§ Article 45Election campaign (canvassing)

Election campaign (canvassing)

1. Election campaign (canvassing) shall begin as soon as a legal act calling elections is issued and published. Political parties and candidates for electoral
subject shall enjoy equal rights and have equal obligations as defined in this Law.

2. During the election campaign (canvassing) period a political party, a candidate for electoral subject, or an electoral subject may produce pre-election
slogans, statements, inscriptions, papers, photo materials, etc. It is prohibited to prevent their dissemination and seizure, as well as to seize vehicles and
other means equipped with special devices used for campaigning purposes, or to prevent their application for election campaigning purposes.

3. Political parties, candidates for electoral subject, electoral subjects, and their supporters may present a program for further activity. The election
program shall not contain propaganda for war or violence, appeal for change or overthrow of the existing state and social order by violence, for violation
of the territorial integrity of Georgia, for national strife and enmity, or for religious or ethnic confrontation.

4. Any individual may conduct and participate in election campaigning, except for:

a) election commission members

b) judges

c) public officers of the Ministry for Internal Affairs and the Ministry for Defense, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Intelligence Service, and the Special State
Protection Service of Georgia

d) the Auditor General

e) the Public Defender of Georgia

f) aliens and foreign organisations

g) charitable and religious organisations

h) public officers of state authorities and local self-government bodies during normal business hours and/or when they are directly performing their
duties

i) members of the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) and the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory
Commission (GNEWSRC).

5. It is prohibited to conduct election campaign (canvassing) in the premises of the following institutions:

http://www.matsne.gov.ge 01019002004001016032
a) executive agencies of Georgia

b) courts

c) military units.

6. Local self-government bodies shall be obliged to support political parties/electoral subjects to organize and hold meetings and gatherings with voters,
public debates and discussions, assemblies and manifestations, and to ensure the safety of those events.

7. It is prohibited to carry on election campaigning at any event/presentation funded from the State Budget of Georgia/the budget of local self-governing
unit. That action shall be regarded as the use of administrative resources.

8. In order to conduct mass electoral events, the premises administered by state authorities or local self-government bodies shall be available free of
charge for the election commissions.

9. Local self-government bodies shall draw up, within five days after the commencement of election campaign, a list of premises where election
campaign (canvassing) is likely to be conducted and shall submit it to the DEC. The DEC shall make public the list of premises allocated by the local self-
government bodies within two days after the receipt thereof, shall ensure equal availability of the premises for all political parties and electoral subjects,
and shall draw up a schedule, in agreement with political parties and electoral subjects, for the electoral events (if the events of different electoral
subjects coincide and the electoral subjects fail to come to agreement, the sequence of events shall be determined by casting lots). The list of premises
allocated by local self-government bodies shall be also posted on the CEC website.

10. A DEC shall give a well-grounded written response to any respective application filed by an electoral subject for the use of premises within 24 hours
from filing the application. Any failure to give a response within the above time frame shall be regarded as the consent to the application.

11. It is prohibited to conduct election campaign at the polling station on polling day.

Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012

Organic Law of Georgia No 6551 of 22 June 2012 – website, 29.6.2012

Organic Law of Georgia No 878 of 27 July 2013 – website, 7.8.2013

Organic Law of Georgia No 1273 of 20 September 2013 – website, 2.10.2013