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Article 44
 

Representatives of the press and other media


1. Representatives of the press and other media accredited to the respective election commission shall have the right to attend sessions of the election commission and be present at the polling stations on polling day during the election period.


2. The CEC Secretary or the secretaries of respective DECs shall provide the accreditation of representatives of the press and other media operating in the territory of several electoral districts, while the secretary of the respective DEC shall provide the accreditation of media representatives operating in the territory of one electoral district.


3. An application for accreditation of representatives of the press and other mass media shall be submitted to the respective election commission not later than the 3rd day prior to the polling day. Photocopies of the identity cards or of the passports of the representatives shall be attached to the application. If an organisation submits an application, it shall be accompanied by the excerpt from the Registry of Entrepreneurs and Non-entrepreneurial (Non-commercial) Legal Entities, which is issued by the Legal Entity under Public Law operating under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the National Agency of Public Registry within the last 10 days before the application is submitted to the election commission. The excerpt shall include the person/persons having the power of administration/representation of the organisation. In order to verify/confirm, at the time of accreditation of the organisation, the authenticity of the data in the excerpt issued by the Legal Entity under Public Law operating under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – the National Agency of Public Registry, the Agency shall provide the CEC with the possibility of accessing and verifying the appropriate electronic databases. Foreign press and other mass media, Public Broadcaster, and Public Broadcaster Television and Radio of Ajara shall not need the excerpt specified in this paragraph for accreditation.


4. The secretary of the respective election commission shall decide, within two days after filing an application, on the accreditation of representatives of the press and other media and shall issue respective certificates to the accredited representatives within one day after the decision. In the case of refusal of accreditation, the secretary shall issue a respective ordinance (the refusal of accreditation shall be duly justified in the ordinance) within the same time frame.


41. If a person authorised to be the head/representative of an accredited press or another mass medium is registered as an electoral subject and/or a representative of an electoral subject, the press/another mass medium shall, not later than 5 calendar days after the registration, submit to a respective election commission a document to prove that the powers of the person authorised to be the head/representative of the press/another mass medium, who has been registered as the electoral subject/representative of the subject, has been or will be terminated. Failure to submit such a document shall be the grounds for cancelling the accreditation of the respective press/another mass medium.


5. The same press and other media organisation may have not more than 3 representatives at any one time at the electoral precinct on polling day.


6. The procedure for attending sessions of an electoral commission and for accrediting the press and other mass media for them to film the commission sessions during the non-election period shall be established by a decree of the CEC.


Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3269 of 21 July 2018 – website, 27.7.2018