open the respective election documentation and re-count the voting results when the sum of the number of ballot papers deemed invalid and the number of votes given to the electoral subjects is 10 or more than 10 less than the total number of voters participating in the elections as specified in the summary protocol of the polling results drawn up by the PEC by. If this is the case, the DEC shall re-count the ballot papers, and if the sum of the number of ballot papers deemed invalid and the number of votes given to the electoral subjects is not the same, as a result of re-counting of the ballot papers, as the total number of voters participating in the elections as specified in the summary protocol of the polling results drawn up by the PEC, the DEC must re-count the number of voter signatures in all types of voters’ lists;
e) based on an application/complaint (if the application/complaint is filed under the procedure and within the time limit determined by this Law), and on its own initiative, verify the legality of actions and decisions of PECs and their officials (including the accuracy of keeping record of participants in elections, counting of ballot papers, etc.), and if violations are discovered, make an appropriate decision (including, change the data in the PEC summary protocol of polling results according to the verification results, or annul polling results in an electoral precinct); if the violation results in the replacement of a person elected in a single-seat district or of a candidate participating in the second round of elections, or the replacement of persons elected in a multi-seat electoral district (during elections of the municipality bodies), or the change of recognition of elections as held or failed (according to a majoritarian electoral district and during elections of the municipality bodies), and when the aforementioned verification fails to allow the DEC to establish legality of the results, it shall make a decision to declare void the polling results in the electoral precinct concerned, and to raise the question before the CEC as to holding a repeat vote. If a DEC makes the decision to re-count votes, the DEC shall communicate this information to all electoral subjects and observer organisations whose representatives were present during counting of ballot papers at an electoral precinct, and shall ensure, if they wish, the attendance of their representatives during the re-counting;
f) based on summary protocols of polling results of PECs, giving consideration to the final decision about violations of the electoral legislation of Georgia, summarize electoral district voting results of respective elections/referend a /plebiscite s and draw up a summary protocol of polling results of the DEC;
g) based on summary protocols of polling results of PECs, considering the consequence of a decision of a district/city court regarding violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia, determine the results of elections during elections of the municipality bodies (except for Tbilisi Sakrebulo elections) and during Mayoral elections of a self-governing city (except for Tbilisi city)/a self-governing community, and in this regard, draw up a summary protocol of the DEC on election results;
h) grant, by an ordinance, the status of a domestic observer of elections/referend a /plebiscite s to local non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entit ies referred to in this Law;
i) ensure the conduct of extraordinary elections, re-run elections, repeat voting, and run-off elections;
i1) elect, by an ordinance, representatives of a DEC and define their powers;
j) ensure the release and publication of election-related information materials;
k) review the applications and complaints related to the election process and make an appropriate decision within its power, including when there are appropriate grounds for that, make a decision on dismissing an application/complaint without prejudice;
l) facilitate the compiling of lists of voters as determined in this Law and ensure publicity thereof and accessibility thereto;
m) provide PEC members with workshops and training courses for professional development;
n) exercise other powers granted by this Law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 22 – Powers of chairpersons, deputy chairpersons, and secretaries of DECs
1. The DEC chairperson shall:
a) perform full administrative duties at the DEC;
b) chair DEC sessions;
c) administer DEC funds;
c1) conclude labour contracts with auxiliary and technical personnel of the DEC;
d) give assignments to the deputy chairperson, secretary, other DEC members, and assisting and technical personnel according to the regulations of the Electoral Administration;
e) register initiative groups of voters, majoritarian candidates nominated in an electoral district by a party/an initiative group of voters; also party lists, and candidates for Mayor for the elections of the municipality bodies (except for elections of Tbilisi municipality Sakrebulo and elections of Tbilisi Mayor);
f) grant appropriate certificates to candidates nominated by a party/an initiative group of voters;
f1) (Deleted – 28.6.2021, No 703);
g) issue appropriate certificates to elected Sakrebulo members (except for Tbilisi Municipality Sakrebulo members) and if the term of office of the members is terminated, issue certificates to their successors, also to a Mayor (except for the Mayor of Tbilisi municipality);
h) provide the CEC with all documents required for verification of powers of an elected Sakrebulo member, of a Mayor, also other electoral documents provided for by the electoral legislation of Georgia;
h1) (Deleted – 22.12.2022, No 2475);
i) exercise other powers granted by the electoral legislation of Georgia.
2. The DEC deputy chairperson shall:
a) act for the DEC chairperson if the DEC does not have a chairperson or the DEC chairperson is unable to act for him/her;
b) exercise certain powers granted by an ordinance of the DEC chairperson (the ordinance shall clearly specify scopes and terms of powers).
3. The DEC secretary shall:
a) distribute electoral documents and correspondence submitted and addressed to the DEC;
b) register, by an ordinance, the representatives to PECs of a party and an initiative group of voters participating in elections, and grant appropriate certificates to them;
c) register, by an ordinance, observers appointed by a non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity with an election/referendum the status of observer in DECs and PEC sand issue observer certificates to them;
d) accredit, by an ordinance, the media representatives and issue accreditation cards to them;
e) draw up minutes of election commission sessions, including the summary protocols of polling and election results;
f) exercise other powers granted by the electoral legislation of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 23 – Electoral precincts
1. To conduct polling and count votes, an electoral district shall be divided into electoral precincts.
2. An electoral precinct shall be set up for not less than 20 and not more than 1 500 voters, except as provided for in paragraph 21 of this article and Article 763(4) of this Code. The respective DEC shall set up electoral precincts, and shall define their boundaries and numbers not later than on 1 July of the election year, and shall publish, within two days, the respective information about the boundaries of the electoral precincts. Based on the data of local self-government bodies, the DEC shall define and specify the list and addresses of the residential buildings within the area of the electoral precinct, as well as the list and addresses of all facilities that may be used by the Electoral Administration for election purposes. If extraordinary elections of the Parliament of Georgia are called, the electoral precincts shall be set up not later than 40 days before Election Day.
21. At an electoral precinct, where voters determined by Article 32(1)(d) of this Law cast their votes, the number of voters shall not exceed 2 000.
3. Information about the boundaries of electoral precincts , specifying the addresses of all residential buildings (if any) , shall be posted inside the DEC building.
4. In exceptional cases (deployment of military personnel of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia abroad, the penitentiary institution, hospitals and other inpatient facilities, shelters for the elderly, homeless shelters, shelters for people with special needs, and other social facilities where the number of voters exceeds 50) an electoral precinct may be set up not later than the 15th day before the polling day . A facility defined by this paragraph, where the number of voters does not exceed 50, shall be assigned by a DEC ordinance to the nearest electoral precinct.
5. A relevant DEC shall specify the boundaries of electoral precincts, also the list and addresses of the buildings and structures referred to in paragraph 2 of this article located within an electoral precinct not later than the 50th day before Election Day based on data and verification provided by the municipality bodies acting in the territory of a self-governing city/community. The specified boundaries of electoral precincts shall be published immediately.
6. Setting up electoral precincts for servicemen of institutions defined by Article 32(1)(d) of this Law on the territory of their respective units shall be prohibited, except as provided for by Article 23(4) of this Law.
7. Electoral precinct s abroad shall be set up by the CEC based on data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, not later than the 30th day before Election Day, for not less than 50 and not more than 3 000 voters. The CEC shall summarise the results of the above electoral precincts in separate protocols.
8. A DEC shall, not later than 5 days after setting up electoral precincts, and within 2 days in the case provided for in paragraph 4 of this article, publish on the CEC official website the numbers of electoral precincts, and addresses, telephone numbers, and other details of the PECs.
Organic Law of Georgia No 901 of 29 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5441 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 24 – Setting up of a PEC
1. A PEC shall consist of not more than 17 members appointed/elected within the period and under the procedure established by this Law by the subjects defined by the same Law.
2. A respective DEC shall elect 8 PEC members, including the head officers of the aforementioned PEC, by at least two thirds of the total number of its members, provided that a candidate is also supported by at least 3 members of the respective DEC elected by the CEC for a 5-year term. A DEC member shall not participate in the selection procedure defined in this paragraph if he/she is a family member of a candidate for membership in a respective PEC (spouse, direct ascendant or descendant relative, stepchild, sister, brother or a stepchild of a parent or child, sister, brother, or a parent of the spouse).
3. Eight members of a PEC set up in a foreign state, including the head officers of the aforementioned PEC, shall be elected by the CEC under the procedure established by this article and Articles 25 and 251 of this Law.
4. Nine members of a PEC shall be appointed by the respective parties under the procedure established by Article 13 of this Law.
5. A legally competent citizen of Georgia from the age of 18, who meets the requirements determined by this Law and who has a certificate of a PEC member, except as provided for by paragraphs 51 and 52 of this article, may be elected, and appointed by an authorised party as a member of a PEC.
51. A certificate of a PEC member shall not be required for:
a) a person holding a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer;
b) a person holding a certificate of a head of a PEC;
c) a member of a PEC set up as an exception;
d) a member of a PEC set up in a foreign state;
e) a person participating in a competition for selecting a PEC member announced as a result of the termination of powers of a PEC member;
f) a person participating in a competition announced under Article 25(8) and (9) of this Law;
g) a PEC member appointed by an authorised party.
52. A DEC shall have the right to elect, on competition basis, a person without a certificate of a PEC member as a PEC member if not all vacancies for one or more than one PEC members have been filled as a result of a competition repeatedly announced for the selection of PEC members.
6. The following persons/entities may not be elected/appointed as PEC members:
a) a person who has been dismissed from a position in the Electoral Administration of Georgia by the election commission or the court due to violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia – during 4 years after the day of his/her dismissal;
b) a person who has been recognised as an administrative offender by court due to violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia – during 4 years after the entry into legal force of the court decision;
b1) a person who has not attained the age of 18 on the day he/she was presented as a PEC member;
b2) a person who has no certificate of a PEC member, except as provided for by paragraphs 51 and 52 of this article;
c) a person with previous conviction (except when a fine has been imposed as a sanction on the person);
d) an MP of Georgia, or the head of staff of the Parliament of Georgia;
e) a minister of Georgia or of an autonomous republic , and his/her deputy;
f) a head of a department or of a division of a ministry;
g) the chairperson of a municipality representative body – Sakrebulo, a Mayor, and their deputies;
h) a military service member, an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, the State Security Service of Georgia, the Georgian Intelligence Service, the state sub-agency institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the Special Penitentiary Service, the Special State Protection Service of Georgia, the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, and an investigator of the Investigative Division of the Special Investigation Service;
i) a judge or his/her assistant;
j) an employee of the Prosecutor’s Office;
k) an electoral subject/a candidate for electoral subject or its representative;
l) an observer ;
m) a representative of print media and other means of mass communication accredited in an election commission in question .
61. Except as provided for by paragraph 6 of this article, the following persons may not be elected as a PEC member either:
a) a person who, after calling of any of the last two general elections conducted or the last two by-elections conducted, has been a member of an election commission, an electoral subject or a representative of an electoral subject appointed by a party;
b) a person who has been a sponsor of any party from the beginning of the year the last general elections were conducted or from the beginning of the year the last by-elections were conducted.
[6 2 . For the verification of information about the sponsors of parties, the Legal Entity under Public Law (LEPL) – the Anti-Corruption Bureau shall provide the CEC with the opportunity for the proper accessibility and verification of an electronic database of the sponsors of parties. (Shall become effective from 1 September 2023)]
63. Provisions for the Certification of PEC Members shall be approved by the CEC, by a decree. The examination tests for the aforementioned certification must include the topics only from the Organic Law of Georgia the Election Code of Georgia and the PEC regulations, according to the functions of the PEC members.
64. The period of validity of a certificate of a PEC Member shall be 5 years after the appropriate examination was passed. The conditions for the prolongation of the validity of a certificate of a PEC Member shall be defined by a decree of the CEC.
7. A public servant (except for a person provided for in paragraph 6(d-j) of this article) may be elected/appointed as a PEC member. The requirements on the incompatibility of offices established by the Law of Georgia on Public Service shall not apply to him/her. In case a public servant is elected/appointed as a PEC member, the term of office of the public servant during his/her exercise of powers of a PEC member may be temporarily suspended at his/her permanent place of work, for which purpose he/she shall be granted an unpaid leave or his/her due paid leave at his/her own request, under the procedure established by law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1788 of 13 December 2013 – website, 28.12.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3301 of 21 July 2018 – website, 9.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 4259 of 27 December 2018 – website, 29.12.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 4903 of 28 June 2019 – website, 28.6.2019
Organic Law of Georgia No 4988 of 20 September 2019 – website, 23.9.2019
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 1340 of 30 December 2021 – website, 13.1.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 25 – Appointment/election of PEC members
1. (Deleted – 22.12.2022, No 2475).
2. (Deleted – 22.12.2022, No 2475).
3. (Deleted – 22.12.2022, No 2475).
4. A DEC shall elect PEC members for regular elections not later than the 46th day, and for extraordinary elections – not earlier than the 50th day and not later than the 46th day before Election Day. Before electing PEC members, the list of appropriate candidates shall be published on the official website of the CEC. Members of a PEC set up in an exceptional case shall be elected not earlier than the 10th day and not later than the 9th day before the Election Day.
5. The CEC shall elect members of a PEC set up abroad not earlier than the 24th day and not later than the 20th day before the Election Day.
6. The decision of a party authorised under Article 24(4) of this Law regarding the appointment of a PEC member shall be submitted to an appropriate DEC not earlier than the 45th day and not later than the 40th day before Election Day, while the decision regarding the appointment of a commission member to a PEC set up in a exceptional case shall be submitted to an appropriate DEC not earlier than the 14th day and not later than the 9th day before Election Day; and the decision regarding the appointment of a member of a PEC set up in another state shall be submitted to the CEC after the PEC is set up, not later than the 20th day before Election Day.
61. If the party entitled to appoint a member of the commission does not exercise this right within the period established by this law, it shall lose the right to appoint a member of the Precinct Election Commission during the election period of the same election.
7. The respective DEC shall publish the list of PEC members on the official CEC website not later than the 29th day before Election Day, and the list of members of an election commission set up in exceptional cases – not later than the 5th day before Election Day; the CEC shall publish the list of members of a commission set up abroad not later than the 10th day before Election Day.
8. If on the 30th day, and for the commissions set up in exceptional cases, on the 8th day, and for the commission s operating abroad, on the 19th day before Election Day, there are less members in the PEC than required , the higher DEC (in the first two cases) and the CEC (in the third case) shall have the right to elect commission members, instead of the PEC members that have left the commission, within three days from among the compet ing candidates or by announcing another competition. The CEC shall determine, by an ordinance, the procedure for conducting the competition for selecting PEC members, the competition terms and conditions, and the procedure for electing the aforementioned members.
9. The decision of an authorised party about withdrawal of a PEC member or appointment of his/her legal successor shall be submitted to the respective PEC and the higher DEC, and for the commissions operating abroad, the decision shall be submitted to the CEC.
10. If a party authorised to appoint the legal successor of a commission member fails to exercise this right after the term of office of the commission member terminates early, or if the term of office of a commission member elected by a DEC or the CEC terminates earl y and because of this there are fewer members in the commission than required, the DEC or the CEC may appoint a new candidate within five days after the deadline for nominating new candidates expire. In such case, the party shall lose the right to reappoint a member of the Precinct Election Commission during the election period of the same election.
11. A DEC and the CEC shall elect PEC members by roll-call voting. Each candidate shall be voted for individually. When electing a PEC member by the CEC, a candidate supported by at least two thirds of the total number of the CEC members shall be deemed elected, and when electing a PEC member by a DEC, a candidate supported by at least two thirds of the total number of the respective DEC members shall be deemed elected, provided that he/she was supported by at least 3 respective DEC members elected by the CEC for a 5-year term. If the number of candidates turns out to be more than the number to be elected, the candidates with better results among them shall be deemed elected. If the winner cannot be identified due to the equal number of votes received by the candidates, these candidates shall be put t o a vote immediately to identify the winner. At repeated polling, a candidate supported by a majority of the total number of members of a respective election commission shall be deemed elected. If the winner cannot be still identified , it shall be determined by casting lots. If not all vacancies are filled as a result of the procedure established by this paragraph, the decision shall be made by the CEC.
12. A decision about the election/appointment of a PEC member shall indicate the first name and last name of the elected/appointed member, also the number of the PEC to which the candidate has been elected/appointed. A p arty decision on the appointment of a PEC member shall indicate the contact address and telephone number of the appointed commission member. A photocopy of the Georgian citizen’s identity card or a photocopy of the Georgian citizen’s passport and the consent of the appointed commission member shall be attached to the decision.
13. A person nominated as a PEC member shall not be deemed a PEC member if the time limit for submitting the documents defined in this article has been violated and/or if the documents submitted are incomplete or inaccurate, and the deficiencies in the documents have not been corrected within the time limit under this paragraph. If the submitted documents do not meet the requirement defined by this article, respectively the CEC Chairperson or the DEC chairperson shall, within two days, inform (specifying the discrepancy) the entity that elected/appointed the PEC member. The corrected documents shall be returned respectively to the DEC or the CEC within three days.
131. A person appointed by an authorised party as a PEC member shall not be considered a PEC member either if the person appears to be a member of the same or another election commission at the moment of his/her nomination to the DEC, and/or the person nominated fails to meet the requirements under Article 24(6) of this Law. In such a case, the DEC Chairperson shall notify the authorised party about this within two days and shall additionally allow it one day for nomination of a new PEC member.
14. The newly setup PEC shall start operating and the powers of its members shall commence from the 30th day on before the Election Day. The powers shall be terminated immediately after the respective DEC draws up the summary protocol of the polling results.
15. (Deleted – 25.7.2013, No 864).
16. (Deleted – 25.7.2013, No 864).
17. (Deleted – 25.7.2013, No 864).
18. (Deleted – 25.7.2013, No 864).
19. (Deleted – 25.7.2013, No 864).
20. The term of office of a PEC member shall terminate upon election of his/her substitute commission member.
21. (Deleted – 22.12.2022, No 2475).
Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 251 – Election of PEC head officers
1. A chairperson, deputy chairperson and a secretary of the PEC (the PEC head officers) shall be, at the same time, the members of the PEC. The termination of powers of the aforementioned persons shall, at the same time, result in terminating their PEC membership.
2. The PEC head officers shall be elected by the respective DEC under the procedure and within the time limits established by this article and Articles 24 and 25 of this Law.
3. The head officers of the PEC established in other states shall be elected by the CEC in accordance with the procedure and within the established time limits provided for by this article and Articles 24 and 25 of this Law.
4. Procedures for conducting the competition for the selection of the PEC head officers, the conditions and terms of the competition and the procedure for electing the mentioned persons shall be determined by the CEC ordinance.
5. A legally competent citizen of Georgia from the age of 18, who meets the requirements determined by paragraphs 6 and paragraph 61 of Article 24 of this Law, and who has the certificate of the PEC head officer, may be elected as a PEC head officer, except for the cases provided for by paragraphs 6 and 7 of this article.
6. The certificate of the PEC head officer shall not be required from:
a) a person holding a certificate of an electoral administration officer;
b) a head officer of the PEC established in exceptional cases;
c) a head officer of the PEC established in another state;
d) a person participating in the competition announced for the selection of the PEC head officer due to termination of the term of office of the PEC head officer.
7. The DEC shall have the right to elect a person who does not hold the certificate of the PEC head officer, as the PEC head officer, based on the competition, unless, as a result of the repeated competition announced for the selection of the PEC head officers, all the vacancies of one or more head officers of the PEC have been filled.
8. The CEC shall adopt by decree the regulations for certification of the PEC head officers. The tests for the mentioned certification shall cover the questions only from the Organic Law of Georgia Election Code of Georgia and the PEC regulations, in accordance with the functions of the PEC head officers.
9. The validity of the certificate of the PEC head officer shall be 5 years after passing the relevant exam. The conditions for extending the validity of the certificate of the PEC head officer shall be determined by the CEC decree.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 26 – Powers of a PEC
1. A PEC is an interim territorial body of the Electoral Administration of Georgia, which is composed of the subjects referred to in Article 24 of this Law, officials appointed/elected by the CEC and the higher DEC.
2. A PEC shall:
a) within its powers, ensure the conduct of elections, referend a, and plebiscite s in an electoral precinct , the implementation of the electoral legislation of Georgia, the compliance of the procedures under the electoral legislation of Georgia during polling, the exercise and the protection of the rights of voters, representatives, and observers guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia and this Law;
b) verify the accuracy of the lists of voters, consider complaints related to the lists of voters and if errors and inaccuracies are identified, apply to the higher DEC, not later than the following day, for making changes to the lists;
c) based on applications and complaints of voters , draw up a mobile ballot box list;
d) prepare the polling results at an electoral precinct, for which a summary protocol of the polling results of the PEC shall be drawn up;
d1) (Deleted – 28.6.2021, No 703);
e) have the right to bring up a question to the higher DEC, by decision of a majority of the total number of its members, for declaring polling results void;
f) distribute voter invitation cards among voters;
g) be responsible for the posting of information under the electoral legislation of Georgia in electoral precincts, for the proper preparation of the place where polling and ballot counting are to be conducted, and ensure the observance of orderat the precinct;
h) on the polling day, consider applications and complaints related to electoral process and polling preparation process and make respective decisions within its powers;
i) guarantee the unconditional exercise of suffrage for voters on the polling day and assume full responsibility for the protection of those rights;
j) cancel decisions made by the PEC chairperson regarding temporary closure of the polling station, ce ssation of the polling process, reopening of the polling station, and continuation of polling following its closure;
k) exercise other powers granted by the electoral legislation of Georgia.
3. All the ordinances issued by a PEC and its chairperson shall be posted at the electoral precinct on the following day.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 27 – Powers of chairpersons, deputy chairpersons, and secretaries of PECs
1. The PEC chairperson shall:
a) perform full administrative duties at the PEC;
b) chair PEC sessions;
c) receive and distribute electoral documents and correspondence submitted and addressed to the PEC;
d) assume personal responsibility for the storage and purposeful distribution of ballot papers, special envelopes, commission seals, summary protocols, and other electoral documents;
e) give assignments to the deputy chairperson, secretary and other members of the commission according to the regulations of the Electoral Administration;
f) organise the distribution of duties among commission members on the polling day by casting lots;
g) be responsible for keeping order inside the polling place on the polling day;
h) not allow persons authorised to be present at the polling station without wearing appropriate badges;
i) submit all electoral documents to the higher DEC after polling results are summarised;
j) exercise other powers granted by the electoral legislation of Georgia.
2. The PEC deputy chairperson shall:
a) act for the PEC chairperson if the PEC does not have a chairperson or the PEC chairperson is unable to act for him/her;
b) exercise certain powers granted by an ordinance of the PEC chairperson (the ordinance shall clearly specify scopes and terms of the powers).
3. The PEC secretary shall:
a) prepare drafts of the PEC ordinances;
b) be responsible for the release of public information;
c) draw up minutes of PEC sessions, including summary protocols of polling results;
d) exercise other powers granted by this Law.
4. If PEC members fail to fulfil the requirements defined by this Law, disciplinary measures provided for by Article 28(1)(2) shall be imposed on them.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Article 28 – Disciplinary liability measures against PEC and DEC members
1. The following shall constitute disciplinary misconduct by DEC and PEC members:
a) culpable non-performance or improper performance of official duties;
b) inflicting or culpably threat ening to inflict property damage to the Electoral Administration of Georgia;
c) absence at work without a good reason;
d) having missed 3 consecutive PEC session s without a good reason;
e) gross violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia and the respective election commission regulation s;
f) refusal to perform the mandatory signing of summary protocols of polling and election results;
g) non-attendance of training organised by the election administration of Georgia/training centre, without good reason;
h) neglect or violation of ethical standards, or general rules of conduct aimed at discrediting an officer and the election administration of Georgia, irrespective of whether it is committed in or outside the office.
2. The respective higher DEC may apply the following disciplinary measures against DEC and PEC members for any disciplinary misconduct:
a) verbal warning;
b) written warning;
c) withhold ing the official salary/part of the official salary;
d) early termination of powers (except for members appointed by parties).
3. Only one disciplinary measure may be applied for one incident of misconduct.
4. The respective higher election commission shall apply simple administrative proceedings under the General Administrative Code of Georgia for imposing disciplinary measures against DEC and PEC members. Disciplinary measures imposed on an election commission member shall be appropriate to the gravity of the disciplinary misconduct committed by the commission member.
41. If a member of the election commission has been summoned or his/her term of office has been terminated prematurely during the period when he/she is being prosecuted by a court or election commission for disciplinary liability for the violation of the election law, the authorised body shall confirm the violation of law and if the fact is verified the restrictions under Article 12 (5)(b), Article 20 (17)(b) and Article 24 (6)(a) of this Law shall apply.
42. The decision on imposing or refusing to impose disciplinary liability on a PEC member shall be made within a period of 12 calendar days after an appropriate application/complaint is submitted, except as provided for by paragraph 43 of this article.
43. A decision with regard to an application/complaint, submitted before the polling day, on imposing disciplinary liability on a PEC member shall be made within a period of 7 calendar days after an appropriate application/complaint is submitted.
5. A DEC member shall be deemed as having disciplinary liability within one year from imposition of a disciplinary measure, while a PEC member shall be deemed as such within two years.
6. A respective superior election commission shall be authorised to prematurely lift the disciplinary liability from a DEC member, while it may lift the disciplinary liability from a PEC member one year after a disciplinary measure was imposed. A disciplinary liability shall be prematurely lifted under the same procedure as it was imposed.
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1836 of 22 December 2017 – website, 29.12.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 29 – Early termination of tenure of members/head officers of an election commission
1. The tenure of CEC Chairperson/member shall terminate early by a resolution of the Parliament of Georgia (except for the CEC members appointed by parties referred to in Article 13 and other cases defined by this Law), and for DEC or PEC members – by an ordinance of the higher election commission (except as provided for by paragraph 6 of this article and Article 13 of this Law), provided that:
a) an election commission member fails, within seven days after his/her election, to cease activities and/or office that is incompatible with the commission member status;
b) an election commission member takes over a position incompatible with the commission member status under this Law;
c) the fact that an activity is incompatible with the status of the election commission member has been disclosed ;
d) the data specified in the documents submitted for membership competition is inaccurate- from the day of the disclosure;
e) a member fails to fulfil the duties and powers of the CEC or DEC chairperson/member for two consecutive months or has not attended 3 consecutive sessions of the CEC or DEC without a good reason;
f) there is a guilty verdict of a court, or an election commission member violates the electoral legislation of Georgia and the violation is confirmed by a court – in the case of the entry into force of a court decision;
g) an election commission member is withdrawn by the party that appointed him/her as determined by this Law – in the case of the filing of an application for withdrawal;
h) the status of an election commission member, as a voter, is cancelled;
i) there are cases of systematic or gross violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia, regulations of the Electoral Administration, or there is another appropriate basis under the Law of Georgia on Public Service.
11.If a member of the commission is elected/appointed as a member of the same or another election commission, his/her powers shall be prematurely terminated from the day when a legal act about his/her election/appointment becomes effective, and the respective election commission shall note that information and include it in the election commission session protocol.
2. If the election commission chairperson, deputy chairperson, commission secretary is resigned:
a) an application of resignation of the CEC Chairperson shall be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia;
b) an application of resignation of the CEC Deputy Chairperson and Secretary shall be submitted to the CEC;
c) an application of resignation of DEC or PEC chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary shall be submitted to the respective election commission.
21) If the CEC Chairperson submits an application for resignation to the Parliament of Georgia, the day following the registration of the application shall be deemed the moment when powers of the CEC Chairperson are terminated.
3. A CEC Deputy Chairperson, the CEC Secretary, a DEC or PEC chairperson, a deputy chairperson, and the commission secretary shall be prematurely dismissed from office by an ordinance of a respective election commission.
4. In the case of de ath of an elected CEC member, the Parliament of Georgia shall note that fact and include it in the plenary session protocol of the Parliament of Georgia. In the case of de ath of an elected DEC member, the CEC shall note that information and include it in the CEC session protocol.
5. Dismissal of an election commission chairperson, deputy chairperson, and secretary on the same grounds, also an application for early termination of tenure of an election commission member twice in a row within six months shall be prohibited.
