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Election Code of Georgia

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Election Code of Georgia Strasbourg, 18 October 2005 CDL-EL(2005)033 Engl. Only Opinion no. 358 / 2005 EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) ELECTION CODE OF GEORGIA This document will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy. Ce document ne sera pas distribué en réunion. Prière de vous munir de cet exemplaire. CDL-EL(2005)033 - 2 - General Section PART I CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1. Purpose of the Law This Law shall establish the legal basis for the preparation and conduct of elections of the President of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, the local self-government representative body – sakrebulo (local council), of gamgebel) (head of local government) and of a mayor. The Law shall also define the rights and guarantees of the election participants, the rules for forming the Election Administration and the competencies thereof, as well as the regulations for dispute resolution in the cases provided by this Law. Article 2. Legal Basis of Elections The legal basis for preparing and conducting elections of the President of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, the of local self-government representative body (local council) – sakrebulo, gamgebeli and mayor, shall be the Constitution of Georgia, universally recognised human rights principles and standards of international law, this Law, other legislative Acts and legal Acts of the Election Administration. Article 3. Definition of Terms For the purposes of this Law, the terms used herein shall have the following meaning: a. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Elections – for the purposes of this Law elections shall mean the election process aiming at and resulting in the election of the members of representative bodies of public authorities and public officials through universal elections; b. Elections conducted through proportional electoral system – election of members of Parliament and the local self-government representative body – sakrebulo, based on Party Lists; c. Elections conducted through majoritarian (first pass the post) electoral system – election of the members of parliament, election of sakrebulo members, of gamgebelis and mayors, by single-mandate or multi-mandate election districts; d. Right to vote – active and passive voting right; e. (14.08. 200. N 2965-ÒÓ) Active electoral right/suffrage – the right of a citizen to participate, through voting, in universal elections and a referendum held for electing people’s representatives in public representative bodies and public officials; f. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Passive electoral right/eligibility – the right of a citizen to be a candidate for the membership in a public representative body and run for the public office; - 3 - CDL-EL(2005)033 g. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ ) Electoral registration – the registration by the relevant Election Commission of the parties, electoral blocs, initiative groups of voters and candidates with the purpose of their participation in elections; h. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Election subject – a candidate nominated for a membership in a public representative body or a candidate for holding a public office, as well as the party, the election bloc and the initiative group of voters registered by the relevant Election Commission; i. Election Administration – the Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC), the District Election Commissions (DEC) and the Precinct Election Commissions (PEC); j. Party – a political union of citizens, acting in accordance with the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Unions of Citizens, which is registered by the Central Election Commission of Georgia for the purpose of taking part in elections; k. Election bloc – a union of 2 or more Parties registered by the Central Election Commission of Georgia; l. Electoral campaign – a set of the measures undertaken by the candidates to becoming election subjects and by election subjects, for the purpose of participating in and winning elections; m. Election agitation – the action of Georgian citizens and election subjects calling upon the voters to support or to vote against election subjects; n. Candidate for the Presidency of Georgia – a citizen of Georgia, nominated by a Party registered by the Central Election Commission of Georgia, or by an initiative group of voters, as a candidate to run for the Presidency of Georgia; o. Party List Candidate – a citizen of Georgia included on a party listregistered by the Central Election Commission of Georgia with the purpose of taking part in the Parliamentary and local representative body – sakrebulo - elections; p. Majoritarian (first pass the post) candidate – a citizen of Georgia, nominated by the party (election bloc) or by the initiative group of voters (registered by the relevant Election Commission) in a specific electoral district as a candidate to run for the membership in the Parliament of Georgia or in the local government representative body – sakrebulo, or run for the office of a gamgebeli or a mayor; q. Candidate for the position of gamgebeli – a citizen of Georgia nominated by a Party (election bloc) or by an initiative group of voters for the office of a gamgebeli; r. Candidate for the position of a mayor – a citizen of Georgia nominated by a Party (election bloc) or by an initiative group of voters for the mayor’s office; s. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) General elections – the regular or off-year universal elections held with the purpose of electing a public representative body or public officials and in which, all voters established by this law as the voters for a representative body or voters to elect the public official, can participate; t. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Regular elections – the general elections to be held due to the expiration of the term of office of a public representative body or a public official within the timeframes established by the Constitution of Georgia, this Law, the Constitutions of the Abkhazia and Adjara autonomous republics and respective laws; CDL-EL(2005)033 - 4 - u. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Off-year elections – the general elections to be held due to the early expiration of the term of office of a public representative body or a public official; v. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Mid-term elections – the elections to be held with the purpose of filling up the vacancies in the public representative body; w. By- elections – the elections to be held on the entire territory of Georgia as regular elections in the event: a. the returns of the proportional elections held throughout Georgia have been invalidated and the law does not provide for the conduct of by- elections; b. the returns of the majority (first pass the post elections) held in the entire election district have been invalidated or returns were accepted, but no-one has been elected and the law does not provide for the onduc t the second round of elections; c. the elected individual has failed to present before the Central Election Commission a narcological (drug) test certificate and the elections returns were invalidated by the relevant decision of CEC; d. the election returns have been declared void by the court ruling (12.10.2004. #448); x. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Repeated ballot – the voting to be repeatedly held in those electoral precinct(s), where the ballot returns were declared void, or in the entire multi-mandate district based on the party lists, where no party/election bloc has won a mandate; y. Second round of elections –voting to be held in the cases and within the timeframes established by this Law in the event the first round of elections has not identified a winner; y¹. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) End of elections – the date of publication of the summary protocol of final election returns (including second-round elections and repeated ballots) as approved by the appropriate Election Commission; y². (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Election day – the day of holding general, mid-term or by-elections; y³. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Polling day – the day of holding elections, second ballot or second round of elections; z. Election documents – applications, complaints, letters, working papers, protocols, ballot papers, special envelopes, legal Acts of the Election Administration, voting licenses, control sheets, registration logs, voter lists, voter cards and other documents incoming to and outgoing from the Election Commissions; (12.10.2004. N488); z¹. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Packaging of documents –wrapping or packing the documents in a bale or in a box and sealing it so that it becomes impossible to remove or insert the documents from or into the bale/box without damaging the seal; z². (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Seal – a strip of paper attached to the places of opening of a voting device, document box, registration log, polling day record book, indicating the date and time of sealing and signed by individuals defined by this Law; aa. Representative body of local self-government – sakrebulo – the sakrebulo (the local council) of a village, community, township, city and the city out of the rayon (district) subordination; - 5 - CDL-EL(2005)033 ab. (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) Local constituency/electoral district – the part of an election district formed with the purpose of holding local self- government elections provided that the constituency comprises more than one local self-government unit; The local constituency comprises entire territory of the respective local self-government unit.” Article 31. Calculation of Timeframes Prescribed by this Law (14.08. 2003ß. N 2965-ÒÓ) 1. All periods prescribed by this Law, including the timeframes from the beginning until the completion of elections, the time-limits for lodging applications before and making ruling by courts shall be counted by calendar days (including the days off and holidays as prescribed by the Labour Code of Georgia). 2. In the expression "in N days after the elections", the words "after the elections" shall mean that counting of the days shall start from the end of elections.
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