official translation

official translation REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON ELECTIONS TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 20 November 2003  No IX-1837 Vilnius (Last amended on 14 December 2010 — No XI-1227) CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1. Purpose of the Law 1. This Law shall establish the procedure for organising and holding elections when electing members of the European Parliament to the seats in the European Parliament allocated for the Republic of Lithuania. The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the legal acts of the European Union, international treaties, this Law and other laws, the resolutions of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania concerning the setting of the date of elections, the decisions of the Central Electoral Commission shall constitute the legal basis for elections to the European Parliament. 2. The purpose of this Law shall be to ensure the application of the legal acts of the European Union, specified in the Annex to this Law. 3. The number of members of the European Parliament, elected in the Republic of Lithuania, shall be determined by the legal acts of the European Union. Members of the European shall be elected for a five-year term of office in one multi-member constituency comprising the whole territory of the State, on the basis of proportional representation, by preferential voting. Article 2. Main Definitions of this Law 1. “Elections to the European Parliament (or elections)” means elections of members of the European Parliament to the seats allocated for the Republic of Lithuania, in which members of the European Parliament are elected in general, equal, free, direct elections by secret ballot. 2. “Citizen of the Member State of the European Union” means a citizen of any Member State of the European Union. 3. “Citizen of any other Member State of the European Union” means a citizen of any other Member State of the European Union, except the Republic of Lithuania. 4. “Preferential voting” means voting when voters may also express their will concerning the order of preference of the candidates from the list of candidates, while voting for such list. 5. “Home Member State” means the Member State of the European Union, of which a citizen of the Member State of the European Union is a national. 6. “Member State of residence” means a Member State of the European Union in which a citizen of the Member State of the European Union lawfully resides but of which he is not a national.   7. “Electoral roll” means the official register of all voters entitled to vote, drawn up and kept up to date under this Law, and in conformity with which electoral rolls of polling districts are printed. 8. “Reference day” means the day on which persons who satisfy the requirements for voting in elections to the European Parliament are entered on a preliminary electoral roll and may stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament (hereinafter referred to as “candidates”). 9. “Measures to prevent double-voting (double-candidacy)” means a set of measures ensuring that at the same elections to the European Parliament a vote may vote or stand as a candidate only in one Member State of the European Union. Article 3. Universal Suffrage 1. Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania as well as citizens of other Member States of the European Union, permanently residing in Lithuania, who, on the election day, are 18 years of age shall have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. Citizens who have been declared legally incompetent by the court shall not participate in elections. 2.  It shall be possible to vote or to stand as a candidate in elections only in one Member State of the European Union. 3. Persons who may vote or stand as candidates in the Republic of Lithuania and any other Member State of the European Union, must chose and vote or stand as a candidate only in one State. Citizens of the Member States of the European Union may not vote or stand as candidates if they do not have the right to vote in the home Member State. 4. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania or any other citizen of the Member State of the European Union, permanently residing in Lithuania, who is at least 21 years of age on the election day, and who does not stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in any other Member State of the European Union, may be elected in the Republic of Lithuania as a member of the European Parliament. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania or any other Member State of the European Union shall be considered to be permanently residing in the Republic of Lithuania when he has declared his place of residence and the data relating to his place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania has been entered on the population register of the Republic of Lithuania prior to the reference date. The reference date shall be the date on which 65 days are left before elections. 5. Persons who, by the reference date, have not yet served their sentence imposed by the court, as well as persons to whom the application of compulsory medical measures, imposed by the court, has not ended by the reference date, and persons who have been declared legally incompetent by the court may not be elected as members of the European Parliament. 6. Persons who on the election day are in the mandatory military service or alternative national defence service, also servicemen of the professional military service who have not retired from the service with 65 days remaining until elections, or officials of statutory institutions and establishments, or persons who may not participate in activities of political parties according to special laws or statutes, may not be elected as members of the European Parliament. 7. Persons who, on request of electoral committees, refuse to declare whether they satisfy the requirements of this Article, may not vote or stand as candidates. 8. Other direct or indirect abridgements of suffrage of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania or the European Union 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 shall be prohibited. 