15.11.2007 - Source: Civil Georgia

Parliament endorsed on 15 November 2007 amendments to the election code allowing political parties to have their representatives in the Central Election Commission (CEC) ("Parliament Endorses Amendments to Election Code") [ID 21650]

Document(s): Open document

16.07.2007 - Source: Civil Georgia

Five opposition parties gather to jointly push for change in current election rules ("Opposition Teams Up to Change Election Rules") [ID 20665]

Document(s): Open document

19.12.2006 - Source: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Joint Opinion on the Election Code of Georgia by the European Commission for Democracy through law ("Joint Opinion on the Election Code of Georgia") [ID 18552]

Document(s): Open document

11.2006 - Source: Legislation Online

Unified Election Code of Georgia of 2 August 2001 (as amended on 25 April 2002) ("Unified Electoral Code") [#10712],  [ID 4826]

Document(s): Open document

05.01.2006 - Source: Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly

In April 2005 Electoral Code amendment opted for professional composition of electoral commissions; opposition objected to June elections of members of Central Election Commission, in which 7 members were nominated by President from a shortlist ("Implementation of Resolution 1415 (2005) on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia [Doc. 10779]") [#41527],  [ID 4554]

"57. The Georgian Parliament adopted amendments to the Electoral Code in April 2005. However, it did not follow the recommendations of the Assembly and the Venice Commission which, in its Code of Electoral Practice, promotes the principle of "balanced, fair and equal representation of all political forces" in the electoral administration. Instead, the Parliament opted for a professional, non-partisan composition of the Central and the district electoral commissions. Political parties only participate in the formation of precinct commissions.
58. By virtue of the adopted amendments, an open competition was organised in May 2005 for the recruitment of members of the Central Election Commission (CEC): 515 people applied. In June 2005 the Parliament elected the seven members nominated by the President from a shortlist. The opposition strongly objects to the new amendments. It boycotted the election procedure, claiming that rather than being non-partisan, the new CEC is composed of people close to the President and the ruling party. […]
63. The authorities do not seem ready to change their mind on the other contentious issue, the composition of the electoral commissions. They claim that the worst experiences in the recent history of the country had come from party-composed electoral administrations: there had not been a single free and fair election from 1995 to 2004, whilst the recent by-elections, managed by the newly elected professional teams, had finally produced good results. The parliamentary Speaker was adamant that political parties should stay outside the CEC, but be given the right to monitor elections."

Document(s): Open document

14.03.2005 - Source: Council of Europe - Secretary General

Changes to the electoral code adopted in November 2004 ("Compliance with commitments and obligations: the situation in Georgia [SG/Inf (2005) 6]") [#31811],  [ID 4823]

"15. Reform of the electoral commissions is ongoing. In November 2004, the Parliament adopted, in its first reading, ‘Changes to the Electoral Code of Georgia’. According to the draft amendments, the President will appoint the Chairman of the 7-strong Central Election Commission (CEC) and will propose 12 candidates for the 6 remaining seats for approval by the Parliament. Those 12 candidates will be chosen by the President from a wider pool of candidates created for the purpose. The new regulations enable organisations with more than 50 members to nominate a candidate. District Election Commissions will be formed along similar lines by the Chairman and members of the CEC. The parties will play a role in the formation of the precinct commissions only. The authors of the draft argue that the new regulations will allow for formation of a professional, non-partisan election administration. At the same time, the opposition parliamentarians voiced concern that the new regulations risk to allow the election administration to be controlled by the parliamentary majority. The Venice Commission has not yet been requested to provide an opinion on this issue.

16. As regards the reduction of the current 7% electoral threshold, at the Parliament’s session of 7 February 2005, the Speaker of the Parliament said that the political will to lower the threshold exists and active consultations to propose the relevant constitutional amendment would be launched soon."

Document(s): Open document

15.08.2003 - Source: Civil Georgia

Amendments to the new adopted election code consider broad anti-fraud measures in order to ensure fair and democratic elections; some of the code’s provisions raise doubts about their ability to produce fair elections ("Parliament Approved Election Code") [#15180],  [ID 4824]

Document(s): Open document

04.08.2003 - Source: Freedom House

Georgia’s new electoral code does contain some positive provisions ("Nations in transit 2003") [#15273],  [ID 4825]

"Georgia’s new electoral code does contain some positive provisions.
These include increases in the right of domestic election observers and the
introduction of transparent ballot boxes and envelopes for ballot papers.
The new code also assigns individual responsibilities to precinct-level commission members by lottery in order to reduce the risk of their deliberate
participation in electoral fraud."

Document(s): Open document