Temporary procedure for electing/appointing a person to a position that has become vacant at the CEC before 2021 elections of the municipality bodies

1. If a party has run in the last Parliamentary elections of Georgia independently or as part of an electoral bloc and the aforementioned party or electoral bloc has received more than 1% of valid votes, the party may appoint one member of the CEC.

2. If the number of parties provided for by paragraph 1 of this article is more than 9, upon appointing a CEC member, preference shall be given to a party that has become entitled to receive more budgetary funding.

3. When an equal amount of budgetary funding is available upon appointing a CEC member, preference shall be given to a party that has passed the electoral registration earlier.

4. If all Members of Parliament of Georgia that were elected under the party list provided for by paragraph 1 of this article and who exercise the powers of a Member of Parliament of Georgia in accordance with Article 224(10) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament of Georgia, as of 19 April 2021, have left the party and all of them have become members of another party, the right to appoint one CEC member shall be transferred to this party.

5. For the purposes of this article, the funding available as of 1 January 2021 shall be deemed to be the amount of budgetary funding for parties included in an electoral bloc.

6. If a position of a CEC member becomes vacant, no later than 2 days after it becomes available, the President of Georgia shall issue a decree on running a competition. The time limit for submitting the competition documents shall be not later than 5 days after the competition is announced. Candidates for a vacant position shall be selected and nominated to the Parliament of Georgia under the procedure established by this article and other appropriate norms of this Law.

7. The list of candidates for CEC membership along with their biographies shall be published in one day after the time limit for nominating the candidates expires. The competition commission may interview the candidates.

8. Not later than 2 days after the time limit for nominating the candidates expires, the competition commission shall nominate to the President of Georgia not less than 2 and not more than 3 candidates for each vacant position for electing a person as a CEC member. Polling results of all the candidates running in elections and the reasoning of the competition commission members for supporting a candidate or refusing to support him/her shall be specified in the protocol of meeting of the competition commission, which is public. Not later than 3 days after selecting the candidates, the President of Georgia shall make a decision on selecting the candidates for CEC membership or refusing to select them. If candidates are selected, the President of Georgia shall nominate to the Parliament of Georgia two candidates for one vacant position of a CEC member. If the President of Georgia fails to select candidates, he/she shall announce a new competition.

9. After the President of Georgia nominates to the Parliament of Georgia the candidates for CEC membership, the Parliament of Georgia shall elect a CEC member under the procedure established by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia.

10. One and the same candidate for election to a vacant position of a CEC member may be nominated only twice.

11. If a position of the CEC chairperson becomes vacant, candidates for the CEC chairperson shall be selected and nominated to the Parliament of Georgia under the procedure established for the selection of candidates for CEC membership and their nomination to the Parliament of Georgia, as provided for by paragraphs 6-9 of this article.

12. If a CEC member, or the CEC chairperson defined by this article has been elected by a majority of at least two thirds of the total number of members of the Parliament of Georgia, his/her term of office shall be 5 years, and in another case, his/her term of office shall be 6 months.

13. Parties with the right to appoint CEC members under paragraphs 1-5 of this article shall enjoy this right until the day of the first meeting of the Parliament of Georgia of the next convocation.

14. DEC and PEC members shall be appointed by the parties provided for by this article with the right to appoint CEC members within the time limits and under the procedure established by this Law.

Organic Law of Georgia No 703 of 28 June 2021 – website, 29.6.2021