Pre-election campaign (canvassing)

1. The pre-election campaign (canvassing) shall begin 60 days prior to the polling day. Political parties and candidates for electoral subject shall enjoy equal rights and have equal obligations as defined in this Law.

2. During the election campaign (canvassing) period a political party, a candidate for electoral subject or an electoral subject may produce pre-election slogans, statements, inscriptions, papers, photo materials, etc. It is prohibited to prevent their dissemination and seizure, as well as to seize vehicles and other means equipped with special devices used for campaigning purposes, or to prevent their application for election campaigning purposes.

3. Political parties, candidates for electoral subject, electoral subjects, and their supporters may present a program for further activity. The election program shall not contain propaganda for war or violence, appeal for change or overthrow of the existing state and social order by violence, for violation of the territorial integrity of Georgia, for national strife and enmity, or for religious or ethnic confrontation.

31. Violation by the persons defined in paragraph 3 of this article of the rules established under the same paragraph shall be violation of the rules for conducting the pre-election campaign (canvassing) provided for by this Law.

4. Any individual may conduct and participate in election campaigning, except for:

a) election commission members;

b) judges;

c) public officers of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Defence of Georgia, of the State Security Service of Georgia, the Georgian Intelligence Service, and the Special State Protection Service of Georgia;

d) the Auditor General;

e) the Public Defender of Georgia;

f) aliens and foreign organisations;

g) charitable and religious organisations;

h) public officers of state authorities and local self-government bodies during normal business hours and/or when they are directly performing their duties;

i) members of the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) and the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNEWSRC).

5. It is prohibited to conduct election campaign (canvassing) in the premises of the following institutions:

a) executive agencies of Georgia;

b) courts;

c) military units.

6. Local self-government bodies shall be obliged to support political parties/electoral subjects to organise and hold meetings and gatherings with voters, public debates and discussions, assemblies and manifestations, and to ensure the safety of those events.

7. It is prohibited to carry on election campaigning at any event/presentation funded from the State Budget of Georgia/the budget of local self-governing unit. That action shall be regarded as the use of administrative resources.

8. In order to conduct mass electoral events, the premises administered by state authorities or local self-government bodies shall be available free of charge for the election commissions.

9. Local self-government bodies shall draw up, within five days after the commencement of election campaign, a list of premises where election campaign (canvassing) is likely to be conducted and shall submit it to the DEC. The DEC shall make public the list of premises allocated by the local self-government bodies within two days after the receipt thereof, shall ensure equal availability of the premises for all political parties and electoral subjects, and shall draw up a schedule, in agreement with political parties and electoral subjects, for the electoral events (if the events of different electoral subjects coincide and the electoral subjects fail to come to agreement, the sequence of events shall be determined by casting lots). The list of premises allocated by local selfgovernment bodies shall be also posted on the CEC website.

10. A DEC shall give a well-grounded written response to any respective application filed by an electoral subject for the use of premises within 24 hours from filing the application. Any failure to give a response within the above time frame shall be regarded as the consent to the application.

11. It is prohibited to conduct election campaign at the polling station on polling day.

Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 6551 of 22 June 2012 – website, 29.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 1273 of 20 September 2013 – website, 2.10.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017