Home > 4 Types of elections > GEORGIA - Opinion on the Unified Election Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 69
 

One detail, however, is quite problematic from a normative point of view: Article 86.2 prescribes that the majority requirement (50%+1) is to be based on the number of votes cast and not, as commonly, on the valid votes. In other words, in this system invalid votes systematically count against the strongest candidate. In non-competitive contexts this does not pose a problem since in such “elections without choice” invalid votes may reasonably be considered a kind of “negative vote”. In multi-candidate races, on the contrary, invalid votes cannot be interpreted as clear political choice, thus they should not be taken into account. Therefore, the relevant formulations should be altered from “votes cast” to “valid votes” (see also “Elections for Parliament”).