6. The tenure of election commission members appointed by parties under paragraph 1 of this article (except as provided in paragraph 1(g) of this article and Article 13 of this Law) shall terminate early by a court decision.
7. If one of the grounds referred to in paragraph1 of this article exists, the Parliament of Georgia shall discuss and decide upon the resignation, early termination of tenure of the election commission chairperson, deputy chairperson, or secretary within 15 days , or within five days when the decision is made by an authorised election commission. A d ecision shall be made according to the same procedure as applied during the election process.
8. Unless an application of resignation/early termination of powers is satisfied within the time frame provided for by this article, the election commission chairperson, deputy chairperson, or secretary shall be deemed to have resigned, and the tenure of the election commission member shall be deemed automatically terminated from the day following the expiration of the above timeframe.
9. A PEC m ember may not be withdrawn during the last 20 days before the polling day, on the polling day and the day following the polling day.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 30 – Legal acts of the Electoral Administration of Georgia
1. Legal acts of the Electoral Administration of Georgia shall be:
a) a decree and an ordinance of the CEC, an order and an ordinance of the CEC Chairperson, an ordinance of the CEC Secretary, a summary protocol of polling results of the CEC;
b) a DEC ordinance, an ordinance of the commission chairperson, an ordinance of the commission secretary, a summary protocol of polling and election results of a DEC;
c) a PEC ordinance, an ordinance of the commission chairperson, a summary protocol of polling results of a PEC.
2. A CEC decree shall be a subordinate normative act that may be passed only in cases directly defined by law. A decree may also be passed in exceptional cases, from the commencement until the end of elections, if it becomes necessary to resolve issues that are not covered by this Law but are required for holding elections. A manual, describing separate electoral procedures, may be adopted by a decree, which shall not contain standards that are new or different from the standards defined in this Law but may contain detailed description of the procedures determined by this Law.
3. A CEC decree shall be deemed adopted if supported by at least two-thirds of the total number of CEC members. A CEC decree shall be signed by the Chairperson of a respective CEC session and the CEC Secretary. A CEC decree shall enter into force immediately after its publication in the Legislative Herald of Georgia (‘Sakartvelos Sakanonmdeblo Matsne’), unless a later date is defined by th e same decree. A CEC decree may not be adopted within the last four days before the polling day. A CEC decree may be appealed from the moment of its adoption. A CEC decree shall be placed on the CEC website within 24 hours following its adoption.
4. Ordinances of an election commission, its chairperson, and secretary, summary protocols of polling results are individual administrative-legal acts adopted/issued in cases and within the scope defined by this Law and a CEC decree. C ommission ordinances shall be signed by the chairperson of a respective commission session and the commission secretary, while other ordinances shall be signed by the issuing official. Summary protocols shall be signed by authorised officers as defined in this Law. A commission ordinance shall be deemed adopted, unless other quorum is identified by this Law, if it is supported by a majority of those present at the session, but not less than one-third of all members of the commission.
5. An order of the CEC Chairperson is an individual legal act issued with regard to intra-agency issues including human resources.
6. Implementation of decisions of the CEC, DEC, PEC, and their member officials within their powers shall be mandatory respectively throughout the territory of Georgia, the electoral district, and the electoral precinct.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Chapter III – Lists of Voters
Article 31 – Unified list of voters and its formation procedure
1. The unified list of voters shall be a list of individuals having active suffrage and registered under the procedure defined by the legislation of Georgia and shall be divided by electoral precincts.
2. The unified list of voters shall include the following data of voters:
a) first and last name;
b) date of birth (day, month, year);
c) address (according to a Georgian citizen’s identity card or the Agency database, which also includes the place of registration abroad);
d) personal number of a citizen of Georgia;
e) actual place of residence (for IDPs from the occupied territories of Georgia or for individuals registered without an indication of address, for individuals removed from registration according to their place of residence, as well as for individuals whose registration has been declared invalid by a decision of the Agency, a temporary place of residence shall be indicated; for individuals living abroad, ‘on a consular registry’ shall be indicated, and, if individuals living abroad are not on a consular registry of Georgia, ‘staying abroad’ shall be indicated);
f) date of entering in the unified list of voters;
g) photo (the latest digital photo available in the electronic database of the Agency);
h) sex.
3. Usually, the data of voters shall be entered into the unified list of voters according to their place of registration. IDPs from the occupied territory of Georgia, if their registration address is in the occupied territory of Georgia according to a Georgian citizen’s identity card or the Agency database, shall be entered into the unified list of voters according to their actual place of residence.
4. The CEC shall be responsible for creation of a unified list of voters, its computer processing , and posting on the official CEC website of the information designated as public (first name, last name; photo; date of birth; address according to the Georgian citizen’s identity card or according to the Agency database, also, an address of actual place of residence – for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the occupied territories of Georgia, for individuals registered without an indication of address, individuals removed from registration according to their place of residence and for those whose registration has been declared invalid by a decision of the Agency; the date of registration of a voter in the unified list of voters).
5. The unified list of voters shall be drawn up based on the data:
a) held in the Agency database on the persons registered in their respective territories according to their place of residence, including the data on the persons who will have reached the age of 18 by Election Day, also based on the data of deceased persons. The unified list of voters shall not contain the data of persons whose identity documents last issued to them have been cancelled due to falsification or invalidation, or who have not obtained a valid ID card or passport of a Georgian citizen by the time of the current elections, unless those persons register at the Agency not later than the 13th day before the Election Day;
b) communicated by respective municipality bodies about deceased individuals whose relatives have not applied to the Agency for a death certificate, also based on data received about changes to street and house names/numbers;
c) communicated by the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia and/or its territorial agencies about the IDPs from the occupied territories of Georgia;
d) communicated by the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the State Security Service of Georgia, the Georgian Intelligence Service, and the Special State Protection Service about the military personnel and persons with a special rank, and by the state sub-agency institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the Special Penitentiary Service about the personnel whose service conditions require their presence at an address different from the ir place of registration, which falls within another electoral district;
e) communicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia about the voters on a consular registry of Georgia;
f) communicated by the Legal Entity under Public Law subject to state control of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia – the Agency for State Care and Support to Victims and Affected Persons of Human Trafficking about persons who, by the court decision, have been recognised as beneficiaries of support and have been placed in an appropriate inpatient medical facility;
g) communicated by the state sub-agency institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – Special Penitentiary Service about persons who have been imposed with imprisonment as a preventive measure, who have been sentenced to deprivation of liberty for less grave or grave crimes, and about the persons who have been sentenced to deprivation of liberty for especially grave crimes but who will be released from a penitentiary facility by Election Day due to expiry of the sentence;
h) communicated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia about persons who have crossed the state border of Georgia and whose return to Georgia has not been documented. On the basis of these data, the text ‘Stays abroad’ shall be put in the ‘Actual Place of Residence’ box of t he unified list of voters. The aforementioned text shall not be the grounds for restricting the right to participate in the voting.
6. In order for the CEC to update a unified list of voters and the electronic database of the list:
a) the agencies referred to in subparagraphs (a-c) of this article shall submit updated or new data to the CEC on eligible voters four times a year - on 1 February, 1 May, 15 July, and 1 November of each year while the agencies listed in subparagraphs (f) and (g) of the same paragraph shall submit updated or new data to the CEC on persons having no voting rights within the same time frames;
b) state/autonomous republic and municipality bodies shall, within the scope of their authority, inform the CEC and the Agency within 10 days after making a decision to give a name to geographical objects – municipalities, settlements, administrative units of a self-governing city, historically formed neighbourhoods, micro-districts, other territorial units, squares, avenues, highways, streets, lanes, cul-de-sacs, passages, embankments, esplanades, boulevards, and alleys.
61. The CEC may, for the purpose of updating the unified list of voters and the electronic database of the list, as needed, make a request for and receive, within 3 days after the request, from institutions specified in paragraph 5(a-c) of this article the data of persons having suffrage, and from institutions specified in paragraph 5(f) and (g) of this article – the data of persons without suffrage.
7. A party having the electoral registration, an initiative group of voters registered under this Law (for the elections of the municipality bodies), an observer organisation defined in Article 39 of this Law (and in the non-election period – an observer organisation registered during the last general elections), or a voter shall have the right to familiarise himself/herself/itself with a version of the voters list available at the CEC, DECs or PECs that is designated for public information (an initiative group of voters may familiarise itself with only a version of the list of voters registered within the limits of a respective majoritarian electoral district, which is designated for public information. A voter may only request to familiarise himself/herself with all data available about himself/herself and his/her family members and to amend them), and request, if any inaccuracy is discovered, not later than the 18th day prior to the Election Day, or at any time during a non-election period, that the data of voters and the voters’ lists be amended. The data shall be available and a copy shall be granted under the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia for accessing and granting public information.
71. A public version of the unified list of voters with photos shall be released to the persons indicated in paragraph 7 of this article only in electronic form. To obtain the list, an authorised person shall present to the Agency an electronic storage device with adequate storage capacity.
72. To comply with the requirements under Article 85(1) and Articles 852 and 854 of the Organic Law of Georgia the Local Self-Government Code, for ensuring participation of citizens (voters) in exercising local self-governance, an executive body of a self-governing city/self-governing community may be forwarded, based on its written request, a version of the list of voters registered within the limits of a respective municipality, which is designated for public information (without photos). The body of the respective self-governing city/self-governing community shall be responsible for protection and non-disclosure of the unified list of voters forwarded by the CEC, which contains personal data.
8. During the election period, the Electoral Administration of Georgia shall verify the lists of voters. A DEC shall review the verification results and make respective decisions within two days after receiving an application but not later than the 16th day prior to the Election Day. An ordinance of this DEC about the refusal to amend the data of voters/the lists of voters shall be well-founded and submitted to an applicant on the day following its publication , upon request.
81. For the purposes under paragraph 8 of this article, the Agency/the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia and/or its territorial bodies shall immediately provide a DEC with appropriate information if so requested by the DEC.
9. A DEC ordinance for making amendments to the data of voters/the lists of voters shall be submitted to the CEC and respective PEC within two days.
10. A DEC ordinance about the refusal to amend the data of voters/the lists of voters may be appealed to any respective district/city court within two days. If a lawsuit is satisfied by the court, the court decision shall be submitted to the DEC within two days, but not later than the 13th day prior to the Election Day. The DEC shall immediately submit appropriate information to the CEC and the respective PEC. Election commissions shall immediately make respective amendments to the data of voters/lists of voters.
11. A PEC shall be provided with a version of the unified list of voters designated for public information and certified by the CEC, as from the 30th day before the Election Day, and the final version of the updated lists designated for public information – not later than the second day prior to the Election Day, and the final version of the verified lists of voters designated for the CEC – not later than 12 hours prior to voting. The versions of the unified list of voters designated for public information (without photos) shall be immediately posted in a visible place inside the PEC building.
12. A DEC shall decide, by an ordinance, the matter of registration of voters who have failed to go through registration within the time frame defined in law, provided that an application and other respective documents (entry in a Georgian citizen’s passport about crossing the state border, certificate from an inpatient facility, certificate of release from a penitentiary institution) are submitted. The DEC shall consider the application of a voter within two days after its submission, or immediately if less than two days are left before Election Day. The voter shall be notified of a negative decision immediately. If such voter applies to the Electoral Administration on polling day for participating in elections, the voter shall be registered by the respective PEC and shall attach photocopies of respective documents to the lists of voters.
13. It shall be prohibited to amend the lists of voters within the last 12 days prior to the Election Day, except as provided for in paragraph 12 of this article, and amendments from the 15th day to the 12th day prior to the Election Day may be made only by a court decision.
14. The CEC shall, within five days after calling elections and thereafter not later than the 5th day before polling, post the total number of voters in Georgia and in every electoral district in Georgia on its website.
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 1788 of 13 December 2013 – website, 28.12.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3402 of 20 March 2015 – website, 31.3.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 3562 of 1 May 2015 – website, 18.5.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5441 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3155 of 20 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 5470 of 11December 2019 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 32 – Special lists of voters
1. The following persons shall be entered in the special lists of voters:
a) the Electoral Administration officers who are unable to vote in the elections on the polling day according to their place of registration because of their engagement in the election commissions. These persons shall be entered into the special list of voters by the respective DEC in a pre-defined electoral precinct not later than the 8 th day before the polling day ;
b) the voters who undergo treatment in a hospital or in any other inpatient facility and who cannot be discharged from hospital on polling day because of their health problems : the head of the relevant medical institution shall draw up a list of those individuals and shall submit it to the respective DEC not later than the 8 th day before the polling day ;
c) the voters serving a sentence in prison on the polling day. T he head of the relevant penitentiary institution shall draw up a list of these individuals and shall submit it to the respective DEC not later than the 8 th day before the polling day ;
c1) the voters administratively detained on the polling day. T he head of the relevant institution shall draw up a list of such individuals and shall submit it to the respective DEC not later than the 8th day before the polling day;
d) the military personnel and persons with a special rank of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the state sub-agency institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – Special Penitentiary Service, the State Security Service of Georgia, the Georgian Intelligence Service, and the Special State Protection Service whose service conditions or health conditions require their presence at an address different from the ir place of registration, which falls within another electoral district. Lists of such personnel shall be compiled by commanders of respective divisions/units or heads of respective institutions/divisions and shall be submitted to appropriate DECs:
d.a) in the case of general and extraordinary elections and by-elections – not later than the 25th day before the polling day;
d.b) not later than the 8 th day before the polling day, taking into account the results of conscription;
d1) (Deleted – 2.7.2020, No 6723);
e) the voters that are staying abroad on the polling day and who are registered with a consular office of Georgia, voters who are registered abroad but are not registered with a consular office of Georgia, and voters who are not registered with a consular office of Georgia and are not registered abroad but will go through electoral registration not later than the 19th day before the Election Day in a PEC set up abroad, at a diplomatic mission of Georgia abroad or in a consular office of Georgia. The list of these individuals (except for persons registered abroad) shall be drawn up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and shall be submitted to the CEC not later than the 18th day before the polling day. During the period of election of the Parliament of Georgia, from calling the election till not later than the 19th day before the Election Day, a voter shall be exempted from payment of a consular fee charged for consular registration. The Agency shall draw up the list of persons registered abroad and shall submit it to the CEC not later than the 18th day before the polling day;
f) (Deleted – 22.6.2016, No 5441).
11. A list of service conditions of servicemen provided for by paragraph 1(d) of this article, which require their presence at an address different from the ir place of registration on election day; the procedure and conditions for compiling a list of such servicemen and submitting it to a relevant DEC; and creating appropriate conditions for their participation in elections, as well as a list of conditions for those particular service conditions and categories of relevant persons who cannot leave their workplace on polling day due to these conditions shall be determined by an ordinance of the Government of Georgia.
12. (Deleted – 26.7.2017, No 1274).
2. The head of the relevant institution shall be responsible for the accuracy of data entered in the special list of voters that shall be endorsed by his/her signature.
3. A DEC shall, based on the data of persons specified in paragraph 1 of this article, as well as on its own data, draw up the special lists and approve them by an ordinance not later than the 5th day before the Polling Day, and shall immediately forward to an appropriate PEC the versions of the special lists designated for public information signed by the chairperson and the secretary of the aforementioned PEC, and the versions designated for the election commission, not later than 12 hours before polling.
4. If voters are entered in a special list of voters, a respective note shall be made in the unified list of voters of an electoral precinct and shall be endorsed by signatures of the PEC chairperson and secretary.
5. Voters entered on the special list of voters based on paragraph 1(a, c, e) of this article shall participate in:
a) elections held under both majoritarian election system and proportional election system, if they change their location within the territory of the same local majoritarian electoral district (during elections of the municipal bodies);
b) elections of the Parliament of Georgia and a referendum, if they cast their votes in the territory of another electoral district.
51. A voter entered on the special list of voters based on paragraph 1(d) of this article shall participate in elections held under proportional election system under the procedure established by paragraphs (52), (53) and (6) of this article.
52. A voter entered on the special list of voters based on paragraph 1(d) of this article shall cast his/her vote, in order to participate in elections of the Parliament of Georgia, elections of the municipal bodies, and in a referendum according to the place of deployment of an appropriate military division/unit at an electoral district (districts) defined by a respective DEC.
53. A voter entered on the special list of voters based on paragraph 1(d) of this article shall participate in:
a) the parliamentary elections of Georgia and a referendum;
b) the parliamentary elections of Georgia and a referendum if he/she is abroad on the polling day.
54. Employees of the institutions defined in paragraph 1(d) of this article, except as provided for by the same paragraph, shall vote in elections of the Parliament of Georgia, elections of the municipal bodies, and in a referendum according to their place of registration.
6. During the elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo, or during the elections of a Mayor of a self-governing city (including Tbilisi) or a self-governing community, a serviceman provided for by paragraph (1)(d) of this article, that on the polling day is deployed:
a) at a given location, permanently, on election day, at least for 6 months before election day and at least for 6 months after election day, or for a longer term, shall participate in the Sakrebulo elections held under both majoritarian and proportional systems and in the Mayoral elections;
b) at a permanent location for a period shorter than provided for by subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, shall participate in the Sakrebulo elections held under the proportional system, however, the servicemen shall participate in the Mayoral elections and in the Sakrebulo elections held under the majoritarian system only if their location is within the borders of the electoral district/local majoritarian electoral district, respectively, in which they are registered according to their place of residence.
7. (Deleted – 22.6.2016, No 5441).
71. The special lists of voters shall contain the same data of the voters as are included in the unified list of voters. This shall not apply to voters specified in paragraph (1)(a-c) of this article, whose data are entered into the special list of voters without photos, and also to the voters specified in paragraph 1(d.b) of this article, whose data may be entered in the special list of voters without photos. The data on dates of starting and finishing work at the place of respective deployment of voters defined by paragraph 1(d) of this article shall be entered into the special list of voters as well.
8. If a voter is entered into a mobile ballot box list, the special list of voters shall specify ‘mobile box’, the reason for entering the voter into the list and shall be endorsed by signatures of the PEC chairperson and secretary.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3562 of 1 May 2015 – website, 18.5.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5441 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3155 of 20 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 33 – Mobile ballot box list
1. A mobile ballot box list shall be drawn up based on unified and special lists of voters (except for the voters staying abroad on polling day) if:
a) a voter is unable to visit the polling station due to health problems;
b) a voter is in prison;
b1) a voter is in administrative detention;
c) a voter is in hospital or in any other inpatient facility for treatment where no electoral precinct will be opened;
d) a voter:
d.a) is a military serviceman serv ing in a military unit or a border police unit at the state border of Georgia that is located far from the electoral precinct, where no electoral precinct will be opened;
d.b) is a person indicated in Article 1(d), and during the polling period cannot leave his/her workplace due to service conditions or health conditions;
d.c) serves at the state sub-agency institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – Special Penitentiary Service and cannot leave his/her workplace due to service conditions.
e) a voter is within the territory of the electoral district but his/her location is difficult to access.
2. If a voter is unable to visit the polling station on the polling day, he/she shall apply to the PEC for mobile voting not later than 8 days before the polling day. On the polling day, a DEC shall transfer information of any voter undergoing treatment at an inpatient facility to the respective PEC not later than 8 days before the polling day. The voter shall be entered into the mobile ballot box list after:
a) the PEC secretary registers and endorses with his/her signature a written application (the application shall include the personal identification number of a citizen of Georgia) or a verbal application received by a telephone notification (in this case, the application shall include the personal number of a voter, exact time of the telephone notification and the appropriate telephone number) of a voter;
b) the transfer of a voter into the mobile ballot box list is specified in the unified list or the special list of voters to be endorsed by the signatures of the PEC chairperson and secretary.
3. Information of voters to be entered into the mobile ballot box list shall immediately be posted in a visible place in the building of the polling station precinct. PEC members, representatives of electoral subjects, and observers shall have the right to verify whether the request for mobile voting is well-substantiated and shall raise a question before the PEC whether it is advisable to enter those voters in the mobile ballot box list any time before Election Day. The PEC shall decide on the above issue.
4. Number of voters defined in paragraph 1(a) of this article shall not exceed 3% of the voters on the unified list of voters per electoral precinct. After reaching the maximum number of voters, the respective DEC shall decide on adding more voters to the mobile ballot box list by the two-thirds of members attending the DEC session.
5. A mobile ballot box list shall contain the same data of voters that are entered in the unified list of voters, except for their photos, and the serial number of those voters shall be additionally indicated in the unified or special list of voters.
6. A mobile ballot box list shall be posted, as soon as it is drawn up, in a visible place within PEC premises and polling stations.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1273 of 20 September 2013 – website, 2.10.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 5441 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 34 – Publication of the lists of voters
1. The PEC shall put up the lists of voters and the procedure defined by law for filing complaints about the lists of voters, not later than on the day following the day the aforementioned lists were forwarded to the PEC under the procedure established by this Law, and it shall put up the mobile ballot box list, immediately after it is drawn up, in a visible place at the PEC premises and polling stations. The PEC chairperson shall be responsible for failure to meet these requirements.
2. In the lists referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, based on the verification of data entered into the lists within the time frame defined by this Law, in the cell ‘Actual Status’ alongside the last name of a voter who:
a) is registered with a consular office of Georgia abroad, ‘on a consular registry’ shall be specified;
b) is staying abroad but is not registered with a consular office of Georgia, ‘stays abroad’ shall be specified;
b1) registered abroad, ‘registered abroad’ shall be specified;
c) is doing fixed-term military service or contractual military service at the defence forces and military units of Georgia, ‘doing military service’ shall be specified;
d) is entered into a special list of voters, either ‘member of commission’, ‘in hospital’, or ‘imprisoned’ shall be specified;
e) is entered into the mobile ballot box list, ‘mobile ballot box’ shall be specified.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3155 of 20 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3621 of 31 October 2018 – website, 21.11.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 35 – Voter invitation cards
1. A PEC may, not later than two days before polling, issue a voter invitation card to all voters registered in the territory of the electoral precinct and entered into the list of voters, which shall specify the following:
a) date and time of polling;
b) address, floor, and room numbers of polling station s;
c) number of a voter on the list of voters;
d) procedures for filing an application by a voter for mobile voting because of health problems or other reason, telephone numbers of the PEC, and other information;
e) number of the electoral precinct;
f) first name, last name, date of birth (day, month, year) of a voter;
g) place of registration of a voter.
2. Failure to receive the voter invitation card may not constitute a basis for limiting the right to vote.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Chapter IV – Registration of Electoral Subjects and Lists of Supporters
Article 36 – Registration of electoral subjects
1. In order to obtain the right to run in elections, the chairperson of the relevant election commission shall register electoral subjects based on procedures defined by this Law.
2. In order to be registered, electoral subjects shall submit an application and relevant documents to the respective election commission as defined in this Law.
3. The respective office of the election commission shall, within the time frame defined by this Law, examine the submitted documents and present a report to the commission chairperson who is authorised to make a decision on registration. If the submitted documents do not meet the requirements defined in this Law, the election commission chairperson shall, within two days (unless another time frame is provided for by this Law), inform the representative of a party/an initiative group of voters about the decision (specifying the discrepancy) and give them three days (unless another time frame is provided for by this Law) to adjust documents. The election commission shall, within two days after submission of documents (unless another time frame is provided for by this Law), re-examine corrected the documents and decide upon registration. In the case of refusal to provide registration, the election commission shall forthwith communicate its decision to the representative of a party/an initiative group of voters that is authorised to be informed of the decision immediately upon request.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 361 – Initiative group of voters
1. An initiative group of voters shall consist of at least five members.
2. A citizen of Georgia from the age of 18 years may be a member of an initiative group of voters. A member of an initiative group of voters may not at the same time be a member of another initiative group of voters, and/or an electoral subject/a candidate for electoral subject.
3. An initiative group of voters shall be entitled to nominate only one candidate.
4. Violation of the requirements defined by paragraphs (1-3) of this Article by an initiative group of voters shall be the basis for identifying deficiency in accordance with the procedure established by Article 36 of this Law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Article 37 – Lists of supporters
1. Voters shall endorse the initiative of an electoral subject to run in an election by signing the form of the list of supporters.
2. The CEC shall approve, by an ordinance, a sample of the form of the list of supporters.
3. The form of a list of supporters shall include a voter’s:
a) the first and last name;
b) the date of birth (day/month/year);
c) the personal number of the citizen of Georgia;
d) (Deleted – 2.7.2020, No 6723);
e) the date of signature;
f) the signature.
4. The form of a list of supporters shall contain the first name and last name, personal number and contact telephone number of the person responsible for collecting signatures, as well as the date of completing the form. The person responsible for collecting signatures shall endorse the form by his/her signature.
5. The upper left corner of the form of the list of supporters shall specify the name (first and last name) of an electoral subject whose initiative to run in elections is supported by voters.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 38 – Verification of the lists of supporters
1. The lists of party supporters shall be verified by the CEC, while the lists of supporters of other candidates shall be verified by an appropriate DEC.
2. The election commission shall verify the signatures in turn on the forms of the lists of supporters. If the number of signatures of supporters is less than the minimum amount required or if the number of signatures of supporters, taking into account the signatures invalidated as a result of verification, is less than the minimum amount required, the invalidated part of the list of supporters shall be returned to the respective electoral subject and shall be given two days to correct the discrepancy. The election commission shall, as defined above, verify once again the corrected part of the lists of supporters submitted by the electoral subject. If the number of signatures of supporters is still less than the minimum amount required, the election commission shall completely invalidate the list of supporters and shall, by an ordinance of the commission chairperson, refuse to register the electoral subject.
3. The signature of a voter in the list of supporters shall be considered invalid if:
a) the first and last names are not specified or are incompletely specified;
b) the date of birth (day, month, year) is not specified or is incompletely specified;
c) (Deleted – 2.7.2020, No 6723);
d) the date of signature is not specified or does not meet the deadline defined by this Law for drawing up the list of supporters;
e) it is not signed or is signed by another person and this is confirmed in writing by the voter in whose stead the list was signed;
f) a voter listed as a supporter of a candidate nominated in an electoral district is registered in another electoral district;
g) a signatory, by an application submitted to the respective election commission, confirms that the list was signed by deception, intimidation, or under pressure, and the signature on th e application was notarized;
h) the personal number of a citizen of Georgia is specified incompletely or inaccurately.
4. A signature shall be considered invalid if it is made on a form not endorsed by the person in charge of collecting signatures or if such a form does not include data or includes incomplete data referred to in Article 37(4) of this Law.
41. The person responsible for collecting signatures shall be personally responsible for the authenticity of the data/information on the relevant form, his/her signature and the signature of the supporting person. In the case of violation of this requirement, he/she shall personally bear the responsibility provided for by law.
5. The deadline for verifying the list of supporters of a party shall be 10 days after its submission, while the deadline for verifying the list of supporters of a candidate shall be three days after its submission.
6. Representatives of electoral subjects may attend the process of verification of the list of supporters.
7. Only the CEC members, respective DECs members, and appropriate officers of the CEC, as well as the court, if appealed to court, may have access to the lists of supporters. The lists of supporters shall be destroyed within 10 days after the expiration of the time frame for bringing a lawsuit to the court about electoral registration.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 381 – Determination of a sequence number for an electoral subject
1. A sequence number of an electoral subject shall be determined under the procedure established by this article to be not later than the 30thday before the Election Day for the initiative groups of voters, and to be not later than the 55thday before the Election Day for the parties provided for by this article. In order to determine the sequence number of an electoral subject, the appropriate procedures shall be performed at the premises of a respective election commission in the presence of persons authorised to attend sessions of the election commission.
2. The political associations that have received the most funding in the previous parliamentary elections shall have the right to choose a sequence number first. A representative of a political association shall submit an application to the CEC not later than the 17th of July of the general election year. Political associations having the best funding according to the results of the previous parliamentary elections shall sequentially have the right to choose the sequence number. They shall have the right to keep the sequence number assigned to it during the previous parliamentary elections under paragraph 3 of this article, or the number corresponding to the sequence of funding, or to choose any unassigned sequence number, except when the sequence number that was assigned to it during the previous parliamentary elections has already been assigned to a political association with better funding.
