Home > 1. The principles of Europe's electoral heritage > GEORGIA - Joint Opinion on the Election Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 71
 

The signature verification procedure in Article 42.2 is also of concern. Article 42.2 can be used to invalidate a sufficient minimum number of valid signatures if accompanied by a certain percentage of invalid signatures. This is not the purpose of the verification process. The verification process is intended to check for a sufficient number of valid signatures in order to establish a minimum level of electoral support. It is not intended to punish or disqualify sufficient signatures offering electoral support just because it also contains a certain percentage of invalid signatures. This can lead to abuse where an election commission may have the goal of finding enough invalid signatures for the sole purpose of rejecting a candidacy, instead of finding enough valid signatures to register the candidacy.[34]