By-elections for the Parliament of Georgia

1. By-elections for the Parliament of Georgia shall be held in April or October as defined in this Law if any MP elected from a majoritarian electoral district is withdrawn. If the term of office of an MP terminates between February 15 and July 15, by-elections for the Parliament of Georgia shall be held in October of the same year, while by-elections for the Parliament of Georgia shall be held in the nearest April if an MP’s term of office terminates between July 15 and February 15. By-elections may not be held during the year of regular elections for the Parliament of Georgia.

2. CEC ordinance shall, not later than two months before Election Day, set a date of by-elections for the Parliament of Georgia and time frames for electoral events.

3. With the purpose of running in parliamentary elections of Georgia, a party/electoral bloc that was registered with the CEC during the previous parliamentary elections, as well as a party that as of the day of calling by-elections has a representative in the Parliament of Georgia provided for by Article 113(1)(a)m shall, after by-elections are called, but not later than on the 57th day before Election Day, file an application with CEC, signed by the leader(s), in order to obtain the right to run in by-elections. A party that has a representative in the Parliament of Georgia shall be registered in accordance with the procedure provided for by Article 113 (2-7).

4. A party failing to meet the conditions under paragraph (3) of this article shall file an application signed by its leader(s) with the CEC to obtain the right to participate in by-elections of the Parliament of Georgia after by-elections are called by the CEC but not later than on the 57th day before Election Day. Upon the receipt of the application, the party shall be given a sample form of a list of party supporters established by the CEC. A party which is not a qualified electoral subject shall submit to the CEC a list of at least 25 000 supporters (the number may not exceed 1% of the total number of voters) not later than on the 50th day before by-elections, and if a party is a qualified electoral subject, it shall submit a list of at least 1 000 voters. A list of supporters shall be verified in accordance with the procedure established by Article 38 of this Law. Parties shall be registered for elections in accordance with the procedure established by Article 113 of this Law.