3. An electoral subject/a candidate for electoral subject that has received 0.75% or more than 0.75% of votes in the last general elections held under the proportional system shall have the right to apply to an appropriate election commission not later than the 17th of July of the general election year, and request to participate in the elections with a sequence number that was assigned to it during the last general elections, except when the sequence number that was assigned to it during the last general elections has already been assigned to a party provided for by paragraph 2 of this article.
4. If the sequence number was assigned to an electoral bloc under paragraph 2 of this article during the last general elections, the first party specified on the list of the electoral bloc members shall be granted the right to use this number, and a sequence number of an electoral subject shall be assigned to the remaining electoral subjects included in the bloc in accordance with this article.
5. An electoral subject/a candidate for electoral subject, which fails to apply to an appropriate commission for using a sequence number assigned to it under the procedure established by paragraphs 2-4 of this article, and a party defined by Article 142(1) of this Law, which fails to meet the requirements of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article, shall be assigned a sequence number by casting lots, not later than the 55th day before elections day.
6. In order to cast lots, the commission chairperson shall write the numbers corresponding to the quantity of parties and electoral blocs independently running in the elections on the sheets of paper of the same form and type, and with the same pen. Natural numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.) shall be used for the sequence numbers. If the sequence number of an electoral subject with the right to choose a sequence number is higher than the quantity of the electoral subjects and the electoral subject retains the number, the number of this electoral subject shall be written down instead of the highest sequence number. Each sheet of paper shall be certified by the seal of the election commission. After the sheets of paper are certified, the sequence numbers that were chosen according to the procedure established by this article shall be set aside. All remaining sheets of paper shall be folded in such a way as to make it impossible to read the numbers written on them. The CEC Chairperson shall place the filled out sheets of paper in a transparent box, and the representatives of the parties and electoral blocs shall, one by one, take the sheets of paper out of the box according to the sequence of the electoral registration they have gone through. The number identified by casting lots shall be become the sequence number of an electoral subject.
7. A candidate for President of Georgia/candidate for Mayor/majoritarian candidate nominated by a party/electoral bloc shall have the same sequence number that is assigned to the party/electoral bloc which has nominated him/her.
8. A respective DEC shall assign a sequence number to the candidate nominated by an initiative group of voters, by casting lots. In order to cast lots, the DEC chairperson shall write, on the sheets of paper, the number of which corresponds to the quantity of majoritarian candidates/candidates for Mayor nominated by the initiative group of voters in the electoral district, of the same form and type and with the same pen, the numbers which start from the numeric following the highest sequence number assigned to the parties/electoral blocs running in elections. Each sheet of paper shall be certified by the seal of the DEC concerned. Each sheet of paper shall be folded in such a way as to make it impossible to read the numbers written on them. The respective DEC chairperson shall place the filled out sheets of paper in a transparent box, and the representatives of the initiative group of voters shall, one by one, take the sheets of paper out of the box. The number identified by casting lots shall become the number of an electoral subject.
9. When a party which was assigned a sequence number under the procedure established by this Law and was refused the electoral registration, and/or when its electoral registration was cancelled, the remaining electoral subjects shall keep their assigned sequence numbers.
10. During by-elections/extraordinary elections of the executive municipality body – Mayor, an electoral subject shall retain the sequence number it was assigned during respective general elections. If an electoral subject has no sequence number for by-elections/extraordinary elections of the executive municipality body – Mayor, it shall be assigned a sequence number by casting lots, under the procedure established by this article.
11. The registered party lists, and the data of a registered candidate for President of Georgia/candidate for Mayor/majoritarian candidate, which are entered in a ballot paper, shall be published by the CEC on its official website not later than the 25th day before the polling day.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3272 of 21 July 2018 – website, 30.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Chapter V – Election Monitoring and Media
Article 39 – Domestic and international observers
1. Domestic and international observer organisations shall have the right to observe elections provided they meet the terms and conditions defined in this Law and have been registered with the CEC or the relevant DEC.
2. A domestic observer organisation may be a local non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity registered according to the legislation of Georgia not later than one year prior to the polling day, the Statute or another constituent document of which provides for, at the time of registration, monitoring elections and/or protecting human rights. A domestic observer organisation shall be registered with the CEC or the respective DEC for the purpose of observing elections.
3. A domestic observer organisation shall observe elections through its representative, domestic observer. An organisation is authorised to have not more than 1 observer at each electoral precinct at any one time .
4. Domestic observer s of a domestic observer organisation may be any citizen of Georgia above the age of 18, except for:
a) public/political officials defined by the Law of Georgia on Public Service;
b) (Deleted – 22.6.2016, No 5438);
c) members of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo;
d) a municipality Mayor and a deputy Mayor;
e) judges;
f) staff of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Defence of Georgia, the state sub-agency institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – Special Penitentiary Service, the State Security Service of Georgia and the Georgian Intelligence Service, and of the Special State Protection Service of Georgia;
g) officials of the Prosecutor’s Office;
h) electoral subjects and their representatives;
i) members of an election commission;
j) observers from another observation organisation;
k) representatives of press and other means of mass media.
41. A person may not be a domestic observer of a domestic observer organisation if he/she:
a) after calling of any of the last two general elections conducted or the last two by-elections conducted, has been a member of an election commission, an electoral subject or a representative of an electoral subject appointed by a party;
b) has been a sponsor of any party from the beginning of the year the last general elections were conducted or from the beginning of the year the last by-elections were conducted.
[4 2 . For the verification of information about the sponsors of parties, the Legal Entity under Public Law (LEPL) – the Anti-Corruption Bureau shall provide the CEC with the opportunity for the proper accessibility and verification of an electronic database of the sponsors of parties. (Shall become effective from 1 September 2023)]
5. An i nternational observer organisation may be a representative of an other country, an organisation registered in an other country or an international organisation, a constituent document/Statute of which provides for monitoring of the elections and/or protection of human rights and the activity of which is based on the following internationally recognised principles:
a) respect for the legislation, sovereignty of Georgia and international human rights norms;
b) abstaining from interfering with the election process;
c) political impartiality;
d) financial independence from the participants of the election process and transparency of funding sources;
e) implementation of the provisions recognized by the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.
6. An international observer organisation shall be registered with the CEC in order to monitor elections. In addition, the CEC shall be authorised to request additional information when registering an organisation in order to determine the compliance of the organisation ’s activity with the principles referred to in paragraph 5 of this article. An international observer organisation shall observe elections through its representatives – international observers. One organisation may have not more than 2 international observers at the same time at each electoral precinct.
7. International observers defined in paragraph 6 of this article may be accompanied by an interpreter who shall be registered with the CEC together with international observers.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 1788 of 13 December 2013 – website, 28.12.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 40 – Registration of observer organisations
1. The CEC shall register an international observer organisation as well as a domestic observer organisation observing elections in more than one electoral district.
2. The respective DEC shall register a domestic observer organisation observing elections in a particular electoral district.
3. In order to be registered, a domestic election observer organisation shall apply to the relevant election commission not later than the 10th day before the Election Day and shall submit the excerpt from the Registry of Entrepreneurs and Non-entrepreneurial (Non-commercial) Legal Entities. The application shall include the name of the electoral district/districts within which the organisation shall observe elections. The election commission shall make a decision on registration within five days after receipt of the application.
31. The excerpt specified in paragraph 3 of this article, which is prepared by the Legal Entity under Public Law operating under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the National Agency of Public Registry, shall be issued within the last 10 days before the application is submitted to the election commission and it shall include the person/persons having the power of administration/representation of the organisation. In order to verify/confirm, at the time of registration of the organisation, the authenticity of the data in the excerpt issued by the Legal Entity under Public Law operating under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the National Agency of Public Registry and the requirements under Article 39(2) of this Law, the Agency shall provide the CEC with the possibility of accessing and verifying the appropriate electronic databases.
4. In order to get registered, an international observer organisation shall apply to the CEC not later than the 7thday prior to the polling day and shall submit to it a copy of its constituent document. If an observer ( a group of observers) represents a foreign state authority, it shall only submit an application. The CEC shall, within 5 days after the application is received but not later than the 4th day prior to the polling day, decide on the issue of registration of the organisation, or the observer ( the group of observers) defined in this paragraph.
5. The election commission may not refuse to register an observer organisation if it meets the requirements of this Law. An ordinance of the election commission for the refusal of registration shall be well-founded and shall be delivered to the organisation not later than the day following the day of the decision. An ordinance of the election commission may be appealed to the court within two days after its receipt. The court shall render a decision within two days after the application is filed with the court.
6. An international observer organisation registered by the CEC shall submit information about observers and photocopies of their identity cards to the CEC Secretary not later than the second day before the polling day. The CEC shall determine, by an ordinance, the content and the form of that information.
7. A domestic observer organisation registered by the CEC shall submit to the CEC Secretary not later than the 5th day before the polling day an application on the registration of observers, filled out in accordance with the form established by the CEC, stating that the observers on the list submitted by the organisation satisfy the requirements established by Article 39(4) and (41) of this law, and the list of observers appointed at the CEC, and DECs and PECs (with the indication of surnames, names, places of registration and personal numbers of Georgian citizens) and photocopies of identity cards of Georgian citizens or passports of Georgian citizens of each of them. A domestic observer organisation registered by the DEC shall submit a list of observers appointed to a DEC and/or its lower PEC to the DEC secretary within the same timeframe and in accordance with the same form.
71. If a person authorised to be the head/representative of a registered local observer organisation is registered as an electoral subject and/or a representative of an electoral subject, the local observer organisation shall, not later than 5 calendar days after the registration, submit to a respective election commission a document to prove that the powers of the person authorised to be the head/representative of the local observer organisation, who has been registered as the electoral subject/representative of the subject, has been or will be terminated. Failure to submit such a document shall be the grounds for cancelling the registration of the organisation.
8. A domestic observer registered with the CEC may observe elections at all election commissions of any level according to the procedures provided for by Article 39(3) of this Law.
9. The election commission secretary shall, within two days after the list of observers is submitted, register observers nominated under this Law and shall issue an observer certificate to the observer organisation. An observer certificate shall at the same time serve as a badge to be worn by the observer.
10. An observer from a domestic observer organisation at a DEC and an observer observing elections at an electoral precinct within the territory of the electoral district shall, on the polling day, have the right to observe elections at any electoral precinct in the territory of the relevant electoral district as defined in Article 39(3) of this Law.
11. The procedure for registering observer organisations and observers in order to exercise powers defined by this Law and to attend election commission sessions during a non-election period shall be defined by a CEC decree.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 41 – Rights of observers
1. An observer shall have the right to:
a) attend and observe sessions of election commissions;
b) be present at the polling place at any time during polling day, move without restrictions within the precinct territory and observe all stages of the polling process from any point in the precinct in a free and unhindered manner;
c) replace another registered representative (if any) of the nominating organisation at any time on the polling day;
d) take part in the inspection of ballot boxes before they are sealed and after they are opened;
e) observe the registration of voters in the lists of voters, the issuance of ballot papers and special envelopes and the certification thereof , without disrupting the polling process;
e1) observe the process of registration of complaints on the polling day;
f) attend the procedures of counting votes and summarising results;
g) observe the process of mobile voting;
h) observe the vote counting under such conditions in which ballot papers may be visible;
i) observe the process of compiling summary protocols of election results and other documents by the election commission;
j) address the DEC chairperson with an application (complaint) regarding issues related to the procedures of voting and polling, whereby the applicant requests a response to identified cases of specific violations;
k) request a voter to show how many ballot papers and special envelopes he/she has in hand;
l) appeal the actions of an election commission as defined in the legislation of Georgia;
m) observe the ballot box, the placing of special envelopes into the ballot box, the opening of ballot boxes, the counting of ballot papers, and the drawing up of protocols;
n) review the summary protocols of polling and election results drawn up by election commissions, request and receive the copies of such protocols from the relevant election commission.
2. An observer may not:
a) interfere with the duties and activit ies of an election commission;
b) influence the free expression of the will of voters;
c) agitate in favour of or against an electoral subject;
d) wear symbols and signs of any electoral subject;
e) be without a badge in the polling station on polling day;
f) breach other requirements of this Law.
3. The procedures defined in the electoral, administrative, and/or criminal legislation of Georgia shall define liability for the violation of rights granted to local/international observers, electoral subjects, and media representatives by this Law or liability for the interference with their activity.
4. Violation of the requirements of paragraph 2(a-d) of this article by an observer, electoral subject, and media representative shall give rise to liability as defined in the electoral legislation of Georgia.
5. An election commission shall provide all conditions for an observer to implement his/her powers regarding all procedures within the election commission, including during the process of counting ballot papers and summarising results.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Article 42 – Representative of an electoral subject and his/her powers
1. A representative of an electoral subject (a party running in elections, an initiative group of voters) shall represent the electoral subject only in the relationship with an election commission with which it has been registered under this Law.
2. A party may, during one or several types of elections, appoint only two representatives to each election commission. During elections of the municipality bodies, an initiative group of voters may appoint two representatives to appropriate district and precinct election commissions. Representatives appointed to the CEC and a DEC may not at the same time be appointed to another election commission.
21. A representative of an electoral subject may be a legally competent citizen of Georgia from the age of 18.
22. The following persons may not be appointed as a representative of an electoral subject:
a) a candidate nominated by this or another electoral subject;
b) a representative of another electoral subject;
c) a member of an election commission;
d) a local observer;
e) a representative of the press or another mass medium.
3. The electoral subject referred to in paragraph 2 of this article shall apply to the CEC Chairperson for appointment of a representative to the CEC. If the appropriate information is submitted in full, the CEC Chairperson shall register the representative of the electoral subject and issue the representative’s certificate by an ordinance within 24 hours. The certificate is at the same time a badge to be worn by the representative.
31. An electoral subject defined in paragraph 2 of this article shall apply to the CEC secretary for appointing a representative to a DEC, and to the secretary of a respective superior election commission for appointing a representative to a PEC. If the appropriate information is submitted completely, the secretary of the respective election commission shall, within 24 hours, register, by an ordinance, the representative of the electoral subject and shall issue the representative’s certificate, which at the same time is also a badge.
32. An application for appointing representatives of an initiative group of voters to DECs and respective PECs shall be submitted to the secretary of a DEC the chairperson of which has registered the initiative group of voters.
4. An application for the appointment of a representative of an electoral subject shall be signed by the head of a party or a person authorised by him/her, or a representative of an initiative group of voters to a higher election commission. The application shall include first and last names, address, contact telephone number (if any) of the representative of an electoral subject. A photocopy of the identity card of a Georgian citizen or of the passport of a Georgian citizen of the representative of an electoral subject shall be attached to the application.
5. Only 1 representative of the electoral subject shall have the right to attend sessions of the respective election commission, request to give a speech and express his/her opinion, make decisions on various issues, and enjoy other rights granted by this Law. On the polling day, the representative shall enjoy unlimited rights provided for by Article 41(1) and Article 67(2) of this Law.
6. An electoral subject may, at any time, appoint/withdraw and/or replace its representative, except for the day preceding the polling day and the polling day. The electoral subject shall notify the respective election commission thereof.
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 877 of 27 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 43 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 877 of 27 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 44 – Representatives of the press and other media
1. Representatives of the press and other media accredited to the respective election commission shall have the right to attend sessions of the election commission and be present at the polling stations on polling day during the election period.
2. The CEC Secretary or the secretaries of respective DECs shall provide the accreditation of representatives of the press and other media operating in the territory of several electoral districts, while the secretary of the respective DEC shall provide the accreditation of media representatives operating in the territory of one electoral district.
3. An application for accreditation of representatives of the press and other mass media shall be submitted to the respective election commission not later than the 3rdday prior to the polling day. Photocopies of the identity cards or of the passports of the representatives shall be attached to the application. If an organisation submits an application, it shall be accompanied by the excerpt from the Registry of Entrepreneurs and Non-entrepreneurial (Non-commercial) Legal Entities, which is issued by the Legal Entity under Public Law operating under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the National Agency of Public Registry within the last 10 days before the application is submitted to the election commission. The excerpt shall include the person/persons having the power of administration/representation of the organisation. In order to verify/confirm, at the time of accreditation of the organisation, the authenticity of the data in the excerpt issued by the Legal Entity under Public Law operating under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the National Agency of Public Registry, the Agency shall provide the CEC with the possibility of accessing and verifying the appropriate electronic databases. Foreign press and other mass media, Public Broadcaster, and Public Broadcaster Television and Radio of Ajara shall not need the excerpt specified in this paragraph for accreditation.
4. The secretary of the respective election commission shall decide, within two days after filing an application, on the accreditation of representatives of the press and other media and shall issue respective certificates to the accredited representatives within one day after the decision. In the case of refusal of accreditation, the secretary shall issue a respective ordinance (the refusal of accreditation shall be duly justified in the ordinance) within the same time frame.
41. If a person authorised to be the head/representative of an accredited press or another mass medium is registered as an electoral subject and/or a representative of an electoral subject, the press/another mass medium shall, not later than 5 calendar days after the registration, submit to a respective election commission a document to prove that the powers of the person authorised to be the head/representative of the press/another mass medium, who has been registered as the electoral subject/representative of the subject, has been or will be terminated. Failure to submit such a document shall be the grounds for cancelling the accreditation of the respective press/another mass medium.
5. One organisation of press and other mass media may have not more than 2 representatives at the same time at the electoral precinct on election (polling) day. The representative of the press and other mass media must be at least 18 years old at the time of accreditation.
51. At the same time, a representative of press and other mass media may not be:
a) a public political official defined by the Law of Georgia on Public Service;
b) a member of the representative body of a municipality – Sakrebulo;
c) the municipality Mayor, or a deputy municipality Mayor;
d) a judge;
e) an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, the state sub-agency institution within the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the Special Penitentiary Service, the State Security Service of Georgia, the Georgian Intelligence Service, or the Special State Protection Service;
f) an official of a prosecutor’s office of Georgia;
g) an electoral subject, or a representative of an electoral subject;
h) a member of an election commission;
i) an observer of an observer organisation;
j) a representative of other press and mass media.
6. The procedure for attending sessions of an electoral commission and for accrediting the press and other mass media for them to film the commission sessions during the non-election period shall be established by a decree of the CEC.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 1348 of 30 December 2021 – website, 6.1.2022
Chapter VI – Election Campaign
Article 45 – Pre-election campaign (canvassing)
1. The pre-election campaign (canvassing ) shall begin 60 days prior to the polling day. Political parties and candidates for electoral subject shall enjoy equal rights and have equal obligations as defined in this Law.
2. During the election campaign (canvassing ) period a political party, a candidate for electoral subject or an electoral subject may produce pre-election slogans, statements, inscriptions, papers, photo materials, etc. It is prohibited to prevent their dissemination and seizure, as well as to seize vehicles and other means equipped with special devices used for campaigning purposes, or to prevent their application for election campaigning purposes.
3. Political parties, candidates for electoral subject, electoral subjects, and their supporters may present a program for further activity. The election program shall not contain propaganda for war or violence, appeal for change or overthrow of the existing state and social order by violence, for violation of the territorial integrity of Georgia, for national strife and enmity, or for religious or ethnic confrontation.
31. Violation by the persons defined in paragraph 3 of this article of the rules established under the same paragraph shall be violation of the rules for conducting the pre-election campaign (canvassing) provided for by this Law.
4. Any individual may conduct and participate in election campaigning , except for:
a) an election commission member;
b) a judge;
c) public officers of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Defence of Georgia, of the State Security Service of Georgia, the Georgian Intelligence Service, and the Special State Protection Service of Georgia;
d) the Auditor General;
e) the Public Defender of Georgia;
f) an alien and a foreign organisation;
g) charit able and religious organisations;
h) a public servant – during normal business hours and/or when he/she directly exercises his/her official powers;
i) members of the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) and the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNEWSRC);
j) an employee of a legal entity under public law (except for higher and vocational educational institutions, art institutions, religious organisations and the Georgian Bar Association), an employee of a non-profit (non-commercial) legal entity established by the State or a municipality, a director, a caregiver-pedagogue, a caregiver, and a teacher of a pre-school educational institution or a general educational institution established by the State or a municipality, or another person employed there– during business hours, or when he/she directly exercises official powers.
5. It is prohibited to conduct election campaign (canvassing ) in the premises of the following institutions:
a) executive agencies of Georgia;
b) courts;
c) military units.
6. During the pre-election campaign, the municipality bodies shall support political parties/electoral subjects to organise and hold meetings and gatherings with voters, public debates and discussions, assemblies and manifestations, and to ensure the safety of those events.
7. It is prohibited to carry on election campaigning at any event/presentation funded from the State Budget of Georgia/the budget of a municipality. That action shall be regarded as the use of administrative resources.
8. In order to conduct mass electoral events, the premises administered by state authorities or municipality bodies shall be available free of charge for the election commissions.
9. The municipality bodies shall draw up, within five days after the commencement of election campaign , a list of premises where election campaign (canvassing ) is likely to be conducted and shall submit it to the DEC. The DEC shall make public the list of premises allocated by the municipality bodies within two days after the receipt thereof, shall ensure equal availability of the premises for all political parties and electoral subjects, and shall draw up a schedule, in agreement with political parties and electoral subjects, for the electoral events (if the events of different electoral subjects coincide and the electoral subjects fail to come to agreement, the sequence of events shall be determined by casting lots). The list of premises allocated by the municipality bodies shall be also posted on the CEC website.
10. A DEC shall give a well-grounded written response to any respective application filed by an electoral subject for the use of premises within 24 hours from filing the application. Any failure to give a response within the above timeframe shall be regarded as the consent to the application.
11. It is prohibited to conduct election campaign at the polling station on polling day.
12. Canvassing material may not be placed at a distance of 25 meters from the entrance of the polling station. The material shall be subject to removal/dismantling/taking off. The movement of a voter may not be physically obstructed on the polling day in a polling station or within the distance of 100 meters from a polling station. People may not be gathered or voters may not be counted either on the polling day within the distance of 100 meters from a polling station.
13. Paragraph 12 of this article shall not apply to activities related to exit polls.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 6551 of 22 June 2012 – website, 29.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 1273 of 20 September 2013 – website, 2.10.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 46 – Campaign materials
1. Campaign materials may be displayed on buildings and premises and other facilities with the consent of their owners or possessors.
2. It is prohibited to place/post campaign materials on places of worship, buildings or structures of cultural heritage, in the interior and exterior of buildings of the state and municipality bodies, courts, the Prosecutor’s Office, military units, divisions of the police, the State Security Service of Georgia, the Georgian Intelligence Service and the Special State Protection Service of Georgia, as well as on traffic signs.
3. Bookmaking regarding any election-related issue is prohibited.
4. The municipality bodies shall determine the list of premises, as provided for by paragraph 2 of this article, where the campaign materials are prohibited to be placed, as well as shall determine the places and/or install stands for posting and displaying campaign materials. Stands must be of such a size that all electoral subjects are provided with equal conditions for the display of campaign materials.
5. The municipality bodies shall publish the information about places and/or installed stands designated for posting and displaying campaign materials according to this article not later than 10 days before calling elections.
6. Printed campaign materials shall specify the names and addresses of organisations that manufactured and ordered them, as well as information of circulation, sequence number, and date of issue. It is prohibited to disseminate printed campaign materials without indicating the above information. An electoral subject shall be required to indicate the sequence number on printed campaign materials only after having been assigned that number.
7. Copies of printed campaign materials shall be submitted to the election commission, where an electoral subject was registered for elections, not later than the 5th day after the day of issuing the campaign materials referred to in paragraph 6 of this article.
71. Removal, tearing off, covering, or damaging campaign materials, unless they are located in a forbidden place, shall be prohibited and punishable by this Law.
8. The relevant electoral subject shall, within 15 days after the official publication of final results of elections, ensure the removal of campaign materials. Otherwise, the electoral subject shall be held liable under the legislation of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 47 – Bribery of voters
1. From the moment of publication of the respective legal act calling elections, including the polling day, and where there is necessity to hold the second round of elections - from the moment of publication of the respective legal act calling elections including the polling day of the second round of elections, it is prohibited:
a) for electoral subjects, candidates for electoral subject, and their representatives to give funds, gifts, and other material possessions (irrespective of their value) to the citizens of Georgia, personally or through other persons; to sell goods to electoral subjects, candidates for electoral subject, and their representatives at a preferential price; to distribute or disseminate goods free of charge (except for campaign materials defined by this Law) among electoral subjects, candidates for electoral subject, and their representatives; and to motivate Georgian citizens by promising to give them funds, securities, and other material possessions (irrespective of their value);
b) for natural and legal persons to perform such work or to provide such services through utilizing personal funds and/or electoral subject funds (except for the performance of work or provision of services obtained under the procedure established by the Law of Georgia on State Procurement) that fall within the competence of the state authorities and/or local self-government bodies of Georgia under the legislation of Georgia.
[b) for natural and legal persons to perform such work or to provide such services through utilizing personal funds and/or electoral subject funds (except for the performance of work or provision of services obtained under the procedure established by the Law of Georgia on Public Procurement) that fall within the competence of the state authorities and/or local self-government bodies of Georgia under the legislation of Georgia. (Shall become effective from 1 January 2025)]
2. Registration of the electoral subject that, personally or through any representative or any other individual or legal entity acting in his/her behalf, has carried out prohibited activities provided for by this article shall be revoked by a court decision if those facts are confirmed.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2581 of 9 February 2023 – website, 27.2.2023
Article 48 – Prohibition of the use of administrative resources during canvassing and election campaign
1. Any person having the right to participate in canvassing according to Article 45(4) of this Law shall be prohibited from using administrative resources in the course of the election campaign in support of or against any political party, candidate for electoral subject, or electoral subject; among them, it shall be prohibited:
a) to u se premises occupied by state authorities and municipality bodies, also by organisations funded from the State Budget of Georgia, provided that other political parties, candidates for electoral subject, or electoral subjects are unable to use the same or similar premises under the same conditions;
b) to use means of communication, information services, and other kinds of equipment designated for state authorities and municipality bodies, also for organisations funded from the State Budget of Georgia (except for political parties);
c) to use means of transportation owned by state authorities or municipality bodies;
d) for public servants, employees of legal entities under public law, employees of non-profit (non-commercial) legal entities established by the State or a municipality, directors, caregiver-pedagogues, caregivers, and teachers of pre-school educational institutions and general educational institutions established by the State or a municipality, or other persons employed there to meet together on account of official matters.
2. Restrictions provided for by paragraph 1(c) of this article shall not apply to the use of service vehicles by public political officials that are protected by the Special State Security Service as defined in this Law.
3. In order to ensure that public officers prevent and respon d to violations of the electoral legislation of Georgia, an interagency commission shall be set up under the auspices of the Ministry for Justice of Georgia.
4. In case of regular general elections, an interagency commission shall be set up not later than the 1st of July of the election year, and in case of extraordinary elections or re-run elections of the Parliament of Georgia, an interagency commission shall be set up within three days after calling the elections.
41. An interagency commission shall cease its activities as from the day when the CEC officially publishes final results of elections.
5. The composition of an interagency commission shall be determined by an order of the Minister for Justice of Georgia, while the rules of operation of the interagency commission shall be determined by its statute approved by the Minister for Justice of Georgia. The interagency commission shall be convened by the commission chairperson when necessary , but at least once in two weeks, and after the registration period for electoral subjects expires – at least once a week.
6. Political parties receiving funding from the State Budget of Georgia shall participate with deliberative vote in the activities of the Interagency Commission, as well as other political associations, which provide the Interagency Commission with information on violations of Georgian election legislation by public servants at the session at which the relevant issue is reviewed.
7. An interagency commission shall consider issues related to information disseminated through the media about violation of electoral legislation by public officers, as well as information about violation s reported to the interagency commission by political associations (electoral subjects), or observer organisations.
8. In order to ensure the publicity of activities of interagency commission s , the representatives of domestic and international observer organisations may be invited to the commission session.
9. If any statement of violation is confirmed, the commission shall have the right to recommend to any public officer, an administrative body, or the CEC to take respective measures within a reasonable time.
Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 1698 of 11 December 2013 – website, 25.12.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 49 – Prohibition of the use of budgetary funds, office, or official position
1. A person having the right to participate in canvassing, who holds an office within the state authorities or local government bodies, shall be prohibited to use his/her official status or capacity in the course of canvassing and election campaign in support of or against any political party, candidate for electoral subject, or electoral subject. For the purposes of this article, the above-stated shall include:
a) getting any career subordinate or otherwise dependent person involved in an activity that may support to presentation and/or election of a candidate;
b) collecting signatures and conducting canvassing during business trips funded by state authorities or municipality bodies;
c) conducting canvassing during working hours and/or in the course of performing official duties.
2. The restriction provided for by paragraph 1(c) of this article shall not apply to public political officials determined by this Law, as well as to the cases where TV and radio broadcasters use air-time allotted for election campaign .
3. From the 60th day before and including Election Day, it is prohibited to implement such projects/programs that have not been previously included in the State Budget of Georgia, the republic budget of any Autonomous Republic of Georgia, or the budget of any municipality, except when projects/programs are funded within the allocations provided for by the respective program code of the respective budget and/or by the funds from such allocations, as well as by the funds allocated by donors at least 60 days before Election Day. If the procedures under this paragraph are not met, an authorised person may apply to the court to suspend expenses.
31. A state authority or a municipal body shall be prohibited from posting an advertising video on the broadcaster from the 60th day before Election Day, which contains information about the work done or planned by the relevant agency.
4. From the 60th day before and including Election Day, it is prohibited to increase the amount of welfare benefits (pensions, hardship allowances, allowances, etc.), except for benefits the increase of which was provided for by the legislation of Georgia at least 60 days before Election Day. It is also prohibited to fund the welfare benefits (pensions, hardship allowances, allowances, etc.) that were not provided for by the legislation of Georgia at least 60 days before Election Day. If the procedures under this paragraph are not met, an authorised person may apply to the court to suspend expenses.
5. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this article shall not apply to financing the setting up of polling places by state and/or municipal bodies under this Law and to financing the measures for remediation of the consequences of natural disasters or other force majeure circumstances.
51. During by-elections, paragraphs 3-5 of this article shall apply only to electoral precincts where by-elections are held.
6. In the course of canvassing , it is prohibited to produce, by funds from the State Budget/municipality budget of Georgia, campaign materials, video or audio materials, or to create the website or any part thereof where any electoral subject/political party or its sequence number assigned during elections is displayed and/or which comprise materials in support of/against any electoral subject/political party. It is also prohibited to show an electoral subject/political party or a sequence number assigned thereto during elections in a Public Service Announcement (PSA) made by funds from the State Budget/municipality budget of Georgia in the course of any election campaigning.
7. From the expiration of the registration term for electoral subjects until the end of polling day, it is prohibited to reshuffle head officers of any municipality body, police, and the Prosecutor’s Office, except when the term of their office has expired and/or they violate the law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 50 – General regulations for election campaigning media coverage
1. A broadcast licence holder, an authorised over-the-air broadcaster, and the Public Broadcaster and Ajara TV and Radio of the Public Broadcaster shall, not later than 5 calendar days from the 60th day before polling, for the purpose of publishing on the website of the CEC and the GNCC, submit information on airtime tariffs for the paid pre-election advertising campaign. Such tariffs shall be effective from the 50th day before the polling. The relevant tariff may be changed once, not later than the 35th calendar day before the polling, except in the cases provided for by this Law. In the case of the change of the tariff, the new tariff shall be sent to the GNCC for publication on the website. Such tariff shall be effective on the 30th calendar day before polling. The relevant person mentioned in this paragraph is obliged to start placing advertisements from the 50th day before polling, complying with the following conditions:
a) if airtime is allotted for pre-election campaigning and political advertising, publicly announce and weekly submit to the GNCC the following information: from and until what date and at what intervals the airtime is allotted, its duration and schedule of the allotted airtime during one day, and service provided;
b) paid airtime allotted by any TV or radio broadcaster during one day may not exceed 15% of its total daily broadcasting time and none of electoral subjects shall be granted more than one-third of this time. The p aid airtime fee shall be equal for all electoral subjects;
c) when broadcasting a political/pre-election advertis ement , the screen corner shall display the inscription ‘paid political advertising’ or ‘free political advertising’. Such advertisements shall have to be accompanied by the sign language translation which shall be arranged for by the electoral subject presenting the advertisement;
d) during the period referred to herein, political advertising may not be broadcast at any other time, except the time interval allotted for these purposes.
11. If the date of the elections coincides with the state of emergency or martial law declared in the whole territory of the country or extraordinary elections are scheduled, the holder of the broadcasting licence, the authorised broadcaster, the public broadcaster, and Ajara TV and Radio of the Public Broadcaster is obliged, for the purpose of publishing on the website of the CEC and the GNCC, not later than 40 days before the polling, submit the airtime tariffs for the placement of the paid pre-election advertisement. Such tariffs shall be effective on the 35th calendar day before polling. The relevant person mentioned in paragraph 1 of this article is obliged to start placing advertisements from the 35th day before polling, complying with the conditions provided for by subparagraphs (a-c) of the same paragraph.
2. From the announcement of elections until the summarisation of election results, newspapers funded by the central or local budget shall meet the following conditions:
a) if a newspaper allocates space for election campaigning and political advertising, it shall weekly publish the following information in the same newspaper: from what date, at what intervals and until when the newspaper space is allocated, the size of the space allocated in one newspaper, and in the case of free newspaper space, the share of free space out of the total space allocated, the space fee, and service provided;
b) no electoral subject shall be granted more than one-third of the newspaper space in one newspaper publication or over a period of one week;
c) the space fee shall be equal for all electoral subjects;
d) when publishing a campaign letter and a political advertis ement , an inscription ‘paid political advertising’ or ‘free political advertising’ shall be made above the heading and in the corner of the advertisement;
e) during the period referred to in this paragraph, a political advertis ement shall not be published in violation of the requirements provided for by this paragraph.
3. All newspapers, except for the ones referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, shall have the right to allot pre-election advertising time to any electoral subject under any conditions.
4. If any electoral subject fails to use its airtime or newspaper space, a broadcast licence holder, an authorised over-the-air broadcaster, the Public Broadcaster, and Ajara TV and Radio of the Public Broadcaster, and a newspaper shall have the right to distribute this time or space equally among other electoral subjects.
5. It is prohibited to publish public opinion poll results with regard to the elections, except for the possible number of voters in elections and the number of voters participating in elections on polling day, within 48 hours before polling day and until 20:00 of that day. From the day of calling elections until the publication of final results of elections by the CEC and during one month thereafter, the following shall be indicated when publishing public opinion poll results with regard to elections: the person ordering the poll (name according to public or electoral registration and legal address if a legal entity or a state body has ordered the public opinion poll; and first name, last name, and address according to a Georgian citizen’s identity card if an individual has ordered the public opinion poll), whether the poll is paid or free of charge, the organisation conducting the public opinion poll (name according to public or electoral registration and legal address), date of the poll, methods used, exact formulation of the questions put in the poll, possible margin of errors.
Organic Law of Georgia No 834 of 12 July 2013 – website, 25.7.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3695 of 12 June 2015 – website, 15.6.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 51 – Information support to election campaigning
1. In the course of election campaign ing , when broadcasting social-political programs and elections, a broadcaster shall observe the principle of impartiality and fairness according to the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, the Code of Conduct of Broadcasters, and this Law.
2. A general broadcaster intending to cover election campaign ing shall broadcast pre-election debates in a non-discriminatory manner and with the participation of all qualified electoral subjects in the course of the election campaigning within its coverage area.
3. The obligations provided for by this Law for equal allotment of airtime, creation of equal conditions for participating in debates, and for setting equal conditions for election advertising shall apply only to the broadcasters referred to in paragraphs 5, 6 and 61 of this article and only in relation to qualified electoral subjects; in the case provided for in paragraph 61 of this article, the obligations shall also apply in relation to the electoral subjects referred to in subparagraph (c) of the same paragraph.
4. (Deleted – 22.6.2016, No 5438).
5. During the election campaign in their respective coverage areas, the Public Broadcaster, Ajara TV and Radio of the Public Broadcaster, and any community broadcaster shall allot, not later than the 50th day before the Election Day, in every hour five minutes to broadcast free of charge, the pre-election advertisements, and every 3 hours broadcast free of charge and without discrimination, the pre-election advertisements submitted to them by each qualified electoral subject , on the condition that the time allotted to a qualified electoral subject during such period shall not exceed 90 seconds (each electoral subject may divide the time allotted in several parts). The airtime not used by an electoral subject may not be added to other airtime allotted to the electoral subject.
6. During the election campaign in its respective coverage area, the Public Broadcaster shall allot, not later than the 50th day before the Election Day, in every three hours no less than 7.5 minutes to broadcast free of charge, the pre-election advertisements, and broadcast on the basis of equality and without discrimination, the pre-election advertisements submitted to it by each qualified electoral subject, on the condition that the time allotted to a qualified electoral subject during such period shall not exceed 90 seconds (each electoral subject may divide the time allotted in several parts). The airtime not used by an electoral subject may not be added to other airtime allotted to the electoral subject.
61. A broadcaster, other than the ones referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this article, shall broadcast pre-election advertising free of charge for the last 30 days until the Election Day if during the election campaign within its coverage area it airs any paid pre-election advertising of the electoral subject specified in Article 30(12) of the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens. In that case, the broadcaster shall allot time to pre-election advertising free of charge (if the paid advertising is aired during the prime time as defined by the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, the free advertising shall be aired in the proportion provided for below and in the same time period, on the same day or, in agreement with the client, on another day. In all other cases, free advertising shall be broadcast in a three-hour interval from the time of broadcasting paid advertising in the broadcasting network, on the same day or, in agreement with the client, on another day. The free advertising airtime not used by an electoral subject may not be added to other advertising airtime allotted to such subject):
a) for the above electoral subject, the time equal to the advertising time purchased by the electoral subject. The time shall be distributed so as not to take up more than 90 seconds in three hours (each electoral subject may divide the time allotted in several parts);
b) for qualified electoral subjects (other than the electoral subjects provided for in Article 30(12) of the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens) the time equal the total advertising time purchased by the electoral subjects referred to in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph that shall be equally and without discrimination divided among the electoral subjects referred to in subparagraph (b) of this paragraph, provided that the time allotted to one electoral subject does not take up more than 90 seconds in three hours (each electoral subject may divide the time allotted in several parts);
c) (Deleted – 22.6.2016, No 5438).
62. The broadcasters referred to in paragraph (61) of this article willing to air paid pre-election advertising shall provide the CEC and Georgian National Communications Commission, in a 15-day period from the day of calling of elections but not later than the 55th day before Election Day, with information on the proposed paid pre-election advertising airing schedule and the advertising time price. The CEC will post the information on its official website within one day. An electoral subject indicated in Article 30(12) of the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens shall provide the CEC and the relevant broadcaster, not later than the 40th day before Election Day, with information on the purchase of advertising time from each particular broadcaster according to the above schedule (the information shall contain dates, airtime intervals for the advertising to be aired during the day and the duration of the advertising time to be purchased). A broadcaster, from whom the electoral subject purchased advertising time, shall provide the CEC and Georgian National Communications Commission, not later than the 38th day before Election Day, with information on the free advertising airtime allotted under paragraph 61 of this article (such information shall indicate dates, airtime intervals for the advertising to be aired during the day and the duration of the advertising time), as well as information on the schedule for airing advertising within the advertising time allotted to each qualified electoral subject specified in paragraph 61(b) and (c) of this article. The CEC shall post the above information on its official website within one day. An electoral subject eligible to receive free advertising time shall give the relevant broadcaster at least two days’ prior notice of the intention to use its due time and submit the advertising at the time agreed with the broadcaster.
63. The Public Broadcaster shall arrange for sign language translation for its programmes aired in connection with elections during the election campaign period.
7. (Deleted – 21.7.2018, No 3266).
8. A broadcaster shall have the right to recognize as a qualified electoral subject the political party that, according to the public opinion poll conducted throughout the territory of Georgia according to the terms and conditions referred to in this article, has gained not less than 4% of votes in not less than 5 public opinion polls conducted during the election year or in the public opinion poll conducted a month before elections. Discriminat ory use of sociological surveys by any broadcaster shall not be permi tted .
9. A local broadcaster shall recognise a party as a qualified electoral subject:
a) which is a qualified electoral subject defined by Article 2(q1) of this Law;
b) which received not less than 25% of votes in elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo.
10. A local broadcaster shall have the right to recognise the following as a qualified electoral subject:
a) a party which received not less than 10% of votes in the last elections of the municipality bodies held in a respective majoritarian electoral district;
b) a political party that enjoys support of not less than 25% of voters according to the public opinion poll conducted in the respective majoritarian electoral district as defined by this Law, as identified by not less than two successive surveys conducted during the election year;
c) a majoritarian candidate nominated by an initiative group of voters that enjoys support of not less than 25% of voters according to the public opinion poll conducted in the respective majoritarian electoral district as defined in this Law, as identified by not less than two successive surveys conducted during the election year.
11. For the purposes of this Law, a public opinion poll shall meet the following requirements:
a) it shall be based on the acknowledged scientific methodology of representative random selection that provides 95% credibility of results with a margin of error not exceeding 3%;
b) it shall be published after double-checking the credibility of the methodology of the public opinion poll and objectivity of its results;
c) it shall be feasible to provide convincing scientific explanation if there are significant discrepancies or changes in the results of the same or other comparative public opinion poll s ;
d) it shall not constitute a tool for manipulating public opinion or fundraising and it shall not be conducted via telephone, mail, and/or internet;
e) it shall be based on transparent methodology that enables provid ing an independent double-check of the results;
f) while publishing the results, the following shall be specified:
f.a) an organisation having conducted a public opinion poll;
f. b) a person having ordered or funded a public opinion poll;
f. c) the exact formulation and sequence of questions put in a public opinion poll;
f.d) the time of conducting field opinion poll;
f.e) the number of individuals interviewed and the method of selection;
f.f) in what area or among what category of people the selection was conducted;
f.g) whether the survey is based on the opinions of all respondents;
f.h) the number of respondents who refused to participate in the poll, who did not answer a question, or who could not be interviewed;
f.i) the sample size;
f.j) the margin of error;
f.k) information about other factors that might have a significant effect on the results.
12. The Public Broadcaster and Ajara TV and Radio of the Public Broadcaster (legal entities under public law) shall allot airtime for placement of pre-election advertising of all other parties, except for a qualified electoral subject, which shall be equally distributed among these parties.
13. (Deleted – 21.7.2018, No 3266).
14. The obligation to allot free airtime provided for by this article shall be solely applied to the local broadcaster in the course of by-elections.
15. The GNCC shall determine the procedure for participation and use of the media in the electoral process, shall supervise the observance of provisions under this Law by any broadcaster, and shall give respective response to violations of those provisions. The GNCC shall purchase the service s necessary for media monitoring according to the legislation of Georgia.
16. It is prohibited to broadcast any paid and/or free pre-election advertising through TV or radio on polling day.
17. (Deleted – 12.6.2015, No 3695).
18. (Deleted – 12.6.2015, No 3695).
19. (Deleted – 12.6.2015, No 3695).
20. (Deleted – 12.6.2015, No 3695).
21. (Deleted – 12.6.2015, No 3695).
Organic Law of Georgia No 6605 of 29 June 2012 – website, 16.7.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 834 of 12 July 2013 – website, 25.7.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 877 of 27 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3695 of 12 June 2015 – website, 15.6.2015
Judgement of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of 23 May 2016 No 2/3/591 – website, 3.6.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
[Article 51 – Information provision of election campaigning
1. During election campaign ing , when broadcasting social-political programmes and elections, a broadcaster shall observe the principle of impartiality and fairness according to the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, the Code of Conduct of Broadcasters, and this Law.
2. Free airtime, in accordance with the procedures established by this Law, shall be equally granted to the political parties that have collected at least 3 per cent of votes in the last parliamentary elections. Free airtime shall not be granted to a party which, on the basis of Article 30(5) or (6), or Article 39 1 (3) or (4) of the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens, does not receive budgetary financing at the time of fixing the elections.
3. The general broadcaster, which decides to cover the pre-election campaign on its own air, shall broadcast the pre-election debates in a non-discriminatory manner. In addition, the broadcaster is obliged to invite all other political parties to the pre-election debates, which showed similar or better results than the party participating in the last parliamentary elections.
4. The obligation of equal distribution of airtime established by this Law, creation of equal conditions for participation in pre-election debates and establishment of equal conditions for election advertising shall apply to the broadcasters mentioned in paragraphs 5, 6 and 15 of this article, in relation to the authorised parties.
5. During the election campaign in their respective coverage areas, the Public Broadcaster, Ajara TV and Radio of the Public Broadcaster, and any community broadcaster shall allot, not later than the 50 th day before the Election Day, in every hour five minutes to broadcast free of charge, the pre-election advertisements, and every 3 hours broadcast free of charge and without discrimination, the pre-election advertisements submitted to them by each qualified electoral subject , on the condition that the time allotted to a qualified electoral subject during such period shall not exceed 90 seconds (each electoral subject may divide the time allotted in several parts). The airtime not used by an electoral subject may not be added to other airtime allotted to the electoral subject.
6. During the election campaign in its respective coverage area, the Public Broadcaster shall allot, not later than the 50 th day before the Election Day, in every three hours no less than 7.5 minutes to broadcast free of charge, the pre-election advertisements, and broadcast on the basis of equality and without discrimination, the pre-election advertisements submitted to it by each qualified electoral subject, on the condition that the time allotted to a qualified electoral subject during such period shall not exceed 90 seconds (each electoral subject may divide the time allotted in several parts). The airtime not used by an electoral subject may not be added to other airtime allotted to the electoral subject.
7. The public broadcaster is obliged to provide the sign language translation in its election-related programmes aired during the pre-election campaign .
8. The public broadcaster, Ajara TV/Radio of the public broadcaster (legal entity under public law) is obliged to allocate time for the placement of pre-election advertisements of all other parties except for the authorised party, which shall be equally distributed among these parties.
9. The obligation to allocate free advertising time provided for in this article during the extraordinary elections of the mayor of the municipality (except for the extraordinary elections of the mayor of the municipality of Tbilisi) shall apply only to the local broadcaster. The obligation established by this paragraph shall apply to the public broadcaster and the general national broadcaster during the elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi Municipality.
10. The Georgian National Communications Commission shall determine the rules of media participation and of the use thereof in the election process, monitor the observance of the norms established by this law by the broadcaster and respond accordingly to the violation of the mentioned norms. The Georgian National Communications Commission shall procure the services required for media monitoring in accordance with the rules established by the legislation of Georgia.
11. It shall be prohibited to place paid pre-election and/or free pre-election advertisements, programmes of electoral subjects on TV and radio 8 hours before the polling and until 8 pm of the polling day, as well as to make automated telephone calls and send short text messages for election purposes.
12. It shall be inadmissible for an electoral subject to place an advertisement on the broadcaster that serves the agitation goals of another electoral subject during the advertising time. The advertisement of the electoral subject shall not contain elements of advertisement conducive to the election of another electoral subject, including its representative, serial number and symbols.
13. In the course of political/pre-election advertising, the sum of the single contours of the letters denoting the name of the electoral subject and the single contours of the digits denoting his/her serial number shall occupy not less than 10% of the picture area. In addition, the advertisement shall be made in such a way that at the end of it, at least for the last 1 second, the name of the electoral subject and his/her serial number are displayed, so that the sum of the single contours of the letters indicating the name and the single contours of the serial numbers occupies 50% of the picture area. In the case of violation of the rule established by this paragraph, the broadcaster shall not place the relevant political/pre-election advertisement.
14. The broadcaster shall be prohibited from devoting more airtime to the relevant electoral subject than the fee paid for the placement of paid pre-election advertisements or devoting more time to the placement of free advertisements than those defined by this law. The action provided for by this paragraph shall be deemed to be a prohibited donation.
15. The broadcaster (except for the broadcasters mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this article) is obliged to broadcast pre-election advertisements free of charge during the last 30 days before the Election Day, if it places paid pre-election advertisements during the election campaign in its service area. In this case, the local broadcaster or cable broadcaster is obliged to devote 7.5 minutes every 3 hours to free pre-election advertisements and to place equally and in a non-discriminatory manner pre-election advertisements submitted to it by each authorised party, provided that the advertising time allocated to one electoral subject during this period does not exceed 90 seconds (an electoral subject may divide this time into several parts). No unused time may be added by the electoral subject to another time belonging to him/her.
16. At least 10% of the amount spent by the party participating in the elections for the placement of pre-election advertisements shall be used for the placement of pre-election advertisements in at least 7 non-national broadcasters.
17. To determine the status of a qualified electoral subject, a public opinion survey must meet the following requirements:
a) it should be based on a recognised scientific methodology for the random selection of a representative that ensures at least 95 per cent reliability of the results and the margin of error of which does not exceed 3 per cent;
b) shall be published after verifying the reliability of the public opinion research methodology and the objectivity of the results;
c) in the presence of significant differences or changes in the results of the same or other comparable public opinion survey, a convincing scientific explanation of such differences or changes shall be possible;
d) there shall be no manipulation by public opinion or a means of raising money, it shall not be conducted by phone, mail and/or the Internet;
e) shall be based on a transparent methodology that allows for independent verification of results;
f) when publishing public opinion survey results the following shall be specified:
f.a) an organisation conducting the survey;
f.b) an organisation ordering or financing the survey;
f.c) exact formulation and sequence of questions used in the survey;
f.d) time of the conduct of field survey;
f.e) number of respondents and the selection method;
f.f) in what area or in what category of people the selection was made;
f.g) whether the survey is based on the opinion of all respondents;
f.h) number of respondents who refused to participate in the survey or did not answer the question or could not be interviewed;
f.i) selection size;
f.j) scope of error;
f.k) information about any other factor that may have had a significant impact on the results of the survey.
18. The broadcaster commissioning the public opinion survey is obliged to comply with the requirements set forth in paragraph 17 of this article. A broadcaster that publishes a public opinion survey commissioned by others shall be subject only to the requirements set forth in paragraph 17(f) of this article. (Shall become effective upon the acquisition of full authority by the Parliament of Georgia elected in the Parliamentary Elections of Georgia of 26 October 2024)]
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 673 of 22 June 2021 – website, 24.6.2021
Chapter VII – Election/Referendum Funding
Article 52 – Financial support for preparation and conduct of elections/referenda
1. Costs incurred by the Electoral Administration of Georgia for preparation and conduct of elections/referenda, as well as its activity carried out within the term of its office shall be funded from the State Budget of Georgia.
2. The CEC shall, on an annual basis and according to the procedures defined by this Law, submit to the Parliament of Georgia a budget statement of the Electoral Administration of Georgia for the following year in order to determine the budgetary financing for the following year.
3. If the budgetary funds allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections/referenda are not allocated to the CEC budgetary programme code concerned within the timeframe established by this Law, the CEC shall have the right to file an action in the district/city court of Georgia.
4. Enforcement of the allocation of funds to the CEC may not be carried out from the State Budget of Georgia intended for enforcement of court judgments.
5. The Electoral Administration of Georgia, represented by the CEC, may receive grants from persons duly authorised by law. The grant shall be u sed according to the agreement between the CEC and the authorised person.
6. For the purpose of unimpeded conduct of elections during the election period/referendum period, the Electoral Administration of Georgia and the Training Centre shall have the right to conduct state procurement under simplified procedures as provided for by the Law of Georgia on State Procurement.
[6. (Deleted – 9.2.2023, No 2581). (Shall become effective from 1 January 2025)]
7. Lodging a complaint against actions/decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their tender commissions regarding the state procurement during the pre-election period/election period may not result in the suspension of procurement procedures.
8. Time limits for appealing, during the election period/referendum period, by the state procurement-related Disputes Resolution Board of the Legal Entity under Public Law – State Procurement Agency against decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their tender commissions, and the terms and procedure for considering a complaint and for appealing the decisions delivered shall be defined under Article 77 of this Law.
[7. Appealing actions/decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their procurement committees related to public procurement during the pre-election period/election period shall not result in suspending public procurement procedures.
8. During the election period/referendum period, time limits for appealing decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their procurement committees, and time limits for the Public Procurement-related Dispute Resolution Board to consider a complaint and the procedure for appealing a decision made shall be defined under Article 77 of this Law. (Shall become effective from 1 January 2025)]
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2581 of 9 February 2023 – website, 27.2.2023
Article 53 – Funds necessary for elections/referenda
1. The CEC shall, not later than 55 days before polling, submit to the Ministry of Finance of Georgia a plan for funding the preparation and conduct of elections/referenda.
2. The Ministry of Finance of Georgia shall, not later than the 50th day before the polling day, according the plan submitted to the ministry by the CEC, ensure that the funds for the preparation and conduct of elections/referenda are allocated from the State Budget of Georgia to the CEC budgetary programme code concerned.
3. The CEC shall regulate, by a decree, the distribution and use of election funds, necessary for the conduct of elections, by election commissions.
4. The CEC shall, not later than 45 days before polling day, deposit funds allocated for a DEC into its current account.
5. A DEC shall, not later than the 30th day after polling, cease all settlements with organisations and individuals and shall, within 10 days, transfer funds remaining on its account to the relevant account of the state treasury. A DEC shall, within two weeks after transferring funds remaining on its account , submit a financial report to the CEC.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Article 54 – Election/referendum campaign expense
1. An election/referendum campaign shall be funded from:
a) the funds of a political party;
b) the election funds opened by an initiative group of voters to fund the campaign of an independent candidate.
2. A candidate nominated by an electoral subject shall use the fund of the electoral subject nominating the candidate.
3. The basis for opening a bank account in a licensed commercial bank of Georgia for electioneering of an initiative group of voters shall be an ordinance of a Chairperson of an appropriate election commission on the registration of a respective electoral subject.
4. An electoral subject shall be obliged to submit to the State Audit Office of Georgia the information about the bank account, from which the necessary costs shall be funded for an election campaign. The information submitted on the mentioned fund should also include the contact details of the persons responsible for managing the election campaign fund.
[4. An electoral subject shall submit to the Legal Entity under Public Law – Anti-Corruption Bureau (‘the Anti-Corruption Bureau’) the information about the bank account, from which the necessary costs shall be funded for an election campaign. The information submitted on the mentioned fund should also include the contact details of the persons responsible for managing the election campaign fund. (Shall become effective from 1 September 2023)]
5. Election/referendum campaign funds shall be the money deposited into the relevant bank account, as well as all goods and services received free of charge (calculated at market prices), except for the cost of free advertising time received in accordance with the law.
6. During elections, an electoral subject may not use other financial means than the respective funds.
7. The total amount of expenses incurred by the electoral subject during the year shall not exceed 0.1% of the gross domestic product of Georgia of the previous year. This amount includes the expenses incurred by the electoral subject and another person in its favour, which are determined by the State Audit Office and about which the relevant electoral subject is notified.
[7. The total amount of expenses incurred by the electoral subject during the year shall not exceed 0.1% of the gross domestic product of Georgia of the previous year. This amount includes the expenses incurred by the electoral subject and another person in its favour, which are determined by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and about which the relevant electoral subject is notified. (Shall become effective from 1 September 2023)]
[7. The total amount of expenses incurred by the electoral subject during the year shall not exceed 0.05% of the gross domestic product of Georgia of the previous year. This amount shall include the expenses incurred by the electoral subject and another person in its favour, which are determined by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and about which the relevant electoral subject is notified. (Shall become effective from 2 September 2023)]
8. The upper limit of the total annual election expenses of an independent majoritarian candidate shall be determined as follows: the upper limit of the election campaign allowances for a political party (0.1% of the previous year's GDP) shall be divided by the total number of voters in the country and the number obtained must be multiplied by the number of voters in the respective electoral district.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6551 of 22 June 2012 – website, 29.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2280 of 1 December 2022 – website, 15.12.2022
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 55 – Legislation on election/referendum campaign expense
Transparency and lawfulness of election/referendum campaign expense shall be guaranteed by the provisions determined by this Law and the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 56 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 877 of 27 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 57 – Report of election campaign expense
1. Candidate for an electoral subject/electoral subject shall submit a relevant financial report to the State Audit Office once every 3 weeks from the day of calling the elections, in the form prescribed by the State Audit Office.
