The choice of an electoral system is a sovereign decision of a state, provided the system conforms with principles contained in OSCE commitments, the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters and other international norms, including requirements for transparency, universality and equality of suffrage of voters and non-discrimination among candidates and political parties. The draft amendments propose some changes to the existing local election system, but maintain its mixed proportional-majoritarian nature.The amendments would fix the total number of seats on each local council and change the division between proportional and majoritarian seats, as well as lower the electoral thresholds for winning council seats in the proportional contests. These changes fall within the discretion of the state.  However, local elections in Georgia have yet to provide for constituencies of an approximately equal population size and thus, to guarantee the equality of the vote within the framework of the electoral system. In this respect, a long-standing Venice Commission and ODIHR recommendation to review the local election system in order to ensure the equality of suffrage has not been addressed.