12 THE GEORGIAN LABOUR PARTY v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT Article 18 § 3 – “Composition of the electoral administration” “A member of the electoral administration may not join a party, and if he [or she] was a party member, [that person] must withdraw from the party or suspend his [or her] membership for the term of office in the electoral administration ...” Article 22 – “The working rules of electoral commissions” “... 7. The decision of an electoral commission shall be considered to have been adopted if it is supported by the majority of the votes cast (unless the Law requires a higher quorum), but not less than one third of the commission members. 8. If the vote is tied, the chairman of the session shall have the casting vote. ... 13. The CEC shall adopt decrees by two-thirds of its members. No decree shall be adopted less than four days before the election date.” Pursuant to Articles 34 § 2 (f), 61 § 5, 62 and 63 §§ 1 and 4, a DEC was competent to receive, examine and decide on requests for a recount or to annul election results in the relevant precincts, based on allegations of voting irregularities. Article 64 – “Consolidation of the election results at the CEC of Georgia” “1. No later than eighteen days after the date of the ballot, the CEC, based on the protocols received from the DECs and PECs, shall consolidate the results of the parliamentary and presidential elections ... and approve by its Ordinance the final protocol of the vote tally. 1(1) The CEC is prohibited from finalising the election results before the resolution of election-related disputes in the courts of general jurisdiction and without consideration of the outcome of those disputes. ... The CEC shall consolidate the election results and determine: (a) the total number of voters; (b) the turnout of voters; (c) the number of ballots deemed invalid; ... and (e) the number of votes received by candidates.” Article 77 § 3 – “The time-limits and procedure for the consideration of disputes” “Lodging appeals with a court shall not have a suspensive effect on the decision.” Under Article 100 § 2, a party or bloc could cancel the nomination of one of its candidates even after the latter’s authority as an MP had been officially recognised. Article 105 – “Consolidation of the election results at the CEC of Georgia”1 “...