2. An electoral subject that, according to preliminary data, receives the number of votes required by this Law in the elections, shall submit a report on the funds used as of the polling day to the State Audit Office not later than 12 days after the polling day.
3. An electoral subject participating in the second round of elections is obliged to submit the financial report on the activities carried out after the polling day of the first round of elections to the State Audit Office, 3 days before the day of the second round of elections.
4. Not later than one month after the publication of the election results, and not later than one month after the publication of the results of the second round an electoral subject shall submit to the State Audit Office, together with the audit report (an audit firm), a report on the funds used from the day of calling the elections until the day of publishing the final election results. An auditor certified in accordance with the Organic Law of Georgia on the State Audit Office shall have the right to conduct an audit. Unless the election campaign expenses exceed GEL 10,000, the electoral subject shall have the right to submit a full election period report without an audit report.
5. (Deleted – 21.7.2018, No 3266).
6. If the electoral subjects having received the required number of votes as provided for by this Law fail to submit a report of their election campaign funds within the specified timeframe, or if any violation of the requirements provided for by law is confirmed, the State Audit Office shall notify the electoral subjects in writing and request them to remedy the deficiency and submit detailed information about the relevant violations in writing. If the State Audit Office deems that the violation is of an essential nature and could have affected the election results, it may recommend to the relevant election commission to apply to court and request to summarize election results without taking into account the votes received by that electoral subject.
7. The State Audit Office shall determine the form of a report for funds used for elections and the procedure for its completion.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6551 of 22 June 2012 – website, 29.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 877 of 27 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
[Article 57 – Report of election campaign expense
1. Candidate for an electoral subject/electoral subject shall submit a relevant financial report to the Anti-Corruption Bureau once every 3 weeks from the day of calling the elections, in the form established by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
2. An electoral subject which, according to the preliminary data, receives the number of votes required by this Law in the elections shall, not later than 12 days after the polling day, submit a report to the Anti-Corruption Bureau on the funds used from the day the elections were called till the polling day inclusive.
3. An electoral subject participating in the second round of elections shall, 3 days before the day of the second round, submit to the Anti-Corruption Bureau the financial report on the activities carried out after the polling day of the first round.
4. An electoral subject shall, not later than one month after the election results are published, and an electoral subject participating in the second round of elections shall, not later than one month after the results of the second round are published, submit to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, along with the audit report (the report of an audit firm), a report on the funds used from the day the elections were called till the day the final election results are published. An auditor certified in accordance with the Organic Law of Georgia on the State Audit Office shall have the right to conduct an audit. Unless the election campaign expenses exceed GEL 10 000, the electoral subject shall have the right to submit a report for the full election period without an audit report.
5. If an electoral subject that has received the required number of votes as determined by this Law fails to submit a report of their election campaign funds within the set period of time, or if any violation of the requirements of the law is confirmed, the Anti-Corruption Bureau shall notify the electoral subject in writing and require that the deficiency be eliminated, and the detailed information about the violation be submitted in writing. If the Anti-Corruption Bureau deems that the violation is of an essential nature and it could have an effect on the election results, it shall have the right to apply to the respective election commission with a recommendation to apply to court and request to summarise election results without taking into account the votes received by that electoral subject.
6. The form of a report for funds used for the elections and the procedure for completing it shall be defined by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. (Shall become effective from 1 September 2023)]
Organic Law of Georgia No 2280 of 1 December 2022 – website, 15.12.2022
Chapter VIII – Polling
Article 58 – Arrangement of a polling station
1. The state authorities, municipal bodies, legal entities under public law (except for membership-based and religious associations) and organisations established with more than 50% participation interest of the state and municipal bodies shall provide the election commissions, temporarily and free of charge, with the premises and inventory required for preparing for and holding the elections. Furthermore, the above bodies shall pay the utility costs of the premises provided.
11. If an appropriate building is available, the building for an electoral precinct shall be accessible for every voter, and where such building is not available, the building allocated for the electoral precinct shall, where possible, be adapted by the allocating body for the polling day to ensure accessibility for every voter.
2. A PEC may not be established and a polling place may not be allocated in the same premises where the following are located:
a) a party;
b) state authorities and municipality bodies, except when there are no other appropriate premises within the territory of an electoral precinct for the conduct of polling according to this Law; a DEC shall make an appropriate decision;
c) a division of the police or of the State Security Service of Georgia.
21. A party and the election headquarters of a party/an initiative group of voters may not be located in a building where an election commission is located.
3. (Deleted – 7.3.2014, No 2093).
4. At a polling station:
a) polling booths shall be set up so as to ensure that voters can complete ballot papers in secret. At least one booth with one pen shall be provided for every 500 voters;
b) places shall be allocated for registration of voters and special envelopes;
c) a transparent ballot box shall be installed in a visible place;
d) public versions of lists of voters, party lists, lists of candidates, procedures for filling out a ballot paper established by the CEC, as well as an extract from this Law defining the cases when a ballot paper is deemed invalid, and demonstration protocol(s) of polling results shall be posted in a visible place.
5. If any electoral subject entered into a ballot paper no longer runs in elections, a notice thereof shall be posted in a visible place both at the polling place and in the voting booth (room).
6. In order to ensure that polling is secret, photo and video filming in a polling booth shall be prohibited.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 59 – Keeping order at polling stations and its adjacent territory on polling day
1. The PEC chairperson shall be responsible for keeping order at the polling station on polling day.
2. Decisions made by the PEC chairperson for keeping order at a polling station shall be binding upon all members of the election commission, upon all persons authorised to be present at the polling station and upon voters.
3. No armed individual may enter a polling station.
4. If the commission operations are hindered and order is violated, a PEC may expel a troublemaker from the place where the PEC is located. The chairperson and members of the commission shall sign a respective act drawn up for the expulsion. The act shall specify the first and last names of the troublemaker, as well as the numbers of the electoral district and electoral precinct, and account of the violation and the exact time of its commitment.
5. A PEC s hall decide to remove a representative of an electoral subject from the premises.
6. If social order, or the polling process or safe movement of electoral documents under this Law is threatened at a polling station or its adjacent territory, at the request of the PEC chairperson, police officers may be summoned to the polling station and its adjacent territory. Police officers shall leave the polling station and adjacent territory with the consent of the PEC chairperson as soon as the disturbance of social order is eliminated.
7. In exceptional cases, police officers may be present in an adjacent territory of a polling station but not in the polling station itself, without the request and consent of the Chairperson of a PEC, if this is absolutely necessary for preventing the violation of social order or for protecting thereof. As soon as such necessity is eliminated, police officers shall leave the adjacent territory of a polling place.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5593 of 24 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Article 60 – Polling time and place
1. Polling shall take place at a polling station on the election (polling) day from 8:00 to 20:00 hours .
2. It is prohibited to lock the polling station during voting or to terminate or suspend voting, except when it is impossible to ensure the universal and equal suffrage and free expression of the will of voters.
3. The PEC chairperson shall unilaterally decide to close a polling station temporarily, to terminate or suspend polling, to re-open the polling station, and to resume polling, and he/she shall be fully responsible for making such a decision.
4. In the case of the temporary closure of a polling station, a PEC shall, immediately after polling is terminated or suspended, decide to approve or revoke the relevant decision made by the PEC chairperson. If the decision of the commission chairperson concerns the suspension of the polling, the decision of the commission on confirming or revoking the decision shall be reflected in the log-book, the reason and the time of the suspension of the polling shall be indicated and confirmed by the signatures of the commission members. If the decision of the commission chairperson concerns the termination of the polling, the decision of the commission on confirming or revoking the decision shall be taken by an ordinance, where the reason and the time of the termination of the polling shall be indicated. As soon as the cause of the suspension of polling has been removed, the polling process shall be resumed by an ordinance of the commission chairperson. If the polling is declared terminated, it shall not be resumed.
5. A voter may stay at the polling station only during the time required for voting.
6. A PEC shall declare polling completed any time before 20:00 at electoral precincts set up at military units, hospitals, and other inpatient facilities and hard-to-access areas, provided all voters on the list of voters participated in the polling.
7. It is prohibited to conduct polling before the day or after the day of polling, except for the cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Article 61 – Opening of electoral precincts
1. An electoral precinct shall open at 7:00 a.m. If, by this time, the number of PEC members turns out to be less than 9, the information shall immediately be communicated to a respective higher DEC, which will immediately make an appropriate decision.
2. Polling procedures from the time of opening an electoral precinct up to the time of starting polling shall be carried out in the following sequence:
a) immediately after opening an electoral precinct the polling day log-book shall be opened. All persons authorised to be present at the polling place shall sign the first and second pages of the book, and if necessary, the tenth and following pages as well;
b) the PEC chairperson shall inspect the integrity of the sealed package that contains a special seal of the PEC;
c) the PEC chairperson shall prepare papers for casting lots on same kind of sheets with the same pen, shall set a special PEC seal thereto and shall fold the papers so that the text inside c an not be read. T he t otal number of blank and filled out papers shall be equal to the number of commission members participating in casting of lots. The commission chairperson shall conduct casting of lots in the presence of the commission members and persons authorised to be present at a polling station. The commission chairperson/deputy chairperson/secretary may not participate in the casting of lots . The papers shall be thrown onto the table and the commission members participating in casting of lots shall pick them up one by one;
d) the PEC chairperson shall identify from among the PEC members, by casting lots, 2 commission members to carry a mobile ballot box (if necessary);
d1) where a commission member identified by casting lots to carry a mobile ballot box refuses to fulfil the function assigned to him/her, he/she shall lose the right to participate in the regular lots to be casted for distributing other functions of the commission members. The issue of assigning a function to this commission member shall be decided on by the PEC chairperson;
e) another casting of lots shall be conducted to assign other duties to the commission members, in which the following members shall be selected:
e.a) a commission member responsible for regulation of the flow of voters at a polling room and for verification of the inking of voters;
e.b) voter regist ration commission members (at least 1 member per 300 voters), who also issue ballot papers after signing the assigned place on the front side of a ballot paper and certifying it with a special seal;
e.c) a member of the commission supervis ing ballot boxes and special envelopes;
f) after the casting of lots is finished, the PEC secretary shall make a note on the 3rdpage of the polling day log-book about the results of assigning duties by casting lots;
g) the duties of a commission member defined by casting lots may be delegated to another commission member only with the permission of the commission chairperson and that shall be noted by the commission secretary on the 5th page of the polling day log-book by specifying the time.
21) commission members appointed by the parties shall not participate in the casting of lots provided for by paragraph 2(e.b) of this article.
3. If the number of commission members in terms of the duties to be assigned appears on the polling day to be:
a) less by one member, the number of members of the commission regist ering voters shall be reduced;
b) less by two members, the commission deputy chairperson shall perform the duties of the commission member regulating the flow of voters in the polling room;
c) less by three members, the commission chairperson shall perform the duties of the member of the commission supervisi ng ballot boxes and special envelopes.
4. The DEC shall decide the matter of remuneration of a PEC member who appears before the commission after the end of the lot casting procedure, while the PEC chairperson shall decide the issue of assigning duties to that person.
5. If a person authorised to be present at a polling place finds (identifies) any violation during registration of a complaint, a decision regarding the registration of the complaint shall be made by the commission under the determined procedure.
6. After the completion of casting lots, the PEC chairperson shall:
a) announce the number of voters according to unified and special lists, including mobile ballot box list;
b) check the integrity of packages of ballot papers and special envelopes and announce the number of ballot papers and special envelopes received ;
c) check and put a seal with a unique number on main and mobile ballot boxes as determined by the CEC.
7. Each registrar of voters shall be given a notebook containing all types of ballot papers that shall be confirmed with signatures of the commission chairperson and the registrar on a front page. After all ballot papers are issued from the notebook, another notebook shall be given to the registrar, and so on.
8. (Deleted – 7.3.2014, No 2093).
9. The PEC secretary shall announce the data referred to in paragraph 6(a)(b)of this article and shall incorporate (except for the number of special envelopes) it into the demonstration protocol of polling results and the polling day log-book.
10. Control sheets shall be signed by the first voter and all the PEC members present. The following details shall be indicated in the control sheets: first name, and surname of the first voter, his/her place of registration and personal identification number of a citizen of Georgia. The PEC chairperson and the secretary shall fill out control sheets in three copies. The PEC chairperson shall insert one copy of the control sheet into the main ballot box after the first voter appears, the second copy shall be inserted into a mobile ballot box, and the third copy shall be kept for the purpose of further comparison with the control sheets in the ballot boxes.
11. Polling shall start at 8:00 a.m. on the polling day.
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 62 – Polling day log-book
1. The p olling process at an electoral precinct as well as claims, complaints, and comments concerning the progress of polling shall be recorded in a polling day log-book (‘the log-book’).
2. The log-book shall be maintained in the Georgian language, while for those electoral districts for which ballot papers are also printed in other language s understandable to the local population, the log-book may also be maintained in the respective language.
3. The log-book shall be delivered to the commission secretary who is, together with the commission chairperson, in charge of recording every election procedure during the polling day in the log-book and of specifying the time of implementation thereof.
4. One copy of the log-book together with ballot papers shall be delivered to PECs.
5. The log-book shall be bound with a lace ; t he lace shall be sealed, the sheet to be sealed shall be signed by the DEC chairperson and secretary, and shall be affixed with a DEC seal. Every page of the log-book shall be numbered and the number of the electoral district and the electoral precinct shall be specified on each page.
6. The PEC secretary shall indicate on page 4 of the log-book the number of ballot papers handed over and of ballot papers left unused after the completion of polling.
7. The commission secretary shall record on page 5 of the log-book the information regarding temporary delegation of a commission member’s duties defined by casting lots to another member of the commission.
8. The commission secretary shall record on pages 6 and 9 of the log-book every set of data to be entered into the summary protocol when summarising polling results.
9. All persons authorised to be present at a polling place may record in the log-book all claims, complaints, and comments related to the polling procedure on the polling day (page 10 and the following pages of the log-book shall be used for this purpose), and may specify witnesses (if any). Persons making records in the log-book shall specify their first and last names, and address as provided on the identity card of a citizen of Georgia.
10. No one shall have the right to prevent any person authorised to be present at a polling place from making records in the log-book.
11. The log-book shall be closed after polling results are summarised. It shall be signed by the chairperson and the secretary of the PEC and certified with the PEC seal. The log-book shall be sealed together with applications/complaints received and forwarded to the higher DEC together with the sealed documents specified in Article 67(51) and the summary protocol(s) of a PEC.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Article 63 – Ballot papers and special envelopes
1. Ballot papers shall be printed under a CEC ordinance and according to the sample established by the CEC in the Georgian language, while in Abkhazia ballot papers shall be printed in the Georgian and Abkhazian languages, and if necessary, in other languages understandable to the local population.
2. For electoral precincts the CEC shall ensure the use of technologies that allow voters with vision disabilities to complete a ballot paper independently.
3. The CEC shall ensure the printing of ballot papers and the production of ballot boxes (main and mobile), while the relevant DEC shall be responsible for the accuracy of the data to be entered into ballot papers for the elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo (except for Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia) municipality Sakrebulo). Ballot papers shall be printed under permanent supervision of observers and persons authorised by the CEC and DECs. Two commission members appointed by an ordinance of the respective election commission and observer organisations registered under this Law may observe the process of printing of ballot papers (at every place of printing). The observer organisations shall agree upon nominating not more than 3 observers.
4. The respective election commission shall, within two days after adoption of an appropriate ordinance, publish data about the place where ballot papers are printed and ballot boxes are produced, as well as about the persons responsible for printing ballot papers and producing ballot boxes.
5. A person printing the ballot papers shall be personally responsible for the precise compliance of the number of ballot papers printed and transferred to the relevant election commission with the number of ballot papers ordered in order to make sure that no extra ballot papers are printed and disseminated.
6. The chairperson and secretary of an election commission shall be personally responsible for the storage and p roper distribution of ballot papers in the election commission.
7. In order to provide a precise recording of ballot papers, each type of ballot paper shall be numbered sequentially (the number shall be specified on the counterfoil of a ballot paper; a ballot paper and its counterfoil shall be separated from each other by a perforated line) and bound in 50 copies in the form of a notebook. Each notebook shall specify on its cover page the type of ballot paper, the lines for a notebook number, numbers of ballot papers in the notebook, numbers and names of electoral districts and electoral precincts, the lines for signatures of a PEC chairperson and a PEC member (registrar of voters), to whom the notebook is to be delivered, as well as the line for recording the number of unused ballot papers.
8. The number of special envelopes delivered to each PEC shall equal to the total number of voters in an electoral precinct, while the number of ballot paper notebooks shall be equal to a multiple number of 50 of the total number of voters in an electoral precinct.
9. The CEC shall transfer ballot papers and special envelopes to DECs not later than two days before polling day. On the other hand, the DEC shall transfer ballot papers and special envelopes to PECs not later than 12 hours before polling starts.
10. The number of ballot papers and special envelopes shall be precisely registered. Two copies of a delivery and acceptance certificate shall be drawn up after the CEC transfers ballot papers and special envelopes to a DEC and the DEC transfers them to a PEC. A delivery and acceptance certificate shall specify the names of the commissions having transferred and having received ballot papers and special envelopes, the amount of special envelopes, the type of ballot papers, the amount of ballot paper notebooks (specifying their numbers and the numbers of ballot papers), the identity of persons having issued and having received them. A delivery and acceptance certificate shall be signed by the persons having issued and having received the documents (one copy of the certificate shall remain with the commission having transferred ballot papers and special envelopes, while another copy shall be given to the commission having received the ballot papers and special envelopes). A representative of the election commission that is given ballot papers and special envelopes shall request one copy of a delivery and acceptance certificate to be transferred to the respective DEC/PEC. A delivery and acceptance certificate shall represent public information.
11. Signatories to a delivery and acceptance certificate referred to in paragraph 10 of this article shall, before drawing it up, and after determining the compliance of ballot paper information, count ballot papers and enter data into the delivery and acceptance certificate. Thereafter, ballot papers shall be sealed again and that shall be endorsed by the signatures of the parties.
12. The front page of a ballot paper shall include:
a) the name of an election/referendum and the date of the election/referendum;
b) the name and the number of an electoral district;
c) the number of an electoral precinct (on counterfoil of a ballot paper and on ballot paper itself);
d) during elections held under the proportional election system – the sequence number and name of a party running in the elections; during elections of the Mayor of a self-governing city (including Tbilisi city)/a self-governing community and elections of Sakrebulo held under the majoritarian election system – the sequence number, surname and first name of a candidate, and the name of an electoral subject nominating him/her. If a majoritarian candidate is nominated by an initiative group of voters, the word ‘independent’ shall be specified along the sequence number in the ballot paper;
e) a referendum paper shall also specify the question to citizens concerning the referendum issue and options of possible answer: ‘yes’ and ‘no’;
f) the procedure for filling out a ballot paper;
g) a place for the signature of a voter registration commission member;
h) a place for the certification of a ballot paper with a special seal by a voter registration commission member.
13. If it turns out that a ballot paper was supposed to be in another electoral precinct/district or the quantity thereof does not comply with the one determined in advance, or it has a typographical or other defect, the higher election commission shall be immediately notified thereof, while the relevant election commission may, by an appropriate certificate, enter the actual number of ballot papers into the summary protocol.
14. (Deleted – 22.12.2022, No 2475).
15. If an electoral subject is withdrawn from an election, a stamp ‘withdrawn from election’ shall be placed on a ballot paper after the name of an electoral subject.
16. Ballot papers are state property. It is prohibited to take ballot papers out of a polling station, to take them away, or to destroy them on the polling day without permission.
17. Ballot papers shall be printed on a paper with protective signs and only the CEC shall have the right to order and purchase such papers .
18. The violation of the restriction s provided for by paragraph 16 of this article, as well as the dissemination and use of forged ballot papers , is a criminal offence punishable by law.
19. A PEC shall issue a ballot paper/papers and special envelopes based on the list of voters against presentation of the electronic identity card (ID card) of a citizen of Georgia or the passport of a citizen of Georgia.
20. Each voter shall be given one special envelope and the appropriate amount of ballot papers on the polling day.
21. During elections of the Parliament of Georgia, election ballot papers shall be given a voter.
22. A commission member acting as a registrar of voters shall endorse the issu ance of a ballot paper(s) by his/her signature on the list of voters.
23. Voters shall endorse receipt of a ballot paper(s) by his/her signature on the list of voters.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 64 – Inking of voters
1. Inking of voters shall be conducted in every electoral precinct (except for the cases referred to in paragraph 5 of this article) , which implies applying of invisible and non-hazardous indelible ink on the voter's right thumb nail or forefinger nail (in the case of impossibility to perform this action, the invisible and indelible ink shall be applied on the voter’s right nail of another finger, and if this is also impossible, the same procedure shall be conducted on the left hand).
2. A voter shall go through the inking verification procedure provided by the respective election commission member upon entering a polling room. The commission member shall illuminate the place for inking with a special device and after making sure that a voter has not been inked before, he/she shall grant the voter the right to participate in polling. If the device determines that a voter has been inked before , the voter shall be restricted from participating in polling and his/her name shall be recorded in the log-book.
3. A voter who has gone through the inking verification procedure shall move to the registration desk, where the registrar of voters shall ink a voter and issue a ballot paper(s). In the case of refusal to inking, a voter shall have no right to vote and a ballot paper(s) shall not be issued to him/her.
4. If a member of the election commission, or an observer present at an electoral precinct and/or a representative of an electoral subject becomes suspicious of the inking or inking verification procedure, he/she shall have the right to require the repeated conduct of the procedure referred to in paragraphs 2 and/or3 of this article. The same persons shall have the right to require respective responses to any identified violation of the inking procedure.
5. Inking shall not be used in penitentiary institutions, hospitals and other inpatient facilities ( for patients).
6. A voter who has gone through the inking procedure and has participated in an election may not vote again at the same or an other electoral precinct.
7. An individual violating the requirements referred to in this article shall be held liable under the legislation of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3562 of 1 May 2015 – website, 18.5.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 65 – Conduct of polling
1. Each voter shall vote personally. It is restricted to vote in the place of another person.
2. Voting shall be conducted under the procedure and in the sequence as follows:
a) on entering the polling room, a voter shall be checked for ink; if a voter is not inked, he/she shall be allowed to vote. A commission member responsible for regulating the voters’ flow in the polling room shall let a voter in the polling room only after the voter presents the electronic identity card (ID card) of a citizen of Georgia or the passport of a citizen of Georgia, and if there are not more than two voters standing at the registration desk designated for voters;
b) after entering the polling room, a voter shall go to the registration desk corresponding to the first letter of his/her last name in the list of voters, and shall present to a commission member registrar of voters the electronic identity card (ID card) of a citizen of Georgia or the passport of a citizen of Georgia. The commission member registrar of voters shall verify compliance of the voter's registration data specified in the document/documents presented with the data on the list of voters, and compliance of the voter's face and photos in the document/documents presented and in the list of voters with each other. If compliance is confirmed, the commission member registrar of voters shall ink the voter and sign in a respective box in the list of voters, after which the voter will confirm the receipt of a ballot paper/papers by his/her signature. When issuing a ballot paper/papers, a commission member registrar of voters shall sign in the appropriate box on the front of the ballot paper/papers and shall certify the ballot paper/papers with a special seal;
c) after endorsing a ballot paper (papers), a voter shall enter a secret polling booth and fill out the ballot paper (papers) as defined by this Law. After filling out the ballot paper (papers), the voter shall fold it (them) so that it is impossible to see who /what he/she voted for;
d) a voter shall take the folded ballot paper (papers) to a desk standing separately, shall independently take a special envelope and put the ballot paper (papers) therein. Only a voter shall have the right to put a ballot paper (papers) in a special envelope. An election commission member may not open the filled out ballot paper (papers) or otherwise violate the secrecy of voting;
e) not more than 1 voter at a time shall be allowed at a ballot box;
f) a commission member supervisin g a ballot box and special envelopes shall be permanently present by the ballot box. He/she shall keep closed the ballot box opening for inserting envelopes and shall open it only after making sure that a voter has only one envelope in hand;
g) after the end of the election, the ballot box opening for inserting envelopes shall be sealed.
21. If the verification under paragraph (2)(b) of this article confirms that the registration data (except for a photo) contained in the presented document(s) correspond to the data contained in the list of voters, but the registrar of voters considers that the face of the voter does not match the photo in the presented document or the photo in the list of voters, the registrar of voters shall apply to the PEC chairperson. The PEC chairperson shall allow the voter to vote after performing the procedure specified in paragraph 22 of this article.
22. If the PEC chairperson:
a) confirms inconsistency defined in paragraph 21 of this article, the PEC secretary shall make a record in the log-book, on a specially designated page, specifying the fact of inconsistency, the voter's name, last name and serial number in the list of voters. That record shall be certified by the signatures of a PEC chairperson and a PEC secretary. The PEC secretary shall attach the photocopy of the document presented by the voter to the log-book, and certify it with his/her signature;
b) fails to confirm the inconsistency defined in the paragraph 21 of this article but the registrar of voters, who detected the inconsistency, does not agree with him/her, the registrar of voters shall record and certify with signature his/her special opinion in the log-book, on a specially designated page, after which the PEC secretary shall add to that record the voter's name, surname and the serial number in the list of voters and certify the record with his/her signature. The PEC secretary shall attach the photocopy of the document presented by the voter to the logbook, and certify it with his/her signature.
3. It is restricted for any other person to be present at the moment of filling out a ballot paper. A voter who is unable to fill out a ballot paper independently may ask any person for help in the secret polling booth except for:
a) a member of an election commission;
b) a candidate;
c) a representative of an electoral subject;
d) an observer;
e) representatives of press and other media.
4. If a voter or a PEC member spoils a ballot paper or a special envelope, he/she shall inform the PEC chairperson thereof, re-submit the spoiled ballot paper/special envelope, and get a new one. A corner of the spoiled ballot paper/special envelope shall be cut off in the presence of a voter, the word – ‘spoiled’ – shall be written thereon, and then the spoiled ballot paper/special envelope shall be signed by the PEC chairperson and stored separately.
5. Members of a PEC and persons authorised to be present at a polling place may require a voter, before he/she goes into the polling booth and places the ballot paper(s) into a special envelope, to show them that he/she has the exact number of ballot papers and special envelopes in hand as defined by this Law. A voter shall be obliged to comply with this requirement.
6. A PEC secretary shall, on the polling day, count the number of signatures of voters in the list of voters twice , at 12:00 and at 17:00, and record the number of signatures of voters in the PEC demonstration protocol and log-book.
7. If the seal integrity of a ballot box is lost during elections, a PEC shall stop the voting process and shall decide, by an ordinance, whether or not to re-seal the ballot box and resume polling.
8. A polling place shall be closed at 20:00. Voters standing in the line by th at time may vote. For this purpose, one of the election commission members shall, by order of the PEC chairperson, register the first and last names of voters waiting in the line and inform the PEC chairperson about the number thereof, while the commission secretary shall enter the number of voters standing in the line into the log-book. The PEC chairperson shall announce that only voters standing in the line have the right to vote.
9. After closing a polling place, authorised persons of a PEC set up for exceptional cases shall take the ballot box and electoral documents of an electoral precinct established for exceptional cases to a polling place pre-de signated by a DEC.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 66 – Mobile voting
1. The mobile voting procedure shall start at 9:00 and end at 19:00. A mobile ballot box shall be returned to an electoral precinct not later than 20:00.
2. Persons referred to in Article 33 of this Law shall have the right to cast a vote through mobile voting.
3. From 09:00 on the polling day, the PEC chairperson shall provide the election commission members accompanying a mobile ballot box with the mobile ballot box list, special envelopes, and necessary number of ballot papers signed and sealed with a special seal by the registrar of voters.
4. Two members of a PEC selected by casting lots and persons authorised to be present at a polling place shall participate, at their own discretion, in polling conducted according to the location of voters.
5. If a vehicle is used during mobile voting, a PEC shall allocate space in the vehicle for 2 observers selected by casting lots from among persons authorised to be present at a polling station.
6. A voter (except persons indicated in Article 33 (1)(d) of this Law) shall cast a vote through mobile voting in case his/her actual whereabouts is assigned to the territory of an electoral precinct where he/she is registered.
