Parliamentary elections

1. Following the full restoration of Georgia’s jurisdiction throughout the entire territory of Georgia, two chambers shall be established within Parliament: the Council of the Republic and the Senate. The Council of the Republic shall be composed of members elected by a proportional system. The Senate shall be composed of members elected from the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, the Autonomous Republic of Ajara and other territorial units of Georgia, and five members appointed by the President of Georgia. The composition, powers, and procedures for the election of chambers shall be determined by the organic law.

2. Before the condition provided for by paragraph 1 of this article is created, Parliament shall be composed of 150 Members of Parliament elected in a single multi-mandate electoral district for a term of 4 years by a proportional system on the basis of universal, free, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.

3. Regular parliamentary elections shall be held on the last Saturday of October of the calendar year in which the term of Parliament expires. In case of the dissolution of Parliament, elections shall be held no earlier than the 45th day and no later than the 60th day after the dissolution of Parliament. If the election date coincides with a state of emergency or martial law, elections shall be held no earlier than the 45th day and no later than the 60th day after the state of emergency or martial law has been revoked.

4. Any citizen of Georgia having the electoral right, who has attained the age of 25 and who has lived in Georgia for at least 10 years, may be elected as a Member of Parliament. A person who has been sentenced to imprisonment by a court judgment shall not be elected as a Member of Parliament.

5. A political party that is registered in accordance with the procedures established by law shall have the right to participate in the parliamentary elections if it has a Member of Parliament who has been elected through the party’s nomination by the date when the elections are scheduled, or if it is supported by the signatures of at least 25 000 voters, in accordance with the procedures established by the organic law.

6. The mandates of Members of Parliament shall be distributed only to those political parties that receive at least 5 % of valid votes cast in the elections. To determine the amount of mandates received by a political party, the amount of votes received by this party shall be multiplied by 150 and divided by the total number of votes received by all political parties that received at least 5 % of valid votes cast in the elections. The integer part of the number thus derived is the amount of mandates received by the political party. If the total amount of mandates received by political parties is fewer than 150, the political parties with the best results shall receive the undistributed mandates in a successive manner.

7. The procedure for the election of Parliament shall be determined by the organic law.