19 days before municipal elections: Key data, info and procedures for now

Georgia is getting ready for the municipal elections scheduled on October 21 when the state population elects 2,058 members of 64 city councils (Sakrebulo) and 64 municipal mayors.

Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced that 3,442,455 voters have been registered for the municipal elections.

Deputy Head of CEC Giorgi Sharabidze announced that about 11 million ballot papers will be printed for the elections, as voters will have to make choice on three different ballot papers-one for the proportional list, the second for majoritarian list and the third for mayors.

Printing of the ballot papers, which will be printed in ten different printing houses, has not been launched yet, as October 9 is the deadline for political parties, election blocs and initiative groups to withdraw from the race.

For September 26, which is the latest info released  by CEC:

• 387 mayoral candidates from different parties have been registered for the mayoral race thorough Georgia.
• 17 political parties have presented their party lists for the municipal elections.
• 22 political parties, 5 election blocs and 1 initiative group have registered their party lists for Tbilisi Sakrebulo.
• 5 political parties were refused to participate in the elections due to certain lacks or violations in their election documentation.

Latest, August 29 info about observers and media

• 47 local observing organizations have been registered to monitor the elections.
• 23 international organizations have addressed the CEC so far to observe the race.
• 21 media outlets have been registered to cover the election process.

Key procedures left 

• October 9 – Deadline for political parties, election blocs and initiative groups to withdraw Sakrebulo and mayoral candidates; deadline also expires for candidates to quit the race.
• October 11 – Deadline for local observes to apply to CEC for registration.
• October 14 – Deadline for international observing organizations to address CEC for registration.
• October 16 – Deadline for CEC to release final data on total number of voters.     
• October 21 – Election Day. Polling stations will be opened at 8 am and closed at 8 pm.
• November 1 – Deadline for district election commissions to summarize the outcomes of Sakrebulo and mayoral polls (not the results in Tbilisi); final vote results should be submitted to CEC no later than November 2.
•  CEC is scheduled to summarize the results of Sakrebulo and mayoral polls in Tbilisi no later than November 9.