ELECTION CODE AMENDED FOR MAY 21 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000509

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/CARC

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: ELECTION CODE AMENDED FOR MAY 21 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

REF: A) TBILISI 444


1. (U) Summary: On March 21, the Parliament of Georgia amended
Georgia's election code (reftel) by a vote of 134-2. All but one
opposition member of Parliament boycotted the proceeding. The
deadline for registering political parties is March 26. This cable
summarizes the main points of the amendments and their likely
influence on the election. End summary.

The Electoral System
--------------


2. (U) The 150-member legislative body is now comprised of 75
single-mandate "majoritarian" districts and 75 nationwide
party-list, proportionally-elected seats. This constitutes the
opposition's foremost complaint against the government. They are
demanding that the 75 single-mandate seats instead be chosen by a
"regional proportional" system. Such a system would allocate those
seats in each region (containing several districts with one seat
each) proportionally by party. The Parliament has decided that each
district's seat will be elected by a majority of the voters in that
district. Candidates for majoritarian seats must be presented by
parties or election blocs registered at the CEC. Signatures of
supporters (previously 1,000) are no longer required.

Boundary Problems
--------------


3. (U) Unfortunately, Georgia's electoral districts (called
"rayons") are divided quite unevenly (with districts representing
between 6,000 and 160,000 voters). If all 75 districts receive one
MP, it raises an issue of fairness and "one man, one vote" as
unequal districts devalue the vote of one citizen in relation to
another. Opposition groups are especially upset because Tbilisi is
under-represented per capita compared to the rest of the country.
Tbilisi has only 10 of 75 seats, despite being home to one-third of
the country's population. It is also where the opposition is
strongest. Many observers comment that the 75-single mandate
constituency structure as passed by Parliament favors the ruling
party.

The 30% Threshold
--------------


4. (U) For the 75 single-mandate seats, the candidate who wins the
most votes is declared the victor if he has more than 30 percent.
No runoff election is required. This means a candidate can win with
a plurality, rather than a majority of votes. When there are two or
three candidates, this system usually does not constitute a
significant concern. However, with multiple candidates in a single
district, this could easily lead to someone winning the seat with
only 30.1 percent of the vote (meaning nearly 70 percent of the
constituency did not support that candidate). The opposition would
prefer a 50 percent threshold, like the Presidential elections, and
a run-off of the top two candidates if no one received more than
half the vote.

Abolishment of Additional Voters List
--------------


5. (U) Same day voter registration has been abolished. Those voters
who registered at the polls in January have been added to the
general voters list. Same day registration and specially counting
procedures for such votes caused confusion in January and will be
avoided in the May parliamentary elections.

Structure of District Election Commissions
--------------


6. (U) District Election Commissions (DECs) will now mimic the
composition of Precinct Election Commissions (PEC) and the CEC, with
13 total members (7 appointed by the government and 6 appointed by
opposition parties). This is a significant improvement over the
previous structure. Many of the decisions made by the CEC regarding
complaints processes during the Presidential elections were
uniformly 7-6 votes. Thus, the ruling National Movement party will
continue to dominate the PECs, DECs, and the CEC.


7. (U) The DECs will also have increased powers, including the right
to tabulate votes cast in the precincts and the right to cancel
election results from polling stations. DECs were denied these
rights during the January 5 presidential election. Even without
this authority, the DECs were largely blamed during the presidential
election for perpetrating fraud and manipulating results (i.e.
changing the protocols). On the other hand, the more balanced,
multi-party composition of the DEC is a safeguard that may help
prevent such manipulation from occurring.

Protocols
--------------

TBILISI 00000509 002 OF 002




8. (SBU) To date, Post has not been able to confirm whether or not
voting data will be removed from the protocols, where election
results from the PECs is reported. Such a move would be undesirable
as it would reduce the transparency of the election. On March 19
and 20, Poloffs stressed to ruling party MPs and the CEC that
removing key information such as the number of valid ballots and the
total number of voters -- which has previously been suggested by the
CEC "to avoid simple mistakes" -- would be a step backward on the
part of the government. We will continue to advocate that the
protocols require all important information to be included and
clear.

Disputes and Appeals
--------------


9. (U) Decisions made by PECs and DECs can be appealed to the next
higher level election commission, and CEC decisions can be appealed
to the courts in two steps. First, to the District or City Court,
and then to the Appeals Court. The decision of the Appeals Court is
final. DECs and PECs cannot finalize their results before the
disputes have been resolved.


10. (SBU) If appeals sent to the election commissions are faulty
(i.e. lack certain legal requirements or technical information),the
commission is obliged to indicate those faults to the claimants and
indicate a timeframe during which those faults should be corrected.
Only if these faults are not corrected within the given timeframe
does the commission have the right to decline consideration of the
appeal. This revision is universally seen as a positive step if
properly implemented.

Miscellaneous Clarification
--------------


11. (U) The amendments clarify certain terms in the election code,
including: qualified election subject (a political entity which
qualifies for funding from the state budget),pre-election campaign,
pre-election agitation, and majoritarian district. Furthermore, the
amendments clarify the rules of administering election funds and the
terms and use of administrative resources. Misuse of administrative
resources was a key charge against the National Movement in the
presidential elections.

Comment
--------------


12. (SBU) On balance, the amendments to the election code are an
improvement compared to those in effect on January 5. However, the
changes must be implemented in good faith for a positive outcome.
Nearly all outside observers agree that the GOG designed the
single-mandate districts to the advantage of the ruling National
Movement.

PERRY