Europe

Home page

Europe

Georgia to hold parliamentary elections, plebiscites, and referendums only within state borders

20 November 2025 13:50 (UTC +04:00)

In Georgia, along with parliamentary elections, plebiscites and referendums will also be held within the state borders, APA's local bureau reports.

In this regard, the parliament has begun discussing the proposed amendments to the country's Election Code.

According to the draft, the phrase "throughout Georgia" in the code will be replaced with the words "within the state borders of Georgia."

The draft law states that Georgian citizens will not be able to exercise their voting rights outside the country in parliamentary elections, plebiscites, and referendums.

The purpose of changing the voting rules is to ensure more active participation by immigrants in Georgia's political processes and their ability to make choices without external influences.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that although the amendments are essentially technical in nature, they will significantly improve the regulatory framework of the election process.

Note that the Election Code in force in Georgia was adopted in 2011. Amendments to the Code are planned to be made by the end of this year.

Until now, only municipal elections in Georgia have been held within the country.

The next parliamentary elections in Georgia will be held in October 2028.

The last direct presidential elections in the neighboring country were held in 2018. Since Georgia transitioned to a parliamentary form of government, the head of state has been elected by an Electoral College of 300 people. Incumbent President Mikheil Kavelashvili was elected to the post of head of state in this way in December last year for the next five years.