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Article 61
 

Opening of electoral precincts


1. An electoral precinct shall open at 7:00 a.m. If by this time the number of PEC members is less than 7, the higher DEC shall be immediately informed thereof, and it shall immediately make an appropriate decision.


2. Polling procedures from the time of opening an electoral precinct up to the time of starting polling shall be carried out in the following sequence:


a) immediately after opening an electoral precinct the polling day log-book shall be opened. All persons authorised to be present at the polling place shall sign the first and second pages of the book, and if necessary, the tenth and following pages as well;


b) the PEC chairperson shall inspect the integrity of the sealed package that contains a special seal of the PEC;


c) the PEC chairperson shall prepare papers for casting lots on same kind of sheets with the same pen, shall set a special PEC seal thereto and shall fold the papers so that the text inside cannot be read. The total number of blank and filled out papers shall be equal to the number of commission members participating in casting of lots. The commission chairperson shall conduct casting of lots in the presence of the commission members and persons authorised to be present at a polling station. The commission chairperson/deputy chairperson/secretary may not participate in the casting of lots. The papers shall be thrown onto the table and the commission members participating in casting of lots shall pick them up one by one;


d) the PEC chairperson shall identify from among the PEC members, by casting lots, 2 commission members to carry a mobile ballot box (if necessary);


d1) if a commission member identified by casting lots to carry a mobile ballot box refuses to fulfil the function assigned to him/her, he/she shall lose the right to participate in the regular lots to be casted for distributing other functions of the commission members. The issue of assigning a function to this commission member shall be decided on by the PEC chairperson.


e) another casting of lots shall be conducted to assign other duties to the commission members, in which the following members shall be selected:


e.a) a commission member responsible for regulation of the flow of voters at a polling room and for verification of the inking of voters;


e.b) commission members registering voters (at least 1 member per 300 voters) who shall also issue ballot papers after signing and sealing the assigned place on the reverse side of a ballot paper;


e.c) a member of the commission supervising ballot boxes and special envelopes;


f) after the casting of lots is finished, the PEC secretary shall make a note on the 3rd page of the polling day log-book about the results of assigning duties by casting lots;


g) the duties of a commission member defined by casting lots may be delegated to another commission member only with permission of the commission chairperson and that shall be noted by the commission secretary on the 5th page of the polling day log-book by specifying the time.


3. If the number of commission members in terms of the duties to be assigned appears on the polling day to be:


a) less by one member, the number of members of the commission registering voters shall be reduced;


b) less by two members, the commission deputy chairperson shall perform the duties of the commission member regulating the flow of voters in the polling room;


c) less by three members, the commission chairperson shall perform the duties of the member of the commission supervising ballot boxes and special envelopes.


4. The DEC shall decide the matter of remuneration of a PEC member who appears before the commission after the end of the lot casting procedure, while the PEC chairperson shall decide the issue of assigning duties to that person.


5. If a person authorised to be present at a polling place finds (identifies) any violation during registration of a complaint, a decision regarding the registration of the complaint shall be made by the commission under the determined procedure.


6. After the completion of casting lots, the PEC chairperson shall:


a) announce the number of voters according to unified and special lists, including mobile ballot box list;


b) check the integrity of packages of ballot papers and special envelopes and announce the number of ballot papers and special envelopes received;


c) check and put a seal with a unique number on main and mobile ballot boxes as determined by the CEC.


7. Each registrar of voters shall be given a notebook containing all types of ballot papers that shall be confirmed with signatures of the commission chairperson and the registrar on a front page. After all ballot papers are issued from the notebook, another notebook shall be given to the registrar, and so on.


8. (Deleted – 7.3.2014, No 2093).


9. The PEC secretary shall announce the data referred to in paragraph 6(a)(b) of this article and shall incorporate (except for the number of special envelopes) it into the demonstration protocol of polling results and the polling day log-book.


10. Control sheets shall be signed by the first voter and all the PEC members present. The following details shall be indicated in the control sheets: first name, and surname of the first voter, his/her place of registration and personal identification number of a citizen of Georgia. The PEC chairperson and the secretary shall fill out control sheets in three copies. The PEC chairperson shall insert one copy of the control sheet into the main ballot box after the first voter appears, the second copy shall be inserted into a mobile ballot box, and the third copy shall be kept for the purpose of further comparison with the control sheets in the ballot boxes.


11. Polling shall start at 8:00 a.m. on the polling day.


Organic Law of Georgia No 864 of 25 July 2013 – website, 19.8.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 2093 of 7 March 2014 – website, 14.3.2014
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