7. One transparent mobile ballot box shall be used to conduct polling according to the actual whereabouts of voters. The PEC secretary shall enter into the log-book the amount of ballot papers and special envelopes delivered to the election commission members accompanying a mobile ballot box. After the end of polling, the amount of ballot papers and special envelopes in the mobile ballot box and unused ones shall be summarised in order to make a comparison thereafter. After the completion of the above procedure, a corner of each unused ballot paper and special envelope shall be cut off, the word – ‘spoiled’– shall be written thereon, and then it shall be signed by the PEC chairperson and stored separately. All procedures related to polling and inking of voters at an electoral precinct shall apply to mobile voting. In addition, the powers of representative s and observer s shall also be the same.
8. If, during elections of the municipality bodies, in cases under Article 33 of this Law , the place of registration and the actual location of a voter are assigned to the same electoral district, the voter shall have the right to participate in elections held under the proportional and majoritarian electoral systems and a respective ballot paper and special envelope shall be issued to him/her. Otherwise, a voter (except for persons indicated in Article 33(1)(d) of this Law) shall have the right to participate only in elections held under the proportional electoral system.
9. Polling procedures referred to in paragraph 8 of this article shall be conducted by the PEC on the territory where there is a military unit, a hospital or other inpatient facility or a penitentiary establishment, in which a voter is located.
10. After the end of polling, the mobile ballot box opening shall be sealed so that it cannot be opened without damaging the seal.
11. Polling procedure through mobile voting may not take place for the voters staying abroad on polling day.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1273 of 20 September 2013 – website, 2.10.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 5441 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 67 – Procedures to be conducted before opening ballot boxes
1. After the end of polling, a PEC chairperson shall select by lot at least 3 counting officers under Article 61(2)(c) of this Law, while observers shall select from within their members not more than 2 supervisors by mutual agreement (if observers fail to come to an agreement, the PEC chairperson shall select 2 supervisors from among the observers by lot).
2. The commission chairperson shall select by casting lots not more than 2 representatives from among the representatives present at an electoral precinct who shall participate in the process of counting valid and/or invalid ballot papers, together with the counting officers selected from among the commission members by casting lots. Moreover, representatives of the electoral subjects who are at the same time the counting officers selected by casting lots from among the commission members appointed by the same electoral subjects shall not participate in casting lots for above-mentioned representatives.
3. Counting officers shall sequentially count the total number of voters participating in polling by unified, special, and mobile ballot box lists of voters. The PEC secretary shall immediately incorporate the results into a demonstration protocol and a polling day log-book, and then wrap and seal separately the unified, special, and mobile ballot box lists of voters.
4. The commission secretary shall cut an edge off any unused ballot paper. Unused and spoiled ballot papers shall be bound in separate packages. Each package shall specify the name and number of an electoral precinct, and the type of ballot paper.
5. Packages shall be sealed and signed by the counting officers and the PEC chairperson.
51. Upon the completion of the above procedures, the PEC secretary shall record the number of cases defined in Article 65(22), the number of documents attached to the log-book and shall enter the relevant data into the log-book. Then the secretary shall pack and seal the documents, indicate the number of the electoral precinct, the type of the document and sign the sealed package.
6. Polling procedures at an electoral precinct set up in exceptional cases shall be conducted according to the general procedures. After the end of polling, a PEC established in exceptional cases shall seal the ballot box opening, list of voters, and unused and spoiled ballot papers. The b allot box, list of voters, and sealed unused and spoiled ballot papers shall immediately be submitted to an electoral precinct (main electoral precinct) pre-de signated by an ordinance of a DEC.
7. The m ain electoral precinct shall open the ballot box of an electoral precinct established in exceptional cases defined in paragraph 8 of this article, and shall mix special envelopes and ballot papers from that box with the special envelopes and ballot papers available at the main electoral precinct.
8. A ballot box of an electoral precinct established in exceptional cases shall be opened after mobile and main ballot boxes of the main electoral precinct are opened. The results of the main electoral precinct and the electoral precinct established in exceptional cases shall be recorded in one summary protocol.
9. The liability for non-fulfilment of the requirements established by paragraphs 5 and 51 of this article shall be imposed on the PEC Chairperson.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 68 – Opening of ballot boxes
1. The PEC chairperson shall check the seal integrity on a ballot box in the presence of PEC members and persons authorised to be present at a polling place.
2. If the seal integrity is lost but a PEC considers that this has not led to violation of the requirements of this Law, the procedure of summarising results shall be resumed under a PEC ordinance. Otherwise, a ballot box shall be sealed and the PEC ordinance and the sealed ballot box shall immediately be submitted to the higher DEC.
3. Counting officers shall move ballot boxes to a desk standing separately and take their places on opposite sides so as to maintain two meters’ distance between PEC members and persons authorised to be present at the polling station. Two supervisors and two representatives selected from among the observers shall stand next to counting officers.
4. A PEC shall first open mobile ballot boxes. Counting officers shall take special envelopes from the mobile ballot box and place them on the desk, check whether there is a control sheet in the mobile ballot box and compare it with the control sheet kept with the PEC for comparison. If any difference between the two control sheets is identified or if the control sheet is missing in the mobile ballot box, all special envelopes and ballot papers shall be bundled in one package and labelled ’invalid‘ and then submitted to the higher DEC after the polling and vote counting procedures are completed at the electoral precinct. After this procedure, counting officers shall open the main ballot box.
5. Counting officers shall take special envelopes and ballot papers from the main ballot box and place them on a separate desk, check whether there is a control sheet in the main ballot box and compare it with the control sheet kept by the PEC chairperson for comparison. If any difference between the two control sheets is identified or the control sheet is missing in the main ballot box, all special envelopes and ballot papers shall be bundled in one package and sealed. A respective protocol shall be drawn up and immediately submitted to the higher DEC. If violations do not occur, counting officers shall mix special envelopes from the main and mobile ballot boxes and start counting ballot papers.
Article 69 – Counting of votes
1. A PEC shall count ballot papers in compliance with the following procedure:
a) the first counting officer shall take a ballot paper out of a special envelope, announce for whom the vote has been cast and transfer one type of ballot paper to the second counting officer, another type of ballot paper to the third counting officer, etc., while he/she shall place special envelopes separately. Counting officers shall sort ballot papers separately by the votes given to each electoral subject;
b) unidentified type of ballot papers and ballot papers deemed by counting officers invalid shall be placed separately from ballot papers raising doubt about their validity.
2. One of supervisors selected from among observers shall stand next to the second counting officer as referred to in paragraph 1(a) of this article, and another supervisor shall stand next to the third counting officer as referred to in the same subparagraph. Supervisors shall have the right to observe the entire procedure of counting votes, make remarks on errors, require rectification of errors, and unless the requirement is met, appeal the PEC action to the higher DEC, and thereafter in court. Persons authorised to be present at a polling station may require the counting officer to put aside any ballot paper raising doubt about its validity.
3. A standard ballot paper shall be deemed invalid only in the following cases:
a) the ballot paper is not endorsed by the signature and special seal of a registrar of voters;
b) it is impossible to determine for which electoral subject a voter cast a vote;
c) the number of ballot papers in a special envelope exceeds the number required;
d) the special envelope does not comply with the sample;
e) the ballot paper in a ballot box is without a special envelope;
f) the ballot paper was intended for another electoral precinct.
4. Any corrections, changes, or amendments to a ballot paper after a voter casts a vote shall give rise to liability under the legislation of Georgia.
5. Ballot papers raising doubt about their validity shall be verified after all ballot papers are sorted in to different categories. A PEC shall decide by voting whether each ballot paper is valid. Ballot papers that are deemed valid shall be added to the pile of valid ballot papers, while ballot papers that are deemed invalid shall be added to the pile of invalid ballot papers.
6. After the procedure referred to in paragraph 5 of this article, the ballot papers that have been determined to be invalid shall be counted and labelled ’invalid’. Such ballot papers shall be bundled in a package and signed by counting officers and the PEC chairperson, and the PEC secretary shall immediately enter the quantity thereof in the demonstration protocol and the log-book. Valid ballot papers intended for another electoral precinct shall be packed in a separate bundle and the quantity thereof shall be entered only in the log-book.
7. Each package of ballot papers shall be packed and sealed in an envelope of appropriate size. The number of the electoral precinct and the type and quantity of ballot papers contained therein shall be specified on each package.
8. After the procedure referred to in paragraph 7 of this article, the number of votes cast for each electoral subject shall be counted and ballot papers shall be packed according to the procedure referred to in paragraph 9 of this article. The bundle of ballot papers belonging to each electoral subject shall separately be wrapped and sealed. The number of votes obtained by each electoral subject shall immediately be recorded by the PEC secretary in the demonstration protocol and the log-book.
9. Every 10 ballot papers shall be tied with a metal fastener and the quantity of the tied ballot papers shall be written on the top of each package, whether complete or incomplete. The packages, in its turn, shall be tied in a single bundle. A bundle of the ballot paper packages shall specify on the top the name and the number of an electoral precinct, the information about an electoral subject (electoral subjects) (the name; first and last names), the number of votes it (they) has (have) received, and the number of ballot papers put in the bundle. The liability for non-fulfilment of this requirement shall be imposed on a PEC Chairperson.
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 70 – Summary protocols of polling and election results
1. Polling and elections results shall be entered in summary protocols of polling and election results of the CEC, DECs, and PECs.
2. A summary protocol is an individual administrative-legal act evidencing the polling and election results. A summary protocol and its copy , certified as defined by this Law , shall have equal legal force.
3. It is prohibited to modify data in a summary protocol. The higher election commission shall consider whether a summary protocol is void. Modification of any summary protocol data shall give rise to liability of the respective election commission chairperson and secretary as defined by this Law.
4. If any mistake is made during filling out a summary protocol, in order to correct it, an inscription ‘corrected’ shall immediately be put along side the respective data in a summary protocol. An election commission shall draw up an amendment protocol that shall specify the amended data entered into a summary protocol and the date and time of drawing up the protocol. All members of an election commission attending the election commission session shall sign the amendment protocol. A commission seal shall be put on the amendment protocol, the amendment protocol shall be registered in the log-book, and shall be attached to the summary protocol in which data were amended.
41. It shall be prohibited to draw up an amendment protocol of a summary protocol of the polling results after a PEC seal is sealed and signed by all the commission members as provided for by Article 71(13) of this Law.
5. Each type of summary protocols (summary protocols of PEC polling results and summary protocols of DEC polling and election results) shall be assigned individual numbers that shall not be reiterated.
6. Summary protocols shall be registered accurately. The CEC shall ensure the printing of summary protocols. Summary protocols shall be printed under the constant supervision of observers and persons authorised by the CEC. The person printing summary protocols shall be solely responsible for exact compliance of the number of printed protocols transferred to the CEC with that of ordered protocols in order to prevent printing and dissemination of an excess number of protocols.
7. An election commission chairperson shall be responsible for keeping the protocols in the election commission and for distributing them as required.
8. A DEC shall provide a PEC with each type of summary protocol of polling results at an electoral precinct.
9. Summary protocols shall be printed on paper with protective markings that can only be ordered and purchased by the CEC.
10. Summary protocols shall be printed in the Georgian language, while in Abkhazia they shall be printed in the Abkhazian language, and for electoral districts for which ballot papers have been printed in a different language understandable to the local population, summary protocols shall be printed in the corresponding language.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 71 – Drawing up summary protocols of polling results by PECs
1. Upon determination of all data referred to in paragraph 3 of this article, the PEC secretary shall, in agreement with the PEC chairperson and according to all available information, draw up each type of summary protocol of polling results.
2. One summary protocol shall be drawn up during elections of the Parliament of Georgia, and two summary protocols shall be drawn up during elections of the municipality representative body Sakrebulo. One protocol shall be prepared according to the results of the elections held under the proportional electoral system, and the other one shall be prepared according to the results of the elections held under the majoritarian electoral system. One summary protocol shall be drawn up during elections of the Mayor of a self-governing city (including Tbilisi)/a self-governing community and during by-elections.
3. A summary protocol of polling results shall specify the following:
a) the number and the name of an electoral district, the number of an electoral precinct;
b) the number of an electoral precinct set up in exceptional cases (if any) that is attached to the main electoral precinct;
c) the name of elections/referenda, voting system (proportional, majoritarian);
d) the polling date (it shall also specify if it is a repeat voting or the second round of elections);
e) the numbers of seals of PECs and registrars of voters;
f) the number of voters in a unified list;
g) the number of voters in a special list;
h) the number of signatures of voters participating in elections in the list of voters at 12:00 and 17:00;
i) the total number of voters participating in elections (according to signatures in the lists of voters);
j) the number of received ballot papers;
k) the number of invalid ballot papers;
l) the name of electoral subjects, the number of votes cast there fore;
m) the date and time of drawing up of the protocol;
n) the protocol data, with which a PEC member disagrees (a commission member shall make this note in the column ‘dissenting opinion’ and shall sign it).
4. All PEC members shall be obliged to sign a summary protocol of polling results, thus evidencing their presence at an electoral precinct. The protocol shall be endorsed by the PEC seal.
5. If a PEC member does not agree with the data entered in a PEC summary protocol of polling results, he/she shall have the right to attach his/her dissenting opinion to the protocol in writing.
6. If a PEC member expresses a dissenting opinion, he/she is obliged to sign a summary protocol of the polling results in the relevant section designated for the commission member’s signature.
61. A summary protocol of the polling results drawn up by a PEC shall be legally effective if it has been signed by a majority of the PEC members.
7. A summary protocol of polling results (attached with dissenting opinions of PEC members), together with a sealed package of ballot papers and lists of voters, shall immediately be submitted to the higher DEC, and the higher DEC shall submit the same protocol, together with the DEC summary protocol, to the CEC.
8. A PEC shall be responsible for posting a photocopy of a summary protocol of polling results for public review. A PEC shall, if requested, immediately give a photocopy of the protocol (attached with dissenting opinions of commission members) to representatives of a party/an initiative group of voters or to a PEC member appointed by a party and to observers from an observer organisation. The photocopy of a protocol shall be certified by the PEC seal and signatures of the PEC chairperson and secretary (these protocols shall have the same legal force as PEC summary protocols for polling results). The above-mentioned persons shall endorse the receipt of a photocopy of the protocol by signing in the PEC log-book.
9. From the day following the polling day, a DEC shall issue photocopies of summary protocols for polling results. The photocopies shall be endorsed by signatures of the DEC chairperson and secretary and by the DEC seal (those protocols shall have the same legal force as PEC summary protocols for polling results). Any representative/observer shall endorse the receipt of a photocopy of the protocol by signing in the DEC log-book.
10. Failure to issue a summary protocol of polling results, if requested as defined by this Law, shall give rise to the liability of authorised persons of a commission as defined by this Law.
11. A summary protocol of polling results, together with lists of voters and signatures of the voters participating in polling, shall be delivered to a DEC. A DEC, on the other hand, shall deliver the same lists to the CEC that shall sort and archive them.
12. After the completion of all polling procedures, the registration book of a PEC shall be closed, signed by the PEC chairperson and secretary, and endorsed by a PEC seal.
13. A PEC seal shall be sealed in a separate package. The package shall be signed by the PEC chairperson, its secretary, and other PEC members.
14. It is the duty of a PEC to submit immediately a photocopy of a summary protocol of polling results, upon filling it out, to the CEC through all technical means available (including fax, where possible).
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 72 – Procedures for drawing up and submitting applications/complaints on polling day
1. An application/complaint shall be delivered to the PEC chairperson, his/her deputy, or the secretary of the commission. The commission secretary shall register the application/complaint in the log-book and send a notice (signed by the secretary ) to the applicant/complainant specifying the date, time, and registration number of the application/complaint submitted to the commission.
2. An application/complaint shall include:
a) the date and time of drawing up the application/complaint;
b) the first name, last name, and place of registration of the applicant/complainant;
c) the number of the electoral precinct;
d) if there is a witness – his/her first name, last name, and place of registration;
e) the essence and time of the violation;
f) if an offender is identified – all possible dat a obtained about him/her;
g) an explanation by the offender (if any);
h) other additional information.
3. The PEC chairperson shall immediately respond to the application/complaint and eliminate any existing violation. If the PEC chairperson fails to eliminate the violation, or otherwise refuses to respond to the application/complaint, an observer/representative of an electoral subject or another observer of the same observer organisation/another representative of the electoral subject shall have the right to immediately appeal the above violation to the respective DEC.
4. If the violation specified in the application/complaint is eliminated, the following record – ‘violation eliminated’ shall be entered in the log-book and the exact time shall be specified therein.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Article 73 – Applications and complaints about violation of polling and vote counting procedures
1. An application/complaint about a violation of polling procedure in an electoral precinct shall be drafted immediately upon identifying any violation of this Law as defined by Article 72 of this Law, from 7:00 until a ballot box is opened on polling day.
2. An application/complaint about violations that occurred during the procedure of counting votes or summarising polling results and requesting a revision or annulment of polling results shall be drawn up within the period from opening a ballot box until drafting a summary protocol of polling results as defined by Article 72 of this Law.
3. A PEC secretary shall register the application/complaint referred to in paragraph 2 of this article in a log-book. The PEC/PEC chairperson shall immediately respond appropriately to the application/complaint and eliminate any existing violation. If the PEC/the PEC chairperson fail to eliminate the violation, or otherwise refuse to respond to the application/complaint, an observer/representative of an electoral subject or another observer of the same observer organisation/another representative of the electoral subject shall have the right to appeal the action of the PEC/PEC chairperson to the respective DEC within 3 days. The DEC shall review the application/complaint within 4 days after it is received.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 74 – Consideration of applications/complaints about counting votes and summarising polling results
1. A DEC secretary shall, upon the receipt of an application/complaint referred to in Article 73 of this Law, register the application/complaint in the DEC registration book. The DEC shall consider the application/complaint and make a decision within 4 days after the registration of the application/complaint by the commission. The DEC shall deliver the aforementioned decision by issuing an ordinance, which may only be appealed in court under the procedure established by this Law.
2. If the procedure for submission of information referred to in Article 72(2)(a-d) of this Law is not met, the respective official who is in charge of receiving applications/complaints in an election commission shall identify the omission for the applicant/complainant and define a reasonable term for its rectification. The commission secretary shall make a respective note thereof in the commission registration book. The note shall be signed by the applicant/complainant and the respective official of the commission. Unless the omission is rectified within the period defined, the respective election commission shall apply the procedure referred to in paragraph 5 of this article.
3. The applicant/complainant shall have the right to rectify any omission within the period established by an authorised official of the election commission by submitting a similar application/complaint about the violation where the grounds for the omission shall be eliminated and/or the applicant shall submit an application specifying the data of the determined omission.
4. If the omission is rectified, a respective note shall be made in the registration book of the election commission specifying the exact time and date of rectification, and it shall be signed by the person rectifying the omission and the respective official of the commission.
5. An application/complaint submitted in violation of the procedures defined in Articles 72 and 73 of this Law and paragraphs 3 and 4 of this article shall not be reviewed and the chairperson of a respective election commission shall issue a decree to dismiss the application/complaint without prejudice.
6. The summary protocol of the PEC polling results and the PEC polling results shall be appealed under the procedure established by Article 77(2) of this Law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 75 – Summarisation of polling and election results in DECs
1. Based on the summary protocols of PECs, and taking into account the results of the examination of the violations of the electoral legislation of Georgia, a DEC shall, not later than the 15th day after the polling day, summarise the results of a referendum, elections of the Parliament of Georgia, elections of the municipality representative body Sakrebulo, and of the executive body of a municipality – the Mayor. It shall prepare the results of the Parliamentary elections of Georgia, elections of the municipality representative body Sakrebulo and of the executive body of a municipality – the Mayor, and shall draw up summary protocols of each type for polling and election results held in an electoral district. The DEC shall forward the protocols to the CEC not later than the following day.
11. The data in a summary protocol of the polling results drawn up by a PEC may be amended by an ordinance of a DEC, which must be based on the decision received by the DEC from the PEC with regard to the unsealing of the sealed packages, the number of signatures of the voters participating in polling and the repeated counting of the ballot papers.
2. A summary protocol of the DEC polling/election results shall include the following:
a) the number and name of the electoral district;
b) the name of the election/referendum, voting system (proportional, majoritarian);
c) the polling date (it shall also specif y if it is a repeat voting or a second round of election);
d) the number of voters in the electoral district;
e) the number of voters in the electoral district participating in the election;
f) the number of received ballot papers;
g) the number of invalid ballot papers;
h) the names of electoral subjects, and the number of votes cast for electoral subjects;
i) the number of valid ballot papers (the total number of votes cast for all electoral subjects);
j) the identifying number of the electoral precinct where polling results were annulled, the total number of voters in the same precinct and the basis for annulment of polling results;
k) the number of ballot papers issued to the electoral precincts where polling results were annulled;
l) the date and time of drawing up a protocol;
m) the protocol data with which a DEC member disagrees (this note shall be made and signed by the commission member in the box ‘dissenting opinion’);
n) the data enumerated in a summary protocol of election results in this paragraph, as well as the names of the person(s) elected, the names of persons advanced to the second round, and the name of the person elected in the second round.
3. If a DEC annuls polling results of any electoral precinct(s) and if the total number of voters in this precinct(s) is such that a repeat voting shall not affect the identification of person(s) elected or person(s) moved to the second round, the DEC shall determine who is the person elected or who is the person(s) moved to the second round without taking into account the results from that precinct(s).
4. All DEC members attending the commission session shall be obliged to sign a summary protocol of polling/election results. The protocol shall be endorsed by the DEC seal.
5. If a DEC member disagrees with the data included in a summary protocol, he/she may specify in the protocol with what he/she disagrees, and may attach a written dissenting opinion to the protocol. In the case of dissenting opinion, the member of the District Election Commission is obliged to sign the summary protocol of the polling results in the appropriate section designated for the signature of the member of the commission.
51. A DEC summary protocol of the polling and election results shall be legally effective if it has been signed by a majority of the DEC members.
6. The DEC secretary shall include the data referred to in this article, upon determination, in the demonstration protocol posted at a visible and accessible place in the DEC.
7. A DEC summary protocol of polling/election results (attached with dissenting opinions of DEC members), as well as DEC ordinances about amending PEC summary protocols (if such amendments have been made) shall immediately be submitted to the CEC.
8. A photocopy of a DEC summary protocol (attached with dissenting opinions of DEC members) shall, upon request, immediately be submitted to representatives of a party/an initiative group of voters and to observers from an observer organisation. The photocopy of the protocol shall be endorsed by the DEC seal and the signatures of the DEC chairperson and secretary (those protocols shall have the same legal force as DEC summary protocols). The representative/observer shall confirm the receipt of a photocopy of the protocol by signing in the log-book.
9. If a certified copy of a summary protocol that is requested as defined by this Law is not issued, it shall give rise to liability of the commission chairperson and secretary under the legislation of Georgia.
10. Within seven days after polling results are summarised, the DEC secretary shall open the sealed log-books of PECs, make photocopies of the pages of the log-book that contain records provided for in Article 65(22) and 67(51) of this Law (after this procedure the log-book must be sealed again), certify the records with his/her signature and transfer them together with relevant sealed documents (photocopies of ID cards and passports) to the CEC.
11. When conducting the procedures defined in paragraph 10 of this article, the DEC secretary shall, within the same time frame, make photocopies of the log-book pages that contain records provided for in Article 61(2)(a) of this Law, certify the records with the signature and commission seal and, if needed, forward them to the CEC.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 76 – Summarisation of election results at the CEC
1. The CEC shall, based on protocols received from DECs and PECs, and not later than the 26th day after the polling day, summarise at its meetings the results of elections of the Parliament of Georgia, elections of the executive body of Tbilisi city municipality – the Mayor and the representative body of Tbilisi city municipality – Sakrebulo, and shall draw up a summary protocol.
2. The CEC shall summarize election results and draw up a summary protocol of election results specifying the following:
a) the number of voters;
b) the number of voters participating in the election;
c) the number of ballot papers deemed invalid;
d) the number of votes cast for electoral subjects;
e) the name(s) of the person(s) elected;
f) the data as per the relevant Articles of this law.
3. A summary protocol of election results shall be signed by the CEC Chairperson and the CEC Secretary. The protocol shall be kept with the CEC, and certified copies thereof shall be given to the authorities defined by this Law and to all persons concerned.
4. The CEC shall ensure the posting of summary protocols of polling results on the CEC website at the same time when summary protocols from electoral precincts are received. The Electoral Administration officers shall be prohibited to make announcements about preliminary results of elections, unless the results are duly published on the CEC website.
5. It is prohibited to summarize election results by the CEC until election disputes pending in the courts of common jurisdiction are resolved, without giving full consideration to the court decisions.
6. In the case of any application/complaint and/or dissenting opinion of any CEC member, the CEC may summarize election results based on PEC summary protocols.
7. Upon summarising the final results of elections, the CEC shall post information about election results on its website and give it to the Legislative Herald of Georgia that shall publish it in two days’ time.
8. The CEC shall make the protocols referred to in Article 71(14) of this Law public, as well as shall ensure the immediate publication thereof on the CEC website. At the same time, if electoral precinct results have been appealed to the court as defined by the legislation of Georgia, the CEC shall be obliged to make proper note thereof in the respective protocol published on the website immediately after the official notification.
9. In any elections, after receiving from DECs the documents defined in Article 75(10) of this Law, the CEC shall process the documents within 40 days after polling day and draw up a separate document for each case: each document shall contain a certified copy of the respective page of the log-book and the attached relevant documents. The materials shall be transferred to the Agency not later than the 45th day after the polling day. The agency shall study the materials in order to verify the identity of the persons in question. If the verification reveals that a person participated or attempted to participate in the elections with counterfeit or other person's documents, the person shall be held liable under Article 1642 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 2289 of 17 April 2014 – website, 17.4.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 761 – Time limits and measures required for the second round of elections
1. Voters participating in the second round of elections shall vote according to the lists of voters in the first round, which shall be amended only taking into account the following requirements:
a) according to the data provided to the CEC by the Agency on the citizens of Georgia who have attained 18 years after the first round or on the day of the second round, as well as on the basis of information on the deceased in the same period;
b) not later than the 3rd day before the second round of elections, the District Election Commission shall establish a special list of persons specified in Article 32 (1)(a) of this Law, taking into account the data on PEC members who have the right to vote;
c) for the second round of elections special lists shall be used, which meet the requirements set forth in Article 32 of this Law on the day of the second round;
d) not later than the second day before the second round of elections, 2 copies of the final version of the revised voter lists (unified and special lists) (for the election commission and public versions) approved by the CEC shall be handed over to the Precinct Election Commission. The secretary of the Precinct Election Commission shall immediately post the version of the voter list for the public information in a visible place in the building of the Precinct Election Commission (polling station);
e) in the case of inability to arrive at the polling station on the day of the second round of elections, a voter shall apply to the Precinct Election Commission not later than 2 days before the polling day with a request to vote through a mobile ballot box. Not later than the 2nd day before the second round, the Precinct Election Commission shall establish a list of mobile ballot boxes.
2. The District Election Commission (DEC) shall draw up a special list not later than the 3rd day before the second round of elections.
3. The term of office of the temporary members of the relevant District Election Commission shall be extended including the day the CEC publishes the summary protocol of the results of the second round of elections.
4. In the case of early termination of the term of office of a member of the relevant District Election Commission, his/her successor may be elected/appointed in accordance with the rules established by the election legislation of Georgia.
5. The authority of relevant Precinct Election Commissions for the second round of elections shall be exercised by the relevant Precinct Election Commissions established for the first round, unless the CEC decides otherwise.
6. The term of office of the members of the Precinct Election Commissions provided for in paragraph 5 of this article shall be calculated from the day of calling the second round of elections, including the day of drawing up the summary protocol of the District Election Commission.
7. In the case of early termination of the term of office of a member of the Precinct Election Commission appointed by a political party, the relevant party shall have the right to appoint a member of the commission within 2 days after receiving the notification of the District Election Commission. The District Election Commission shall immediately notify the relevant political party of the early termination of the commission member's term of office.
8. If the political party does not exercise the right granted by the same paragraph within the term established by paragraph 7 of this article, the District Election Commission is authorised, if necessary, to elect a member(s) of the Precinct Election Commission in accordance with the procedures provided for by paragraph 9 of this article.
