At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Georgia

Description of government structure:

• Head of State and Commander in Chief: President Mikheil SAAKASHVILI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Bidzina IVANISHVILI
• Assembly: Georgia has a unicameral parliament (Sakartvelos Parlamenti) with 150 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority to serve a 5-year term. If the leading contestant does not secure 50 percent of the votes, a run-off will be held between the top two contenders.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president.*
• In the Parliament (Sakartvelos Parlamenti), 77 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation (PR) system to serve 4-year terms and 73 members are elected by majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.**

*The parliament presents its candidate to the president who in turn presents that candidate back to parliament. The parliament then confirms the candidate through a vote of confidence and the president finalizes the appointment.

**If no candidate secures 30 percent or more of the valid vote in a single-member constituency, a run-off election is held between the two leading candidates. The threshold is 5 percent in the PR tier. If no party, bloc, or pre-election coalition achieves 5 percent of votes, new elections are held. Voting is not compulsory.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race*:

• Giorgi MARGVELASHVILI
  • Party: Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia / ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო
• David BAKRADZE
  • Party: United National Movement / ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა
• Giorgi TARGAMADZE
  • Party: Christian-Democratic Movement / ქრისტიანულ-დემოკრატიული მოძრაობა
• Shalva NATELASHVILI
  • Party: Georgian Labour Party / საქართველოს ლეიბორისტული პარტია
• Nino BURJANADZE
  • Party: Democratic Movement – United Georgia / დემოკრატიული მოძრაობა — ერთიანი საქართველო

*Main Candidates determined by polling data

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 3,776,000 (2013)
• Registered Voters: 3,537,719 (October 2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,977,498 (2013)

·         Is Georgia a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Georgia ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (26 October 1994)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 18 (following the 2012 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 76 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Georgia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (10 July 2009)

·         Has Georgia ratified CRPD: Yes (13 March 2014)

·         Population with a disability: 566,400 (est.)

Additional Information:

• Constitutional amendments are scheduled to come into force that will shift power from the presidency to the prime minister and parliament following October’s presidential election.*
• Candidates reaching the 5 percent threshold during the election will receive reimbursement from the state of up to GEL 1 million (approximately USD $600,000) for campaign expenditures.

*More information on the constitutional changes can be found here