2020 Georgian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Georgia by October 2020 to elect the 150 members of Parliament.

2020 Georgian parliamentary election
No later than October 2020
All 150 seats in the Parliament
76 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Bidzina Ivanishvili Grigol Vashadze
Party Georgian Dream UNM
Last election 115 seats, 48.77% 27 seats, 27.11%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Irma Inashvili Davit Bakradze
Party APG European Georgia
Last election 6 seats, 5.01% Ran as part of UNM
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Electoral system

In the previous election, the 150 members of Parliament were elected by two methods; 77 were from a single nationwide constituency using closed list proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold which was to be lowered to 3% for the 2020 election.[1] The other 73 were elected in single-member constituencies using a modified two-round system, in which candidates had to receive over 30% of the valid vote to win in the first round. A second round was held between the top two candidates if there was no winner in the first round.[2]

New electoral law
Newly proposed majoritarian division of Georgia with larger districts

In June 2019, Georgian Dream announced plans to change the electoral system to full party-list proportional representation without an electoral threshold. Despite being supported by opposition parties, the legislation failed to be passed as only 101 of the 150 MPs voted in favour, fewer than the required 75% to change the electoral law.[3]

After the failure of the proposed amendments to be passed with the 75% of votes from parliamentary deputies, the government and the opposition held several rounds of talks, and in early March of 2020, a memorandum of understanding was issued from all the parties of the political spectrum. The new electoral law stipulates that 120 deputies will be elected via proportional representation, while another 30 will be elected from single-member constituencies. The constituencies will be drawn according to the instructions given by the Venice Commission, and the Georgian judiciary. For proportional representation seats, the electoral threshold is 1%. For single-member constituencies, a candidate will gain the status of a parliamentary deputy if they gain 50% of votes in the first round. If that does not happen, the top two candidates will take part in a run-off whose winner will be elected. The US Embassy at Tbilisi lauded these agreements, as did leading European diplomats who have desired the 2020 elections to be free and transparent. No party can obtain a majority of seats without getting at least 40% of votes from the electorate.[4]

In its first hearing on 21 June, Georgian parliament passed the electoral reforms. 136 MPs voted for these reforms, while 5 MPs voted against.[5] On second reading of the bill, 115 MPs voted for the reforms, while 3 voted against and 1 abstained. The opposition United National Movement and European Georgia did not participate in the voting, as they demanded release of opposition figures i.e. Giorgi Rurua.[6]

Opinion polls
Date Pollster GD UNM EG SLP APG DMUG Civil Girchi Lelo DM Lead
February 2020 Edison Research 39% 23% 8% 6% 6% 2% 3% 2% 5% 2% 16%
February 2020 Ipsos 34% 29% 10% 6% 5% 2% 3% 3% 3% 5%
January 2020 Ipsos 22% 17% 9% 4% 4% 2% 2% 2% 2% 5%
December 2019 NDI 20% 13% 8% 5% 4% 2% 3% 2% 3% 7%
October 2019 IRI 23% 15% 5% 5% 4% 2% 4% 2% 3% 8%
October 2019 Edison Research 26% 18% 7% 4% 4% 2% 3% 3% 3% 1% 8%
September 2019 IRI 23% 15% 5% 5% 4% 2% 3% 2% 2% 2% 8%
June 2019 IRI 26% 22% 7% 5% 5% 2% 2% 1% - - 4%
May 2019 Ipsos 29% 22% 10% 5% 5% <3% <3% <3% - - 7%
April 2019 NDI 17% 14% 3% <3% 3% <3% <3% <3% - - 3%
December 2018 NDI 24% 11% 3% <3% 3% <3% <3% <3% - - 13%
28 October 2018 Presidential elections 38% 37% 10% 3% - - - 2% - 2% 1%
June–July 2018 NDI 20% 11% 4% 3% <3% <3% <3% <3% - - 9%
10-22 April 2018 IRI 27% 17% 7% 5% 4% 3% <3% <3% - - 10%
March–April 2018 NDI 31% 9% 5% 3% 3% <3% <3% <3% - - 22%
November–December 2017 NDI 27% 10% 3% <3% 3% <3% <3% <3% - - 17%
21 October 2017 Local elections 55% 17% 10% 3% 6% 3% - - - 1% 38%
18 June–9 July 2017 NDI 27% 8% 3% <3% <3% <3% <3% <3% - - 19%
22 February–8 March 2017 IRI 30% 15% 8% 6% 4% 3% <3% <3% - - 15%
8 October 2016 Parliamentary elections 49% 27% – 3% 5% 4% – – – – 21%

References
  1. Key Points of Newly Adopted Constitution Civil.ge
  2. Electoral system IPU
  3. Ruling party proposed election bill scrapped Agenda, 14 November 2019
  4. "Georgian parties sign election reform memorandum after months of talks". Rferl.
  5. https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/1956
  6. https://jam-news.net/important-electoral-reform-in-georgia-constitutional-amendments-pass-second-reading/
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