9. If the term of office of a PEC member elected by the District Election Commission is prematurely terminated, and, for filling the number of PEC members up to 17, when necessary, the District Election Commission shall be authorised to announce a competition within one day in accordance with the rules and conditions established by the election legislation of Georgia, and to elect a member (members) of the Precinct Election Commission on the next day after the period for submission of these documents expires.
10. It shall be prohibited to challenge a member of the Precinct Election Commission during the last 4 days before the polling day of the second round of elections, on the polling day and the day following the polling day.
11. The term of office of the representatives of the electoral subjects participating in the second round of elections shall be extended until the deadlines for appealing the results of the second round expire.
12. The electoral subjects defined by this article may appoint and/or replace the representatives in accordance with the rules established by this Law.
121. A candidate nominated by an electoral subject in the first round of elections may not be appointed as a representative of the electoral subject in the second round of elections.
13. The term of office of observer organisations and observers registered with the CEC and the relevant District Election Commission shall be extended until the deadline for appealing the results of the second round of elections expires.
14. Representatives of media organisations accredited by the CEC and the relevant District Election Commission shall have their accreditation period extended until the day of announcing the final results of the second round of elections.
15. The observer organisations defined in this article shall have the right to submit new/additional lists of observers to the secretaries of the Relevant Election Commissions not later than the 5th day before the second round.
16. Registered media organisations shall have the right to submit additional lists for accreditation of media representatives to the secretaries of the relevant election commissions not later than the 5th day before the second round, in accordance with the rules established by this Law.
17. In order to participate in the process of counting real and/or invalid ballot papers together with the counting officers, the casting of lots determined by Article 67(2) of this Law shall not be held and the representatives of the electoral subjects participating in the second round of elections shall be automatically entitled to participate in the procedure.
18. In order to comply with the rules set forth in paragraph 17 of this article, to identify at least 3 counters specified in Article 67(1) of this Law and to fulfil the requirement of the second sentence of paragraph 2 of the same article, a member of a Precinct Election Commission appointed by a political party shall not participate in the casting of lots held by the Precinct Election Commission, whose representative was automatically granted the right to participate in the procedure referred to in paragraph 1 of this article.
19. The second round of elections shall be held on the fourth Saturday after the elections. The second round of elections shall be fixed by an ordinance of the CEC.
20. If one of the electoral subjects participating in the second round of elections loses the passive suffrage, the second round shall not be held and the CEC shall declare the second electoral subject as the winner.
21. Tariffs for the first round of elections shall apply to the placement of pre-election advertisement. Changing the relevant tariff shall be allowed not later than the 10th day after the end of the first round. The new tariffs shall be sent to the Georgian National Communications Commission for publication on the website. Such tariffs shall become effective upon publication. The pre-election advertisements shall be broadcasted by the broadcasters from Monday following the day of fixing the second round.
22. In the electoral district(s) where the second round of elections is held, free airtime shall be distributed among the electoral subjects participating in the second round in the proportion in which such electoral subjects are represented for participation in the second round in the respective electoral district(s).
23. If necessary, the CEC shall be authorised to determine, by a decree, other additional measures and deadlines required for the second round.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 7097 of 3 September 2020 – website, 4.9.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 1348 of 30 December 2021 – website, 6.1.2022
Chapter VIII 1 – Conducting Polling/Elections Using Electronic Means
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 762 – Conducting certain election procedures using electronic means
1. Procedures for registration of voters arriving at electoral precincts, and for polling, counting of votes and drawing up of a summary protocol of the polling results shall be carried out using the electronic means in the electoral districts/electoral precincts provided for by Article 763(1) of this Law.
2. The electronic means provided for by paragraph 1 of this article, as well as the manner and conditions of their use shall be determined by the CEC decree.
3. The Government of Georgia shall provide funds for conducting elections using the electronic means provided for by paragraph 1 of this article.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 763 – Electoral districts/electoral precincts
1. The list of electoral districts/electoral precincts, where elections are to be held using the electronic means, shall be determined by the CEC ordinance in accordance with this article. The list of electoral districts/electoral precincts shall be determined is such manner that the said electoral districts/electoral precincts cover at least 70% of the total number of voters in Georgia.
2. Elections using the electronic means shall be conducted:
a) in all electoral precincts in the territory of the self-governing city;
b) in all electoral precincts in the territory of the administrative centre of the municipality;
c) in the electoral precinct determined by the CEC ordinance, which does not belong to the electoral precincts provided for by sub-paragraphs a) and b) of this paragraph.
3. Elections using the electronic means shall not be conducted in:
a) the electoral precinct established in another state;
b) the electoral precinct established in exceptional cases;
c) the electoral precinct established in the place which is hard to access.
4. At the electoral precinct where elections will be held using the electronic means, the number of voters shall not exceed 3 000.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 764 – Procedures for polling and counting of votes
1. Procedures for polling and counting of votes, including those for the registration of voters and voting procedures, shall be determined by the CEC decree.
2. At the electoral precinct where elections are to be held using the electronic means:
a) the electoral precinct shall open at 6:45 on the polling day;
b) inking of voters shall be carried out in accordance with the procedures determined by this Law;
c) a control sheet shall not be used;
d) more than one main ballot box and an electronic voting machine may be used.
3. Based on the preliminary data counted by the electronic voting machine, the PEC chairperson shall print out an excerpt of the preliminary results from the machine, which shall be signed by the chairperson and the secretary of the said commission. After carrying out procedures specified in this paragraph, the procedures for counting votes and drawing up the summary protocol of the polling results, as provided for by this law, shall continue.
4. Only those standard ballot papers shall be valid, on which the corresponding circle in front of the name of an electoral subject is coloured and/or marked, regardless of the presence of any other type of note/inscription in the ballot paper (where such note/inscription exists).
5. A standard ballot paper shall be deemed invalid if:
a) the corresponding circle in front of the name of more than one electoral subject is coloured and/or marked;
b) no corresponding circle in front of the name of any electoral subject is coloured and/or marked.
6. Counting officers shall be guided by the requirements of paragraphs 4 and 5 of this article when counting ballot papers.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 765 – Determination of the form and type of electoral documents
The form, text and procedures for filling up the ballot paper, the type of the ballot box and special envelopes, and the form and type of the excerpt of the preliminary results, the summary protocol of the polling results and those of other documents necessary for the conduct of elections shall be determined by the CEC ordinance.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 766 – Audit of polling/elections conducted using electronic means
1. Audit of polling/elections conducted using electronic means shall be carried out through the following measures:
a) the PEC chairperson shall activate the voter verification device/devices in the presence of the persons authorised to be present in the polling station (he/she shall activate the voter verification process in the voter verification device/devices) and shall print out the initial report/reports from the device/devices, thereby confirming that no voter verification has been done with the voter verification device/devices. Activation of the voter verification device and printing out the initial report from the device shall be possible only after entering a special individual code/password in the said device by the PEC chairperson. Before activating the voter verification device, the PEC chairperson shall check the possibility of activating the device without entering a special individual code/password;
b) after activating the voter verification process in the voter verification device/devices, the PEC chairperson shall instruct the members of the commission registering voters to print out the list of voters from the voter verification device/devices (by indicating the voter’s serial number, surname and actual state), which will be displayed in a visible place along with the demonstration protocol, which can be used to verify that the list of voters loaded in the voter verification device and the lists of voters displayed on the voters’ registration desk and those posted on the wall of the polling station are identical;
c) the PEC chairperson shall check the main and mobile ballot boxes in the presence of the persons entitled to be present in the polling station, and after it is confirmed that the ballot boxes are empty, he/she shall seal them using seals with individual numbers. The main ballot box shall be sealed so that it cannot be opened without damaging the seal, that it is impossible to manually place the ballot in the ballot box and/or manually remove it from the ballot box and remove the special electronic voting machine installed on the ballot box. The serial numbers of the seals shall be entered in the log-book;
d) after the ballot boxes are sealed, the PEC chairperson shall print out from the special electronic voting machine a certificate that at that time no voter has cast a vote through the special electronic voting machine (‘zero excerpt’) and shall hand the excerpt over to the secretary of the commission for storage;
e) the chairperson and secretary of the PEC shall confirm the sealing of the empty ballot boxes and the information given in the ‘zero excerpt’ by signing the corresponding page in the log-book that at that time no voter has cast a vote through a special electronic voting machine;
f) the ballot paper shall have a special protective bar code and an individual QR-code, which shall be also used in the relevant device. The authorised officer of the Electoral Administration shall verify whether the special electronic voting machine takes the ballot paper format without a special bar-code and an individual QR-code;
g) upon entering a polling room a voter shall move to the registration desk, where he/she shall present the electronic identity card (ID-card) or the passport of the citizen of Georgia to a commission member acting as a registrar of voters. The commission member acting as a registrar of voters shall verify the compliance of the voter’s face and photos in the presented documents with each other. The commission member acting as a registrar of voters shall hold the electronic ID card of the citizen of Georgia in the reader of the voter verification machine (readable area of the electronic ID card of a citizen of Georgia). If the compliance is verified, the voter shall sign the voter’s verification receipt printed out from the voter verification machine by the commission member acting as a registrar of voters. The commission member acting as a registrar of voters shall place the voter verification receipt printed out from the voter verification machine in an opaque, sealed box placed on the registration desk, the opening of which shall be sealed after the end of the polling and handed over to the higher DEC together with the electoral documents. Where necessary, the receipts may be re-counted and their number compared with the number of voters participating in the voting specified in the final report printed out from the voter verification machine;
h) the number of voters participating in polling/elections and the total number of voters participating in polling/elections shall be determined at 10:00, 12:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 20:00 on the polling day. The data of 12:00 and 17:00 shall be included in the demonstration protocol and the summary protocol of polling results;
i) immediately after the end of polling, the PEC chairperson shall complete the verification process in a special electronic voting machine and shall print out the final report from the machine;
j) after the end of polling, the information in the special electronic voting machine on the voters participating in the voting shall be stored electronically, in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia;
k) after completing the procedure of placing the ballots in the mobile ballot box into the main ballot box, based on the preliminary data counted by the special electronic voting machine, the PEC chairperson shall print out an excerpt of the preliminary results from the machine. The mentioned information shall be immediately provided to the higher DEC, and the excerpt of the preliminary results shall be kept in the log-book;
m) after the completion of the procedure specified in sub-paragraph k) of this paragraph, the procedures for counting votes and drawing up a summary protocol of the voting results, provided for by the election legislation of Georgia, shall continue, which provides an opportunity to verify whether the electronic voting machine has counted the ballots in compliance with the requirements of the election legislation of Georgia;
n) the DEC is obliged to open the relevant electoral documents and re-count the polling results in the event that in the summary protocol of polling results drawn up by the PEC the number of votes cast for the electoral subject, the total number of voters participating in the election and/or the number of invalid ballots have been corrected, without the correction report accompanied, which is a mechanism for auditing the results of elections conducted using electronic means;
o) the DEC is obliged to identify 5 electoral precincts by random selection from the electoral precincts in the territory of the electoral district no later than the 6th day after the polling day, to open the packages received from the PECs of the electoral precincts and to re-count the ballots, which is a mechanism for auditing the results of elections conducted using electronic means.
2. The procedure for confirming the conduct of audit specified in this article shall be determined by the CEC ordinance.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 767 – Digitising ballot papers
1. The ballot papers of the electoral precinct, where the electronic voting machine is not installed, shall be digitised by means of the appropriate electronic device in accordance with the procedure determined by the CEC decree.
2. The CEC shall ensure that all digitised versions of ballot papers on the electronic device determined by paragraph 1 of this article, are placed on the Internet, according to the electoral precincts, within 2 days after the polling day. The digitised version of the ballot papers placed on the Internet can be accessed by any interested person.
3. The procedures for digitising the ballot papers and publishing the digitised ballot papers shall be determined by the CEC decree.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Chapter IX – Electoral Dispute Resolution
Article 77 – Term and procedure for appeal
1. Violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia may be appealed to the respective election commission. The decision of an election commission may be appealed only to a higher election commission or to the court under the procedure and within the time frames as defined in this Law, unless otherwise provided for hereby.
2. A decision of a PEC/the head officer of a PEC may be appealed to a respective DEC within 3 calendar days after it is received. The DEC shall review the appeal within 4 calendar days after it is received. The decision of the DEC may be appealed to a respective district/city court within 2 calendar days after it is received. The district/city court shall consider the appeal within 2 calendar days after it is received. The decision of the district/city court may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within 1 calendar day after the decision is made. The Court of Appeals shall review the appeal within 2 calendar day after it is received. The decision of the Court of Appeals shall be final and shall not be appealed.
3. If a DEC decision is appealed to the CEC based on the appeal of a PEC decision, an application/complaint shall not be considered.
4. A decision of a DEC/a DEC head officer may be appealed to the CEC within 2 calendar days after it is made. The CEC shall review the appeal within 2 calendar days after it is received. The decision of the CEC may be appealed to the Tbilisi City Court within 2 calendar days after it is made. T he T bilisi City Court shall review the appeal within 2 calendar days after it is received. The decision of the Tbilisi City Court may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within 1 calendar day after it is made. The Court of Appeals shall deliver its decision within 2 calendar days after the appeal is filed. The decision of the Court of Appeals shall be final and may not be appealed.
5. A decision of the CEC/CEC head officers may be appealed to the Tbilisi City Court within two calendar days after the decision is delivered. The Tbilisi City Court shall examine the appeal within two calendar days. The decision of the Tbilisi City Court may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within two calendar days after the decision is delivered. The Court of Appeals shall deliver its decision within two calendar days after filing the appeal. The decision of the Court of Appeals shall be final and may not subject to appeal.
51. (Deleted – 12.6.2015, No 3695).
52. During the election period/referendum period, decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their tender commissions may be appealed within 2 calendar days after they are made to the state procurement-related Disputes Resolution Board of the Legal Entity under Public Law – State Procurement Agency, which will consider a complaint and will make an appropriate decision within 2 calendar days after the complaint is received. The decisions made with regard to the actions/decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their tender commissions may be appealed to Tbilisi City Court within 2 calendar days after they are made. The Tbilisi City Court shall consider a claim and make an appropriate decision within 2 calendar days after the claim is received. The decision of Tbilisi City Court may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within 2 calendar days after the decision is made. The Court of Appeals shall consider a claim within 1 calendar day after it is received. The decision of the Court of Appeals shall be final and may not be appealed.
[5 2 . During the election period/referendum period, decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their procurement committees may be appealed within 2 calendar days after they are made to the Public Procurement-related Dispute Resolution Board, which considers a complaint and makes a decision within 2 calendar days after the complaint is received. The decisions made by the Public Procurement-related Dispute Resolution Board with regard to the actions/decisions of the CEC, the Training Centre and/or their procurement committees may be appealed to the Tbilisi City Court within 2 calendar days after they are made. The Tbilisi City Court shall consider the appropriate claim and make the decision within 2 calendar days after the claim is received. The decision of the Tbilisi City Court may be appealed to the Tbilisi Court of Appeals within 2 calendar days after the decision is made. The Court of Appeals shall consider the claim within 1 calendar day after it is received. The decision of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals shall be final and shall not be appealed. (Shall become effective from 1 January 2025)]
53. An appeal may be filed with a DEC, or the CEC in both tangible and electronic form. The procedure for filing an appeal in an electronic form shall be defined by an ordinance of the CEC.
6. If a lawsuit/complaint is lodged with the court, the court shall immediately inform a DEC/CEC about receipt of the lawsuit/complaint and about the decision once it is delivered. The decision of the District/City Court shall be given to parties before 12:00 on the following day.
7. If a party fails to appear at the court hearing, the court shall deliver its decision based on an inquiry into case materials and according to the provisions of Articles 4, 17, and 19 of the Administrative Procedures Code of Georgia.
8. An application/lawsuit/complaint shall be considered to be lodged with an election commission/court from the moment it is registered with the respective election commission/court.
9. Lodging of an application/lawsuit/complaint with the election commission/court shall not suspend the validity of the appealed decision.
10. It is prohibited to extend timeframes for appeal and dispute resolution as determined in this article, unless otherwise defined by this Law.
101. An application/complaint shall be dismissed if the time limit and procedure for submitting it has been violated.
11. An application/lawsuit/complaint, as referred to in Article 78 of this Law, submitted to the election commission/court concerning election disputes by the persons other than those specified in the same Article, shall not be considered.
12. The legislation of Georgia shall determine the timeframes and procedures for appealing election commission decisions and violation s of the electoral legislation of Georgia. The legislation of Georgia shall also define the timeframe for examining an application/lawsuit/complaint and delivering a decision, as well as the group of claimants, unless otherwise defined by this Law.
13. The timeframes and procedures for appealing violations of electoral legislation during elections held within the competence of the Supreme Election Commission of an Autonomous Republic shall be determined under the procedure defined by the legislation of the Autonomous Republic.
14. Applicants/observer organisations/electoral subjects shall be informed about the time and place of consideration of the complaint by an election commission according to the requirements defined by this Law.
15. If an applicant is an observer organisation or its representative registered with an election commission, the respective observer or the observer organisation registered with the election commission shall be notified of the time and place of consideration of the complaint.
16. If the applicant is an electoral subject or its appointed representative, the appointed representative of the electoral subject, based on Article 42 of this Law, shall be notified of the time and place of the consideration of the complaint.
17. If the applicant is a member of an election commission, he/she shall be personally informed of the consideration of the complaint.
18. Parties shall be required to clearly specify the applicant’s contact number (home and/or cell phone numbers), as well as fax number and email address (if any) in the complaint.
19. Parties may be summoned to the consideration of a complaint either in writing or by telephone (including cell phone, text message), email, fax, or other technical means in order to meet the time frames for examination of complaints as defined by this Law. Summoning a party through technical means shall be confirmed by:
a) contacting the person at the telephone number specified thereby;
b) sending an e-mail, fax, or text message with acknowledgement of receipt through the relevant technical means. If such acknowledgement is received, the party shall be deemed to be summoned. The party shall also be deemed summoned if it is impossible to contact him/her through the technical means referred to in the complaint (if the cell phone, fax, computer is switched off, etc.).
191. Information about dismissing an application/complaint without prejudice shall be communicated to the party immediately upon issuance of an ordinance of the chairperson of an election commission, under the procedure established by paragraph 19 of this article.
20. When a party is summoned by any technical means, a report shall be drawn up and attached to the complaint submitted at a commission session.
21. The CEC report shall be drawn up and signed by an officer and the head of Legal Department of the CEC.
22. A report in a lower election commission shall be drawn up by one of the commission members by order of the commission chairperson, and shall be signed by that member and the chairperson of the commission.
23. The Electoral Administration of Georgia shall be obliged to inform a party of the time and place of examination of a case not later than three hours before the examination commences.
24. The form of a report shall be approved by a CEC ordinance.
25. The failure of a party to appear shall not be the grounds for postponing the consideration of a complaint.
26. A party attending the election commission session shall be provided, if required, before the session starts, with photocopies of investigation materials related the review of the complaint.
27. A party shall have the right to participate in the process of consideration of a complaint as defined in the electoral legislation of Georgia.
28. A decision whether or not to consider a complaint shall be made based on an accurate inquiry into and study of the evidence submitted by the parties and the materials obtained by the Electoral Administration of Georgia on its own initiative.
29. A party participating in the process of consideration of a complaint, upon request, shall be provided with the decision about the complaint (except for minutes of a commission session) not later than 12:00 of the day following adoption of the decision, taking into account the timeframes for drawing up the respective documents as defined in the legislation of Georgia.
30. A written commission decision shall be sent to a party who has failed to appear at the consideration of a complaint, notwithstanding that he/she has been summoned.
31. If a party fails to appear at a commission session during consideration of a complaint, the date of serving a written document of delivered decision upon that party shall not be basis for starting an appeal period for the commission decision.
32. An election commission shall be obliged to specify in its decision the term and place (name and address of an institution) to which the decision may be appealed.
33. Courts shall immediately communicate information to the CEC about claims/complaints filed with common courts with respect to electoral disputes. In addition, a respective court shall forward to the CEC the ruling, concerning the case to be considered, about fixing a session and the involvement of third persons. Upon receiving the ruling, the CEC shall immediately post it on its webpage. The ruling shall be considered delivered to the third persons immediately after passing 3 hours from its publication on the CEC webpage, and the third persons shall be considered summoned to appear in court.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6605 of 29 June 2012 – website, 16.7.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3695 of 12 June 2015 – website, 15.6.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2581 of 9 February 2023 – website, 27.2.2023
Article 78 – Electoral disputes and group of claimants
1. The provision regulating elections, and time limits and the procedure for filing a constitutional claim with and hearing it at the Constitutional Court of Georgia concerning the constitutionality of elections to be held or held on the basis of the provision shall be defined by the Organic Law of Georgia on the Constitutional Court of Georgia.
11. Persons defined by this article, who have the right to file a claim with a court, shall have the right to submit an application/complaint to an election commission with regard to an electoral dispute defined by this article, and persons registered in the electronic register shall have the right to file a claim with a court on behalf of the aforementioned persons – on the basis of their applications, appeals or recommendations. The procedure for keeping an electronic register shall be defined by an ordinance of the CEC.
2. A representative to a respective election commission of a party/an initiative group of voters with an electoral registration, an organisation with the status of observer (during the non-election period – an organisation with the status of observer registered during the last general elections), a member of an appropriate DEC or PEC, or a citizen whose application for including him/her in the list of voters was not satisfied by the election commission, shall have the right to file a claim with the court concerning the list of voters.
3. A representative to the CEC of a party with an electoral registration, an organisation with the status of observer registered for the last general elections, and a member of the CEC shall have the right to file a claim with the court with respect to establishment of electoral districts, within the time limit determined by this Law.
4. A representative to an appropriate DEC of a party with an electoral registration, an organisation with the status of observer registered for the last general elections, and a member of an appropriate DEC shall have the right to file a claim with the court with respect to establishment of electoral districts, within the time limit determined by this Law.
5. An individual determined by the legislation of Georgia shall have the right to file a complaint with the court concerning the appointment/election of a member of the CEC/DEC within the time frame defined by this Law.
6. A representative to an appropriate DEC of a party/an initiative group of voters with the electoral registration, an organisation with the status of observer, or a member of a respective DEC or PEC shall have the right to file a claim with the court concerning the appointment/election of a PEC member within the time limit determined by this Law.
7. A party with the electoral registration, an organisation with the status of observer, or a member of an appropriate or higher election commission, whose term of office has been prematurely terminated, shall have the right to file a claim with the court with respect to the ordinance of an election commission and its chairperson on premature termination of the term of office of a member of an election commission or a head officer of an election commission, and due to the failure to adopt a decision of the premature termination of the term of office (when there is a basis under Article 29 of this Law), within the time limit determined by this Law.
8. A member of the CEC, a representative to the CEC of a party with the electoral registration, an organisation with the status of observer, or more than half of an election commission members whose term of office has been prematurely terminated under this ordinance shall have the right to file a claim with the court due to the ordinance of the CEC on premature termination of the term of office of a subordinate election commission, and due to the failure to adopt a decision of the premature termination of the term of office.
9. The CEC shall have the right to file a complaint with the court concerning the failure to fulfil the obligations determined by Article 53(2) of this Law within 10 days after the expiration of the time provided for by the same paragraph.
10. The following entities shall have the right to file a claim with the court due to the registration of a party, an initiative group of voters, and their representatives:
a) a party, a representative of an initiative group of voters to the CEC (during elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi), if the CEC chairperson did not register the party, the initiative group of voters or their representatives, or cancelled their registration;
b) a party, a representative of an initiative group of voters to an appropriate DEC (during elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo and the Mayor (except for Tbilisi city)), if the DEC chairperson/secretary did not register the initiative group of voters/their representatives, or cancelled their registration;
c) a party, a representative of an initiative group of voters to the CEC (during elections of the Mayor of Tbilisi), and not less than 2 persons with the status of observer (that were appointed as observers to the CEC), if they believe that the party has been registered in violation of the requirements of the electoral legislation of Georgia;
d) a party, a representative of an initiative group of voters to an appropriate DEC (during elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo and the Mayor (except for Tbilisi city)), and not less than 2 persons with the status of observer (that were appointed as observers in a respective electoral district), if they believe that the initiative group of voters has been registered in violation of the requirements of the electoral legislation of Georgia.
11. The following entities may file a claim with the court due to the ordinance of an election commission chairperson on the registration of the party list submitted by a party running in elections, of individual candidates entered into the party list, of a candidate nominated in a single-seat electoral district, and of a candidate for Mayor:
a) a party running in elections, a majoritarian candidate, a representative of an initiative group of voters to an appropriate DEC (during elections of amunicipality representative body Sakrebulo), if the CEC Chairperson did not register a candidate for Mayor of Tbilisi, the party list submitted by a party, individual candidates entered into the list; and if the chairperson of a DEC did not register a party list submitted by a party, individual candidates entered into the party list, candidates nominated by a party/an initiative group of voters during Sakrebulo elections, or the candidates for Mayor nominated by a party during elections of the Mayor of a self-governing city (except for Tbilisi)/a self-governing community, and/or if the chairpersons of the above election commissions cancelled their registration;
b) a party with the electoral registration and running in elections, and at least 2 persons with the status of observer (that were appointed as observers to the CEC), if they believe that the CEC Chairperson registered a party list, individual candidates entered into the party list, and a candidate for Mayor of Tbilisi in violation of the requirements of the electoral legislation of Georgia, and in addition, if individual candidates entered into the party list fail to meet the requirements established by the Constitution of Georgia and other legislative acts of Georgia, or these requirements were met in violation of the procedure determined by the legislation of Georgia;
c) a party with the electoral registration and running in elections, a representative of an initiative group of voters to an appropriate DEC (during elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo), and at least 2 persons with the status of observer (that were appointed as observers to a DEC), if they believe that the DEC chairperson registered a party list, individual candidates nominated under the majoritarian system or entered into the party list, or candidates for Mayor of a self-governing city (except for Tbilisi city)/a self-governing community in violation of the requirements of the electoral legislation of Georgia, and in addition, if individual candidates nominated under the majoritarian system or entered into the party list fail to meet the requirements established by the Constitution of Georgia and other legislative acts of Georgia, or these requirements were met in violation of the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia.
12. The following entities shall have the right to file a claim with the court concerning the CEC ordinance for registration of domestic and international observer organisations: the aforementioned organisation if the CEC failed to register it, a party with the electoral registration, and a registered organisation with the status of observer, if they believe that the observer organisation was registered in violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia.
13. The following entities shall have the right to file a claim with the court concerning a DEC ordinance for registration of a domestic observer organisation: the aforementioned organisation if the CEC failed to register it, a representative to the DEC of a party with the electoral registration/of a registered initiative group of voters, a registered organisation with the status of observer, if they believe that the observer organisation was registered in violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia.
14. The following entities shall have the right to file a claim with the court due to the ordinance by the CEC/DEC secretary on accreditation of representatives of the press and other media: a representative of the press and other media, whose application for accreditation was not satisfied by the election commission; a party with the electoral registration/a representative of an initiative group of voters to an appropriate election commission, or an organisation with the status of observer.
15. The following entities may file a claim with the court due to the actions under Article 47(1) of this Law:
a) a party, an organisation with the status of observer, an election commission, if the claim concerns the violation of the above procedure by a party or a candidate for Mayor of Tbilisi;
b) a party, a representative of an initiative group of voters to an appropriate DEC (during elections of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo), a majoritarian candidate, a candidate for Mayor, an organisation with the status of observer, an election commission, if the claim concerns the violation of the above procedure by a candidate nominated in the electoral district.
Note: A person defined in this paragraph shall be entitled to refer to the court on his/her own regarding the issue under the same paragraph, and an application/complaint filed by him/her for submitting such a request to another authorised person shall not be subject to consideration.
16. A person determined by the legislation of Georgia shall have the right to file a complaint concerning the violation of the provisions of Article 46(3) and Article 50(1-4) of this Law by the press and other media.
161. (Deleted – 12.6.2015, No 3695).
