Rinkimų sistemos specifika ir raida Lietuvoje

Abstract

Elections of Seimas (Parliament) and local council members are held in Lithuania, as well the country President and members of the European Parliament are elected by the principles of the universal suffrage, equal suffrage, direct elections and by secret ballot. Requirements for the citizens: on the day of the election person should be 18 years of age. This gives the right to vote. Citizens who have been declared legally incompetent by the court shall not participate in elections. Every citizen of the Republic of Lithuania (or permanent resident in the municipal elections) who has the right to vote shall have one vote in a single-member constituency and one vote in the multi-member constituency, and these votes shall have the same value as the votes of any other citizen who has the right to vote. Every voter shall have an equal right to express his opinion about the candidates who are on the list of candidates for which he votes in the multi-member constituency, and this opinion shall have the same value as the opinion of any other voter who has voted for this list. There is no voting by proxy in the elections. Voters vote in person and by secret ballot. It is prohibited for a person to vote instead of another person or to vote by proxy. A voter, who because of his physical disability cannot cast a ballot himself, may vote with the assistance of another person whom he trusts. If the secret of another person’s voting has come to the knowledge of anyone, it shall be prohibited to disclose it. It is prohibited to control the will of the voters during the elections. It is prohibited during the voting to influence the will of an elector to vote for or against any candidate or a list of candidates. A voter must have adequate conditions to mark his ballot in privacy and without interference. It is prohibited to handle the ballot in such a way that the secret of voting might be disclosed. Requirements for the candidates in the elections are higher and specified according the every type of elections.
Other direct or indirect abridgements of suffrage of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania on the grounds of their origin, political convictions, social or property status, nationality, sex, education, language, religion, or the type or character of their occupation are prohibited.
Constitutional Court of the country has issued several rulings related with the election laws. There it would be useful to mention two of them.
In its ruling of the 24 December 2002, Constitutional Court held that the Constitution consolidates the principle of prohibition of a double mandate and that the same persons may not discharge the functions in the implementation of state power and, at the same time, be members of municipal councils, through which the right of self-government is implemented. In addition, under the Constitution, the state officials who, according to the Constitution and laws enjoy the powers to control or supervise the activities of municipal councils may not be members of municipal councils, either. In the said ruling, the Constitutional Court inter alia held that if a person discharging the functions of state power, or a state official who, under the Constitution and laws, enjoys the powers to control or supervise activities of municipalities, is elected a member of a municipal council, he, before the newly elected municipal council convenes to the first sitting, must decide whether to remain in his previous office or to be a member of the municipal council.
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania in the ruling of the 25 May 2004 on the compliance of article 11 (wording of 4 may 2004) and paragraph 2 (wording of 4 may 2004) of article 2 of the Republic of Lithuania law on Presidential elections with the constitution of the Republic of Lithuania has stressed that under the Constitution, a person in respect of whom the Seimas, following the conclusion of the Constitutional Court that the President of the Republic has grossly violated the Constitution and breached the oath, applied the constitutional sanction-removed him from office – may not evade the constitutional liability either by new elections of the President of the Republic, or referendum, or in any other way. It was also stressed that neither a referendum, nor new elections of the President of the Republic may be and, under the Constitution, are a way of expressing the trust or mistrust of the citizens in the Seimas, which has removed, according to the procedure for impeachment proceedings, the President of the Republic from office.
Analyzing election held in Lithuania we could see several specifications of the development. People are willing to see older representatives on the local level, but choose younger members of the Seimas (Parliament). Number of women as representatives in all levels is rising. Active participation in the elections is going down.