Procedures for electing CEC members

1. The President of Georgia shall select and submit to the Parliament of Georgia 5 candidates for CEC membership as determined in this article. The term of office of CEC members elected by the Parliament of Georgia shall be five years.

2. Selection of candidates for CEC membership shall be open.

3. The President of Georgia shall issue an ordinance for holding a competition and setting up a competition commission not later than 30 days before the term of office of the CEC members expire, and if a vacancy occurs, not later than 15 days from its occurrence. Half of the commission members shall be composed of the representatives of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Competition documents shall be submitted not later than 14 days after the competition is announced. If the above time frame coincides with the election period, the President of Georgia shall announce the competition not later than seven days following the announcement of the final results of election. The powers of a CEC member shall terminate once a new member is elected.

4. A candidate for CEC membership shall be a legally capable citizen of Georgia, who has attained the age of 25, is non-partisan, has higher education, is fluent in the official language of Georgia, has work experience of not less than three years, and holds a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer. 

[4. A candidate for the CEC membership may be a legally capable citizen of Georgia, who has attained the age of 25, is non-partisan, has higher education, is fluent in the official language of Georgia, meets the requirements of Article 27(2) of the Law of Georgia on Public Service, has at least three years’ work experience, and holds a certificate of an electoral administration officer. (Shall become effective from 1 January 2017)] 

5. The following individuals may not be elected/appointed as a CEC member:

a) a person who does not hold a certificate of an Electoral Administration officer
b) a person who has been dismissed from a position in the Electoral Administration by the election commission or the court for violating the electoral legislation of Georgia – for eight years after the day of his/her dismissal
c) a person who has violated the electoral legislation of Georgia and the violation is confirmed by the court – for eight years after the entry into legal force of the court decision
d) a person with previous conviction
e) an electoral subject/a candidate for electoral subject and its representative
f) an observer.

6. Unless a minimum of 2 people are nominated for a vacant position within the time frame determined by this Law, the competition shall continue until a minimum of 2 people are nominated for the vacant position.

7. The list of candidates shall be published within two days after the deadline for nominating candidates expires.

8. A competition commission shall present to the President of Georgia not less than 2 and not more than 3 candidates for CEC membership for each vacancy not later than five days after the deadline for nominating candidates expires. The President of Georgia shall make a decision on the selection of candidates and recommend 2 candidates to the Parliament of Georgia for one vacant CEC member position not later than seven days after the candidates are selected.

9. The Parliament of Georgia shall elect CEC members by a roll-call vote not later than 14 days after the President of Georgia recommends candidates for CEC membership to the Parliament of Georgia. Each candidate shall be put to a vote separately. The CEC member shall be deemed elected if supported by a majority of MPs of Georgia. If the number of elected persons exceeds the number of the positions to be occupied, the candidates with the best results shall be deemed elected. If a winner cannot be determined due to an equal number of votes, the candidates shall immediately be re-voted upon until a winner is determined among them.

10. If all the vacancies are not filled as a result of voting, the rest of the candidates shall be put to vote again. If the vacancy still remains unfilled, the President of Georgia shall, within three days, submit 2 candidates to the Parliament of Georgia for each unfilled vacancy from the list of other candidates participating in the competition. If the vacancy is still not filled, a competition shall be announced for the rest of the vacancies within three days and the nomination procedure shall start over. 

11. The same candidate may be nominated only twice.

12. If the term of office of a CEC member elected by the Parliament of Georgia terminates early, for the purpose of electing his/her substitute, the President of Georgia shall, during the nearest session week of the Parliament of Georgia, submit once again to the Parliament of Georgia the names of candidates receiving not less than a majority of votes of the MPs of Georgia, or shall announce a competition not later than three days. The same procedure shall apply if such candidates do not exist.

13. A resolution of the Parliament of Georgia regarding the election of a CEC member shall be submitted to the CEC within seven days after its adoption.