Key Election Dates and Deadlines
June 15 has been formally set as the date of local elections in Georgia in which 2,088 members in total of 71 local councils, Sakrebulos, as well as mayors in 12 cities and heads (gamgebeli) of 59 municipalities will be elected.
Below are some of the key deadlines, dates and procedures related to the June 15 municipal elections as envisaged by the election code and published by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
April 19 – CEC will publish on its website total number of voters, who will be eligible to cast ballot in the local elections; the data should also include number of voters in each of election district;
April 19 – Procedures for registration of parties and initiative groups will be launched; election administration will have to take decision on registration within ten days after an application is submitted;
May 3 – The process of registration of election blocs (several parties can unite in a bloc and run on joint ticket) will be launched on this day and end on May 9.
May 16 – Deadline for parties and election blocs to submit party lists (list of candidates running for Sakrebulo seats under the proportional, party-list contest) and majoritarian candidates; “initiative groups” also have the right to name independent majoritarian candidates for Sakrebulos;
May 16 – Deadline for parties and election blocs to submit their candidates for mayors and gamgebelis;
May 22 – Deadline for the election administration to register mayoral and gamgebeli candidates;
May 23 – Deadline for the election administration to register Sakrebulos’ membership candidates;
June 5 – Deadline for mayoral/gamgebeli candidates to withdraw from the race; if they declare about pulling out from the race after June 5, their names will still appear on ballot papers on the election day;
June 5 – Deadline for the Georgian organizations to apply to the election administration for receiving registration to monitor local elections; the election administration has to decide whether to register an organization or not within five days after an application is filed;
June 8 – Deadline for international observer organizations to apply to CEC for registration to monitor the local elections; the election administration has to decide whether to register an organization or not within two days after an application is filed;
June 13 – starting from 8am on this day up until 8pm on June 15, when polling stations will be closed, publishing of public opinion survey results on political ratings is banned.
June 15 – Election day; polling stations open for voters at 8am and close at 8pm local time;
June 26 – Deadline for district election commissions to summarize vote tallies for Sakrebulo, mayor or gamgebeli elections in their respective municipalities or cities;
July 9 – Deadline for the Central Election Commission to summarize vote tallies for Tbilisi Sakrebulo and mayoral elections;
If no mayoral or gamgebeli candidate receives more than 50% of votes in the first round on June 15, second round should be held between the two candidates with the best results in the first round; the second round of vote should be held two weeks after a relevant decree is adopted by the election administration.