17. If the provisions of Article 48 of this Law are violated, the following entities may file a claim with the court due to an ordinance of an election commission chairperson: a party or an initiative group of voters nominating a candidate, the candidate with regard to whom the ordinance was issued, a representative to the CEC of any other party with electoral registration, an organisation with the status of observer, a representative of an initiative group of voters to the DEC (in the case of a majoritarian candidate), unless the election commission confirms the above violation.
18. (Deleted – 25.7.2013, No 864).
19. A complaint concerning the issues referred to in the seventeenth paragraph of this article shall be filed with the respective district/city court not later than the day following polling day. The court shall deliver its decision not later than the following day after filing of the complaint. The court decision of the district/city court may be appealed to the Court of Appeals not later than the following day after delivering the decision and the Court of Appeals shall deliver its decision not later than the following day after filing of the complaint.
20. In the case of appealing a PEC summary protocol, the following entities may file a claim with the court concerning the respective ordinance of a higher DEC: a party with the electoral registration, initiative group of voters or their representative to an appropriate DEC, and an organisation with the status of observer.
21. The following entities may file a claim with the court concerning a DEC ordinance on declaring voting results valid or invalid in an electoral precinct: a party, an initiative group of voters or their representative to an appropriate DEC, a majoritarian candidate, a candidate for Mayor of a self-governing city/self-governing community, and an observer of an organisation with the status of observer at a respective DEC.
22. The following entities may file a claim with the court due to a CEC ordinance on declaring elections valid or invalid: a party running in elections, a representative of an initiative group of voters to a DEC (in the case of an electoral district), a majoritarian candidate, a candidate for Mayor of a self-governing city/self-governing community, and an organisation with the status of observer.
23. If a DEC summary protocol is appealed, the following entities may file a claim with the court due to a respective CEC ordinance on the appeal: a party running in elections, a representative of an initiative group of voters to a DEC, a majoritarian candidate, a Mayoral candidate of a self-governing city/self-governing community, and an organisation with the status of observer.
24. The following entities may file a claim with the court due to a CEC summary protocol of election results: a party running in elections, a candidate for Mayor of Tbilisi, a majoritarian candidate (during elections of Tbilisi municipality Sakrebulo), and an organisation with the status of observer.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6605 of 29 June 2012 – website, 16.7.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3695 of 12 June 2015 – website, 15.6.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 6855 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Chapter X– Penalties for Violation of Electoral Legislation
Article 79 – Participation in the pre-election campaigning in violation of the requirements of this Law
1. Participation in the pre-election campaigning in violation of the requirements of this Law, –
shall carry a fine in the amount of GEL 2 000.
2. Violation of the requirement of Article 45(12) of this Law, –
shall carry a fine in the amount of GEL 2 000.
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Article 80 – Hindering dissemination of pre-election appeals and materials
1. Under this Law, hindering dissemination of , or seizure of, election appeals, statements, signboards, papers, photo s, and other materials, as well as seizure of or hindering the use of motor vehicle s or other means of transportation equipped with special devices designated for election campaigning shall be subject to a penalty in the amount of GEL 1 000.
2. The same action conducted by officials shall be subject to a penalty in the amount of GEL 2 000.
Article 81 – Conduct of election campaigning in institutions where such activities are prohibited
The conduct of election campaigning in institutions where such activities are prohibited by this Law and the issue of a permit for such activities by an authorised person shall be subject to a penalty in the amount of GEL 1 000.
Article 82 – Violation of the procedures for publishing election-related public opinion poll results
The publication of the results of a public opinion poll conducted in relation to elections without the required information within the timeframe determined by law or the violation of other procedures related to publication shall result in the imposition of a penalty on the broadcaster in the amount of GEL 5 000, and on other means of media a penalty in the amount of GEL 1 500.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 83 – Placement of political/pre-election advertising in violation of law
1. The violation of the requirements under this Law related to election campaigning, placement of political/pre-election advertising and transmission or publication of information shall be subject to penalty impos ed on electronic media in the amount of GEL 1 500, and on printed media – in the amount of GEL 500.
2. The same action repeated during one year after the imposition of an administrative penalty shall be subject to penalty impos ed on electronic media in the amount of GEL 5 000, and on printed media – in the amount of GEL 1 500.
[Article 83 – Production and placement of political/pre-election advertising in violation of the requirements provided for by law
1. Violation of the requirements established by this Law regarding canvassing, production/placement of political/pre-election advertisements, except for the cases specified in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article, shall result in imposing a penalty on the relevant political party not exceeding the amount of the tariff determined for the time of placing the advertisement, and the violation of the requirement set forth in Article 51(12) of this Law shall result in the imposition of a penalty on the relevant political party not exceeding twice the amount of the tariff established for the time of placing the advertisement. If the penalty is due to the placement of free advertising, the amount of the penalty shall be calculated in the amount of not more than double the tariff set by the relevant broadcaster for the placement of the paid advertising.
2. Violation of the requirement set forth in Article 51(13) or (14) of this Law shall result in the imposition of a penalty on the relevant broadcaster not exceeding twice the amount of the tariff established for the time of placing the advertisement. If the penalty is due to the placement of free advertising, the amount of the penalty shall be calculated at the tariff of not more than double the tariff set by the relevant broadcaster for the placement of the paid advertising. Violation of the requirement set forth in Article 50(1)(b-d) or (1 1 ) of this Law or the non-fulfilment of other obligations set forth in Article 51 of this Law shall result in the imposition of a penalty in the amount of GEL 5,000 for the relevant broadcaster.
3. Execution of automated telephone calls and sending short text messages provided for by Article 51(11) of this Law shall result in the imposition of a penalty on the relevant political party and the fixed or mobile communication network operator in the amount of not more than double the fee paid for the relevant service.
4. Violation of the requirement set forth in Article 50(2) of this Law shall result in the imposition of a penalty in the amount of GEL 1,500 for the print media. (Shall become effective upon the acquisition of full authority by the Parliament elected in the Parliamentary Elections of Georgia of 26 October 2024) ]
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 84 – Liability of electoral subjects for violation of the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens
1. Electoral subjects shall be liable for violating the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens, and for an act that aimed to evade the statutory requirements for funding political activities.
2. The liability referred to in paragraph 1 of this article shall be imposed by the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Associations of Citizens and under procedures defined by this Law.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 85 – Non-compliance with the requirements set forth by law on limitation of election campaign expense and accountability
1. Failure to comply with the statutory obligation to submit a report for election campaign fund and/or submitting a report for election campaign fund with inaccurate data shall be subject to a warning or a penalty impos ed on an independent candidate, in the amount of GEL 1 000, and on a political party in the amount of GEL 5 000.
2. Violation of the requirement set forth in Article 54(7) or (8) of this Law shall result in the imposition of a penalty double the amount of the excess fee.
3. Repeated conduct in the same elections of the action shall result in the imposition of a penalty in the amount of double the penalty established by the relevant paragraph, and the repeated commission of the action after the received warning, shall result in the imposition of a penalty in the amount established by the relevant paragraph.
4. The liability provided for by this article may be imposed on a person within 6 years after the commission of the relevant action.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 86 – Refusal to submit materials to the election, referendum, or plebiscite commissions or failure to comply with their decisions
A refusal to submit all required materials to election, referendum, or plebiscite commissions or the failure to comply with their decisions shall be subject to a penalty impos ed on the respective officials in the amount of GEL 1000.
Article 87 – Altering data entered into summary protocols of polling and election results
If any alteration of the data entered into summary protocols of polling and election results is not confirmed by the correction report drawn up by the election commission concerned, the chairperson and/or secretary of the election commission shall each be penalised in the amount of GEL 500.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Article 88 – Violation of the statutory requirements when using administrative resources, or using official position or employment status during canvassing and election campaigning
1. Violation of the requirements established by this Law when using administrative resources or using official position or employment status during canvassing and election campaigning shall carry a fine in the amount of GEL 2000 to GEL 4 000.
2. The liability under this article may be imposed on a person within 3 years after committing the act in question.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 89 – Failure to issue copies of summary protocols of elections, referenda, or plebiscites
Any violation of the requirements of this Law for the issue of copies of summary protocols of elections, referenda, or plebiscites shall be subject to penalty impos ed on the respective election commission chairperson and/or secretary in the amount of GEL 1 000.
Article 90 – Hindering a person authorised to be present at a polling station in making notes in the log-book
Hindering a person authorised to be present at a polling station in making notes in the log-book shall be subject to a penalty impos ed on the respective persons in the amount of GEL 500.
Article 91 – Restriction of rights for observers, electoral subjects, and media representatives
Any restriction of the rights referred to in this Law for domestic/international observers, electoral subjects, and media representatives, or for hindering their activities shall be subject to a penalty impos ed on the respective persons in the amount of GEL 500.
Article 911 – Interference with functions and activity of election commission
Interference with the functions and activity of an election commission –
shall carry a fine for a respective person in the amount of GEL 500.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Article 92 – Violation of duties and requirements by observers, electoral subjects, and media representatives
Any violation of the requirements referred to in Article 41(2)(b-d) of this Law by an observer, electoral subject, or media representative shall be subject to a penalty impos ed on the respective persons in the amount of GEL 500.
Article 93 – Legal proceedings
1. Protocols of administrative offences provided for by Articles 79(1), 81 and 86-92 of this Law shall be drawn up by the CEC chairperson, and persons (officials) authorised by the CEC and respective DECs.
11. In the case of failure to follow the police instruction to prevent an administrative offence provided for by Article 79(2) of this Law, a protocol of an administrative offence shall be drawn up and an administrative penalty shall be imposed on the offender by a person authorised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
2. The GNCC shall draw up protocols of administrative offences referred to in Articles 82 and 83 of this Law, unless the preparation of the relevant protocol leads to the origination of liability of the electoral subject.
21. The Chairperson of the CEC shall draw up the protocols on the administrative offences provided for by Article 83(1)(3) of this Law (in the case of imposing a penalty on an electoral subject) on the basis of a substantiated application by the GNCC and the materials provided.
3. The State Audit Office shall draw up protocols of administrative offences referred to in Articles 84 and 85 of this Law.
[3. The Anti-Corruption Bureau shall draw up protocols of administrative offences provided for in Articles 84 and 85 of this Law. (Shall become effective from 1 September 2023)]
4. A relevant municipal executive body or a person authorised thereof shall draw up protocols of administrative offences concerning illegal removal, tearing off , covering, or damaging of election posters, in terms of the administrative offences referred to in Article 80 of this Law.
5. In the case of administrative offences provided for by this Chapter, legal proceedings shall be conducted according to the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia, unless otherwise defined by this Law.
6. The authorised body referred to in paragraph 1 of this article shall make a decision on drawing up a protocol on the administrative offense provided for in the same paragraph within 10 days, and the time limit for identifying/making a decision on the administrative offense by a court shall not exceed 10 days after submitting the respective protocol to the court. The authorised body/official defined by paragraph 1 of this article shall make the decision to draw up a protocol of an administrative offence provided for by Article 88 of this Law during a non-election period, and also when the administrative offence has been committed before the respective elections are called, within a period of 30 calendar days.
7. The authorised body specified in paragraph 2 of this article shall consider the issue of drawing up a protocol on the administrative offence provided for in the same paragraph and shall make a decision at a public session within 2 days after the identification of the administrative offence, in accordance with the rules established by it. In addition, the absence of the offender at the court hearing shall not hinder the making of a decision. After making a decision by the authorised body specified in paragraph 2 of this article, the authorised person designated by him/her shall draw up a protocol on the administrative offence in accordance with Article 240(22) of the Administrative Offenses Code of Georgia within the timeframe established by this paragraph. The deadline for the court to establish the fact of administrative offence/the making of a decision shall not exceed two days after the submission of the relevant protocol to the court.
8. The authorised body specified in paragraph 21 of this article shall make a decision on drawing up a protocol on the administrative offence provided for in the same paragraph within two days after receiving the relevant substantiated application, and the deadline for the court to identify/make a decision on the fact of administrative offence shall not exceed 2 days after the submission of the relevant protocol to the court.
9. The decision made by a person having the right to draw up a protocol of administrative offence, who is authorised by the Electoral Administration of Georgia under this Law, or by the CEC chairperson on refusing to draw up a protocol of administrative offence with regard to the violation of the Georgian electoral legislation may be appealed to court within 2 calendar days after it is made. The court shall consider the complaint within 10 calendar days after it is received. The court shall, as a result of case consideration, make a resolution to impose an administrative penalty or refuse to allow the complaint.
Organic Law of Georgia No6551 of 22 June 2012 – website, 29.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
Organic Law of Georgia No 2280 of 1 December 2022 – website, 15.12.2022
Organic Law of Georgia No 2475 of 22 December 2022 – website, 29.12.2022
Article 931 – Liability for failure by a broadcaster to deliver and publish information
Failure by the relevant broadcaster to comply with the request to provide airtime tariffs and changed tariffs to the GNCC not later than five calendar days from the 60th day before polling, as well as the non-fulfilment of the request set forth in Article 50(1)(a) of this Law shall result in the imposition by the GNCC of administrative liability on the broadcaster as provided for by the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting.
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
SECTION II – SPECIAL PART
Chapter XI – Presidential Elections of Georgia
Article 94 – Presidential elections of Georgia
The President of Georgia shall be elected by the Election Panel on the basis of without-debate voting, by open ballot, for a term of five years. The same person may be elected as President of Georgia for only twice.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 95 – Holding of regular Presidential elections of Georgia
1. Regular Presidential elections of Georgia shall be held in October of the calendar year when the term of office of the P resident of Georgia expires.
2. The date of regular Presidential elections of Georgia shall be fixed by the Parliament of Georgia 60 days before Election Day . If the date of Presidential elections of Georgia coincides with the month of elections of the Parliament of Georgia or with the previous month, the Presidential elections of Georgia shall be held within 45 days after the first meeting of newly elected Parliament is held.
3. If Presidential elections of Georgia coincide with the state of emergency or martial law, the Presidential elections of Georgia shall be held within 45 days after the above situation is lifted.
4. The Parliament of Georgia shall ensure the holding of Presidential elections of Georgia through the CEC.
5. The notice about calling of elections of President of Georgia shall be published on the official websites of the Parliament of Georgia and the CEC not later than the day following the day when the elections are called.
Organic Law of Georgia No1019 of 6 September 2013 – website, 23.9.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 96 – Passive suffrage
A citizen of Georgia from 40 years of age with the right to vote, who has lived in Georgia for at least 15 years, may be elected as President of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 97 – Right to nominate a candidate for President of Georgia
Not less than 30 members of the Election Panel shall have the right to nominate a candidate for President of Georgia.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 98 – Procedure for nominating a candidate for President of Georgia
1. One member of the Election Panel may vote for the nomination of only one candidate.
2. In order to nominate a candidate for President of Georgia, not less than 30 members of the Election Panel shall, after the membership of the Election Panel is approved but not later than the 30th day before the Election Day, file an application to the CEC.
3. The application shall include the following information about a candidate for President of Georgia:
a) first name and surname;
b) date of birth;
c) profession;
d) position (occupation);
e) place of work;
f) place of registration;
g) party membership;
h) period of residence in Georgia;
i) first names and surnames of the nominating Election Panel members and their representatives, their personal number of a citizen of Georgia, position, contact telephone number and other details (if any).
4. The application shall be accompanied by a written consent of a person nominated as a candidate for President of Georgia to run in elections, the personal number of a citizen of Georgia, a certificate on the deprivation of the right and 3 photos.
5. The application shall be attached with a note by a candidate for President of Georgia that he/she is not at the same time a foreign citizen. If a candidate for President of Georgia is at the same time a foreign citizen, the application shall be attached with a document to prove that the candidate for President of Georgia has applied to an authorised body of a respective foreign country for renouncing citizenship of this country.
6. The application shall be signed by all members nominating the candidate for President of Georgia out of the Election Panel members.
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 5772 of 17 March 2020 – website, 23.3.2020
Article 99 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 991 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 4192 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.9.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 438 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.3.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 1232 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 100 – Registration of a candidate for President of Georgia
1. A candidate for President of Georgia shall be registered by the CEC by an ordinance not later than the 20th day before Election Day.
2. The CEC ordinance on registration of a candidate for President of Georgia shall be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia within 3 days after it is issued.
3. The CEC chairperson shall grant an appropriate certificate to a candidate for President of Georgia within three days after the registration.
4. If the documentation submitted by the Election Panel is incomplete or fails to comply with the requirements established by this Law, the CEC chairperson shall identify the deficiency not later than the day following submission of an application, and a representative of the Election Panel shall be allowed 3 days to correct the deficiency. If the deficiency is not corrected within the set time limit a candidate for President of Georgia and his/her representative shall be refused registration by a CEC ordinance.
5. The CEC shall not register a candidate for President of Georgia if the requirements and procedure established by this Law have been violated.
6. The CEC ordinance to register/refuse to register a candidate for President of Georgia may only be appealed by appropriate member/members of the Election Panel, and/or by a person nominated as a candidate for President of Georgia under the procedure established by Article 77(5) of this Law.
7. The Parliament of Georgia and the CEC shall, not later than the 6th day after a candidate for President of Georgia is registered, publish on their official websites a notice about the registration of the candidate for President of Georgia indicating his/her first name, surname, date of birth, position (occupation), and place of employment.
8. A candidate for President of Georgia may, at any time, except as provided for in paragraph 9 of this article, not later than the 3rd day before polling day, withdraw his/her candidacy. To this effect, he/she shall file a written application to the CEC.
9. A candidate for President of Georgia running in the second round of Georgian Presidential elections may not withdraw his/her candidacy.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 101 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 901 of 29 July 2013 – website, 20.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 102 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3272 of 21 July 2018 – website, 30.7.2018
Article 103 – Guarantees for the activity of a candidate for President of Georgia
1. A candidate for President of Georgia may not be dismissed from office or transferred to another job or another position without his/her consent.
2. A candidate for President of Georgia may not be arrested, detained, or searched until the final results of elections are officially announced if the CEC fails to give consent to the application of the General Prosecutor of Georgia. An exception shall be the catching at the scene of a crime, which shall immediately be reported to the CEC. If the CEC issues the appropriate ordinance, the arrested or detained candidate for President of Georgia shall immediately be released.
3. The CEC ordinance on giving consent referred to in this article shall be put to vote within 3 calendar days after the application of the General Prosecutor of Georgia is received.
Organic Law of Georgia No 668 of 30 May 2013 – website, 24.6.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3795 of 30November 2018 – website, 13.12.2018
Article 1031 – The Election Panel
1. The Election Panel shall be comprised of 300 members.
2. The Election Panel shall consist of:
a) all members of the Parliament of Georgia;
b) all members of the supreme representative bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara;
c) from membership of municipality representative bodies, under this Law, members of municipality representative bodies – Sakrebulos that were nominated by appropriate political parties.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 1032 – Nomination of the Election Panel members by political parties from among members of municipality representative bodies
1. Political parties shall nominate members of the Election Panel from among the members of municipality representative bodies according to the quotas assigned thereto.
2. The quotas shall be defined by adhering to the proportional geographic representation principle, and according to the proportion of the results of local self-government elections held under the proportional system.
3. Under the results of local self-government elections held under the proportional system, the quotas shall be defined on the basis of the following formula: P=A*B/C, where:
a) P is the amount of quota designated to an authorised political party, which is an obtained whole number;
b) A is the number of votes received by a political party, which has received at least 1 % of valid votes based on the results of the last elections of the municipality bodies held under the proportional system countrywide;
c) B is the number obtained by deducting the sum of the numbers of all members of the MPs of Georgia and all members of the supreme representative bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara from the number of all members of the Election Panel;
d) C is the sum of the numbers of valid votes of the parties running in the last elections of the municipality bodies held under the proportional system that have received at least 1 % of votes countrywide.
4. If the sum of the quotas to be received by the authorised parties as determined by this article is less than B, in this case the undistributed quotas shall be assigned to the authorised parties based on the sequence of their election results.
5. A party shall, based on the quota assigned thereto, nominate the Election Panel members from among the Sakrebulos elected within the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, Tbilisi city and a state representative, by adhering to the proportional geographic representation principle.
6. Not later the 2nd day after calling Presidential elections of Georgia, the CEC shall approve, by an ordinance, the schedule (time limits) for conducting activities related to the election of the President of Georgia, and the quotas defined in this article as of the day of calling the elections.
7. The membership of the Election Panel shall be approved by the CEC, by an ordinance, not later than the 40th day before Election Day.
8. For approval of the membership of the Election Panel:
a) the Parliament of Georgia, and the supreme representative bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara shall, within 7 days after calling elections, submit to the CEC the first names, surnames and personal numbers of all members of the Parliament of Georgia, and the supreme representative bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara;
b) parties authorised under this Law shall, according to the quotas defined by the CEC, within 10 days after calling elections, present the first name, surname and personal number of a person nominated as a member of the Election Panel, and the name of a municipality representative body Sakrebulo, a member of which the aforementioned person is, and the written consent of the nominated person;
c) a person nominated as a member of the Election Panel under subparagraph (b) of this paragraph shall not be considered as member of the Election Panel if he/she fails to meet the requirements established by the Constitution of Georgia and this Law, which shall be notified to the party within 2 days with indication of the deficiency, and it shall be allowed 3 days to correct the deficiency;
d) an authorised party may replace a member of the Panel nominated as a member of the Election Panel in cases, as provided for by law, of premature termination of the term of office of only this person as member of Sakrebulo;
e) after a member of the Parliament of Georgia, and a member of the supreme representative bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara are nominated to the Election Panel, in case of premature termination of his/her term of office, if his/her replacement cannot be identified before Presidential elections of Georgia, or if an authorised party failed to use the quota within the period determined by this Law, or the number of nominated members of the Election Panel was less than the quota set, in such a case, to fill up the number of the Election Panel members to 300, by decision of the CEC, the set quotas shall be changed and the unused vacancies shall be distributed between other authorised parties based on the sequence of election results.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 1033 – Holding of elections of President of Georgia; first and second rounds, re-run elections and extraordinary elections
1. Presidential elections of Georgia shall be held at the Georgian Parliament palace from 9 a.m. of Election Day, and it shall end at 14 p.m. or any time of the same day if voted for by all members of the Election Panel.
2. Only members of the Election Panel, persons invited by the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia, members of the CEC, and appropriate authorised representatives of the Parliament of Georgia and the Office of the CEC may be present at the Presidential elections of Georgia. The election of the President of Georgia shall be broadcasted live on the air of the Public Broadcaster.
3. For Presidential elections of Georgia, the first name and surname of a candidate for President of Georgia shall be indicated in a ballot paper. The text and the form of the ballot paper shall be determined by the CEC by an ordinance.
4. For Presidential elections of Georgia, the CEC shall print ballot papers and forward them to the Election Panel members; print the list of the Election Panel members; seal and unseal the ballot box; count votes and draw up a summary protocol of the election results.
5. Members of the Election Panel shall confirm the reception of ballot papers by signing on the list of the Election Panel members, after which they shall circle only one candidate of their interest, and shall place the ballot papers into a pre-sealed transparent ballot box.
6. A ballot paper shall be deemed invalid if:
a) it is of an unknown form;
b) it is impossible to identify, for which candidate a member of the Election Panel voted;
c) a member of the Election Panel voted for more than one candidate;
d) it is impossible to identify, who of the Election Panel members has casted his/her vote.
7. A candidate who receives at least two-thirds of the votes of all members of the Election Panel shall be considered as elected in the first round of elections.
8. If the President of Georgia is not elected in the first round of elections, the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia shall call the second round of the Georgian Presidential Elections on the same day or not later than 7 days after the first round was held.
9. Two candidates with the best results in the first round shall be voted for in the second round. If more than two candidates have the best results, participants of the second round shall be identified based on who of the candidates with equal results was registered earlier as a candidate for President of Georgia.
10. If the candidates receive an equal number of votes in the second round of elections, the candidate who received more votes in the first round shall be considered as elected.
11. The first and second rounds of elections shall be considered as valid, if more than half of all members of the Election Panel participate therein.
12. If the elections were not valid or the Election Panel failed to elect the President of Georgia, re-run Presidential elections of Georgia shall be held within 30 days.
13. The date of re-run Presidential elections of Georgia shall be fixed by the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia within 3 days after an appropriate situation occurs.
14. If the term of office of the President of Georgia is prematurely terminated, re-run Presidential elections of Georgia shall be held within 45 days after termination of the term of office.
15. Extraordinary Presidential elections of Georgia shall be called by the Parliament of Georgia within 10 days after premature termination of the term of office of the President of Georgia.
16. If Presidential elections of Georgia and elections of the Parliament of Georgia are held simultaneously or in the previous month, and if re-run elections and extraordinary Presidential elections of Georgia are scheduled, the elections shall be held in accordance with the procedure established by this Law for holding regular Presidential elections of Georgia. During re-run elections and extraordinary Presidential elections of Georgia, election procedures shall be performed, instead of the time limits set by this Law for holding regular Presidential elections of Georgia, not later than the 2nd day after calling the elections, in accordance with the time limits defined by a CEC ordinance.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 104 – Summarisation of election results
1. Results of Presidential elections of Georgia shall be prepared and summarised by the CEC immediately after the elections are completed, at the CEC meeting, which is held at the Georgian Parliament palace.
2. The following information shall be specified in a summary protocol of the Georgian Presidential election results:
a) the number of the Election Panel members;
b) the number of the Election Panel members participating in the elections;
c) first names and surnames of the Election Panel members participating in the elections;
d) the number of the votes received by each of the candidates participating in the elections;
e) information regarding which member of the Election Panel voted for which candidate;
f) the number of invalid ballot papers;
g) the identity of candidates having passed through the second round, and/or the identity of the President of Georgia elected as a result of the first or second round.
3. A summary protocol of the Georgian Presidential election results shall be signed by the chairperson and the secretary of the CEC. The protocol may be appealed by appropriate member/members of the Election Panel, and/or by a candidate for President of Georgia under the procedure and within time limits established by Article 77(5) of this Law.
4. The documentation for holding Presidential elections of Georgia shall be sealed and stored by the CEC at the CEC under the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia.
5. A summary protocol of the Georgian Presidential election results shall be drawn up in 3 copies, one of which shall be forwarded to the President of Georgia, the second one shall be sent to the Parliament of Georgia, and the third one shall be stored at the CEC.
6. The CEC shall publish a notice about the results of the Georgian Presidential elections on its official website within 2 days after the results of the Georgian Presidential elections are summarised.
7. The power of the Election Panel set up for the election of the President of Georgia shall be terminated upon taking of the oath by the President elected as a result of the Georgian Presidential Elections.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 105 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 106 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 107 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Chapter XII – Elections of the Parliament of Georgia
Article 108 – Calling of elections of the Parliament of Georgia
1. Regular elections of the Parliament of Georgia shall be held on the last Saturday of October of the calendar year when the term of office of the Parliament of Georgia expires.
2. The date of regular elections of the Parliament of Georgia shall be fixed by the President of Georgia 60 days prior to the Election Day.
3. If the date of elections of the Parliament of Georgia coincides with the state of emergency or martial law, the elections shall be held not earlier than the 45th day and not later than the 60th day after the above situation is lifted. The date of elections shall be fixed by the President of Georgia upon lifting the state of emergency or martial law.
4. The notice about calling of the Parliamentary elections of Georgia shall be published on the official website of the CEC and through the media not later than the day following the day of calling the elections.
Organic Law of Georgia No 1019 of 6 September 2013 – website, 23.9.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Article 109 – Procedure for elections and terms of powers of the Parliament of Georgia
1. One hundred and fifty Members of the Parliament of Georgia shall be elected in a unified multi-seat electoral district based on the proportional electoral system.
2. The term of the elected Parliament of Georgia shall be four years.
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 110 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Judgment No 1/3/547 of 28 May 2015 of the Constitutional Court of Georgia – website, 8.6.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 4706 of 23 December 2015 – website, 8.1.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 1101 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 4706 of 23 December 2015 – website, 8.1.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6854 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020
Article 1102 – (Deleted)
Organic Law of Georgia No 4706 of 23 December 2015 – website, 8.1.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3266 of 21 July 2018 – website, 13.8.2018
Article 111 – Passive suffrage
1. A citizen of Georgia from 25 years of age having the right to vote, and who has lived at least 10 years in Georgia may be elected as Member of the Parliament of Georgia.
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