Procedures for appointing/electing DEC members/head officers
1. A DEC shall consist of not more than 17 members appointed/elected within the period and under the procedure established by this Law by the subjects defined by the same Law.
2. After a respective vacant position becomes available, a DEC shall elect the DEC head officer, at the very first session of the DEC, from among the DEC members appointed by the CEC for a 5-year term, by a majority of the total number of members, through roll-call voting. The term of office of a DEC head officer shall be defined for his/her period of membership in the DEC.
3. Not less than 2 members of the commission shall have the right to nominate candidates to the DEC chairperson, deputy chairperson, and secretary.
4. The same candidate may be nominated only twice.
5. If a DEC fails to elect a head officer within the established timeframe, the commission member who receives the most votes during elections shall perform the duties of the head officer until he/she is elected; and in the case of equal votes, the person elected by casting lots shall perform the duties of the head officer.
6. The CEC shall issue an ordinance for the conduct of competition not later than 60 days before the term of office of a DEC member expires or not later than three days after his/her term of office terminates early.
7. The CEC shall elect a DEC member not earlier than20 and not later than10 days before the term of office of the DEC member expires. The DEC head officers shall be elected within the same timeframe.
8. If the term of office of a DEC member elected by the CEC terminates early, the CEC shall elect the substitute within 15 days (and within seven days after announcing Election Day). The DEC head officers shall be elected within the same timeframe if their term of office terminates early.
9. The term of office of 3 DEC members elected by the CEC under Article 19(5) of this Law, and the term of office of the DEC members appointed by the parties provided for by Article 13 of this Law shall be terminated immediately after the final results of the elections are announced.
10. Candidates for DEC membership shall be selected by open competition.
11. Candidates for DEC membership shall be non-partisan persons with higher education, fluent in the official language of Georgia, and holding a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer.
12. Any capable citizen of Georgia, who has attained the age of 21 and who meets the requirements of this Law, may participate in a competition. The deadline for submission of competition documents shall be as follows:
a) if the term of office expires – within 14 days after the competition is announced;
b) if the term of office terminates early - within10 days after the competition is announced, and if elections are called - within two days after the competition is announced.
13. A competition application shall specify: first name and last name, education (higher), occupation, scientific degree (if any), address (according to a Georgian citizen’s identity card (registration certificate)), work place and position, contact address and telephone number (if any) of a candidate, number and name of an electoral district, in which the candidate wants to become a DEC member. The candidate shall sign the application and shall enclose with it:
a) two photos;
b) a photocopy of a Georgian citizen’s identity card or a photocopy of a Georgian citizen’s passport;
c) a photocopy of a document of higher education of the candidate (as well as academic (scientific) degree, if any);
d) a photocopy of a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer;
e) employment record and description of the election-related experience of the candidate (if any).
14. If the submitted documents are inconsistent with the requirements provided for by this article, the CEC Chairperson shall notify the candidate of it (specifying the discrepancy) within two days. The corrected documents shall be returned to the CEC within two days, but not later than the registration deadline.
15. The CEC shall publish the list of candidates on its official website after the deadline for receiving documents expires.
16. The CEC shall elect DEC members by roll-call voting. Each candidate shall be voted for individually. A candidate supported by a majority of at least two thirds of the total number of CEC members shall be deemed elected. If the number of these candidates turns out to be more than the number to be elected, the candidates among them with better results shall be deemed elected. If the winner cannot be identified due to an equal number of votes received by the candidates, they shall be put to a vote immediately to identify the winner among them. If the winner cannot be identified again, he/she shall be identified by casting lots. If a DEC member cannot be elected according to the procedure established by this paragraph, the candidates shall be put to a vote again. During repeated voting, the candidate supported by a majority of the total number of the CEC members shall be deemed elected. If not all vacancies are filled yet, the competition for the remaining vacancies shall be announced from the beginning.
17. The following subjects may not be elected/appointed as DEC members:
a) a person who has not been granted the certificate of an Electoral Administration officer;
a1) a person who has not reached the age of 21 by the date of nomination as a member of the District Election Commission;
b) a person who has been dismissed from post at the Electoral Administration by the election commission or the court for violating the electoral legislation of Georgia – for 4 years after the day of his/her dismissal;
c) a person who has been recognised as an administrative offender by court for violation of the electoral legislation of Georgia, – for 4 years after the entry into legal force of the court decision;
d) a person with previous conviction (except when a fine has been imposed as a sanction)
e) an electoral subject/candidate and his/her representative;
f) an election observer;
g) a representative of print media and other means of mass communication accredited in an election commission in question.
18. If a person is elected/appointed as a DEC member, he/she shall, within seven days, meet the requirements defined by this Law for the restriction of activities and official incompatibility.
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018
Organic Law of Georgia No 6723 of 2 July 2020 – website, 3.7.2020
Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021
