Parliament approves new version of Georgia’s Election Code in first reading

Georgia’s Parliament on Tuesday approved the new edition of the Election Code of Georgia in the first reading, with 76 votes in favour and nine against, under an accelerated procedure.

The draft legislation introduces multiple updates and clarifications, including refined definitions of certain terms related to holding elections, referendums and plebiscites within Georgia’s state borders. To strengthen personal data protection, rules for photo and video recording at polling stations are updated. The bill also specifies that, when legal grounds exist, a decision to leave a complaint unreviewed will be issued by the chairperson of the relevant commission.

Additional changes aim to improve cooperation between state institutions and the election administration to ensure proper organisation of elections. The list of legal acts issued by the election administration is expanded to include orders by district election commission chairpersons.

To prevent disruptions during the staffing of district and precinct election commissions, the bill amends rules on incompatibility of positions and labour relations for election administration personnel. Regulations governing voting and vote tabulation processes are consolidated into specific chapters. The procedure for indicating the percentage of votes received by each electoral subject in summary protocols is also clarified.

The bill further updates rules for selecting and appointing commission members, barring individuals with any criminal record - regardless of the sentence - from serving on election commissions. The new text also defines procedures for voters whose registration was canceled, declared invalid, recorded without an address, or who are registered abroad.

A major amendment concerns voting procedures for Georgian citizens abroad: like municipal elections, parliamentary elections will now be held exclusively within Georgia’s state borders.

Chair of the Procedural Issues Committee Davit Matikashvili said the change was intended to encourage emigrants to return home to vote.

“The goal is to ensure that emigrants come to Georgia en masse on Election Day and share responsibility for choosing the country’s leadership, its sovereignty and its governance for the next four years,” Matikashvili said.

The new edition also updates rules regarding removal from polling stations, criteria for forming special precinct commission groups, and cases in which ballots cast via mobile boxes must be sent to district commissions for decisions. Deadlines for selecting members of precinct commissions formed in exceptional cases are revised and candidate registration procedures are simplified.

Matikashvili noted that since the Election Code was adopted in 2011, more than 100 amendments and additions have been introduced.

“Given modern challenges, it has become necessary to revise the organic law, consolidate similar norms, reorganise transitional provisions and reflect key principles directly within the Code,” he said.