Parliament Endorses Amendments to Election Code

Parliament endorsed with its first hearing on November 15 draft amendments to the election code, allowing political parties to have representation on the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Currently the CEC is composed of certified electoral officials, who, by law, should not have any party affiliations.

The adopted amendments, however, do not specify how the seats in the CEC will be distributed among the opposition and ruling parties. The issue still remains a point of contention, with the Republican and Conservative parties pushing for equal representation – six each – for both the opposition and the ruling party in the CEC. The ruling party insists on getting six seats, plus the chairmanship. The Republicans and Conservatives also want equal representation in the lower level election administrations. Ruling party proposals envisage giving seats to only the New Rights and Industrialist parties in the precinct election commissions. Both these two parties voted for the amendments, while the Republicans and Conservatives absented themselves from the procedings.

“The issue still remains open for discussion, as talks with the opposition are still ongoing.” Paliko Kublashvili, a lawmaker from the ruling party, said. He added that he hoped an agreement would be reached, which could be reflected in further amendments at the second hearing.

For procedural reasons, a new CEC must be constituted by November 25, which means an agreement between the parties must happen soon.

Another proposed amendment to the election code involves the abolition of a 33.33% quorum in second-round presidential elections. There is no quorum required for the first round.

Lowering the maximum number of voters registered in a single polling precinct from 2,000 to 1,500 has also been proposed. This will necessitate an increase in the number of polling stations throughout the country.

Another point of contention between the authorities and the opposition centres around the issue of whether to allow the registration of voters on polling day. Although the CEC has been carrying out a re-check of voter lists, it is expected that there will be many inaccuracies in the voter lists, as there is little time left before the early presidential elections scheduled for January 5.

The ruling party wants to allow registration on election day, but the opposition is against, fearing voter fraud – what is popularly known as ‘merry-go-round’ voting. The old adage – “vote early, vote often” – is at the forefront of their worries.

Another amendment passed on November 15 on the first hearing lifts minor restrictions on the monitoring of elections by international observers, who will now be able to visit any polling station at any time on election day.

Military servicemen will also be able to vote either at their home precinct or where they are stationed. Currently, they can only cast their ballots at their base.

On November 15 Parliament also approved a one-month formal procedure, in which the public gets the opportunity to discuss the proposed amendments to the constitution.

Lowering the parliamentary electoral threshold from the current 7% to 5% and changing the rule governing the election of majoritarian lawmakers has also passed the first stage of parliamentary approval .

The ruling party-supported first-past-the-post, winner takes all system will be abolished, according to the proposal.

Georgia will be divided into 19 multi-seat constituencies. Each political party will nominate a list of candidates running in each constituency. Seats will then be distributed in the parliament proportionally between the parties based on votes garnered in a particular constituency.