9. A person who votes in the same elections in the Republic of Lithuania and any other Member State of the European Union, or who votes in more than one polling district, shall be held liable in accordance with the procedure established by the law. Article 4. Equal Suffrage Every voter shall have one vote to cast for a list of candidates or a candidate, and this vote shall have the same value as the vote of any other voter. All the voters shall have equal rights to express their opinion about the candidates by casting preference votes for the priority of five candidates from the list for which they have voted, and such preference votes shall have the same value as the preference vote of any other voter. Article 41. Prohibition to Bribe Voters and Persons Eligible to Vote 1. During the political campaign of elections to the European Parliament, i.e. from announcement of the date of elections to the European Parliament until the end of the period of election campaign as set out by this Law, as well as on the election day it shall be prohibited to directly or indirectly buy votes, to induce by offering gifts or other rewards voters or persons eligible to vote to attend or not to attend elections and (or) to vote for or against one or another person to be nominated, a candidate or a list of candidates, as well as to promise to reward voters for voting after the elections, having a purpose to affect the will of voters regarding particular political parties or candidates, or persons to be nominated, and thus hinder citizens from implementing their right to vote. 2. Production or distribution free of charge of printed matter (a programme, biography of a political party or candidate, or a person to be nominated, or other leaflets, calendars, postcards, stickers of information character) and pins intended for propagating a political party or a candidate, or a person to be nominated shall not be considered as bribery of voters. 3. The Central Electoral Commission shall, in the manner prescribed by it, examine and evaluate the facts of bribery of voters or persons eligible to vote. The Central Electoral Commission shall announce the established facts of bribery in the Internet together with a pledge of the candidate who has violated this Article to comply with the prohibition to bribe voters and persons eligible to vote. After the recognition of the facts of bribery of voters and persons entitled to vote as a grave violation of this Law, the consequences defined in this Law and other laws shall arise.                Article 5. Direct Elections There shall be no voting by proxy in elections to the European Parliament. Article 6. Secret Ballot 1. Voters shall vote in person and by secret ballot. It shall be prohibited to vote instead of another person or to vote by proxy. A voter, who, because of his physical handicaps or disability, is unable to 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. 2. It shall be prohibited to control the will of the voters during the elections. It shall be 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 shall be prohibited to handle the ballot in such a way that the secret of voting might be disclosed. Article 7. Announcement of the Date of Elections 1. Elections to the European Parliament shall be held in the Republic of Lithuania on a Sunday which falls within the same period when elections to the European Parliament are held in all Member States of the European Union. The date of elections shall be announced by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania not later than 6 months prior to a Sunday falling within the specified period. Article 8. Openness of Preparation and Holding of Elections 1. Public notice about a forthcoming meeting of the electoral committee shall be put on the notice board placed in the premises where the electoral committee has its office, and the members of this electoral committee shall be personally notified about the forthcoming meeting at least 24 hours before the start of the meeting. 2. Meetings and voting of electoral committees shall be open and may be observed by representatives and observers of political parties (hereinafter referred to as “parties”) upon producing certificates of the established form, representatives of the mass media upon presenting their service cards. 3. Persons present in the conference hall of the electoral committee may, from their seats, record, write down in shorthand or take down everything that is said at the meeting, photograph, film or make video recordings. Taking photographs, filming, and video recording which requires walking about the hall or using special lighting equipment, as well as live radio or television broadcasting of meetings shall be subject to the permission of the electoral committee chairman. 4. Electoral committees may not hold closed meetings. 5. The Central Electoral Commission may prohibit anyone from entering the premises for the work of the service staff of the electoral committees, as well as the premises for storage of documents, if it is necessary to ensure undisturbed work of such employees, to protect the stored documents.  6. If there are reasons to believe that during a meeting a threat to the security of an electoral committee or its participants may arise, the chairman of the committee may request the police to check the documents and belongings of the persons entering the conference hall or carry out their personal search.  7. The electoral committee may remove from the conference hall persons who interfere with the work of the committee. Article 9. Expenditure Related to the Preparation and Conduct of Elections Expenditure related to the preparation and holding of elections shall be covered from the state and municipal budgets. The expenditure of electoral committees related to the organisation and conduct of elections and the work of the members of electoral committees and the service staff shall be covered from the state budget. Maintenance of polling stations and the office space of municipal electoral committees and polling district committees, expenditure of fitting-out of polling stations, purchasing and keeping of the equipment of polling stations shall be covered from municipal budgets. If the municipal administration fails to provide adequate premises and supplies for the office of the polling district and the polling station, by the decision of the Central Electoral Commission, state funds shall be used for the rent of adequate premises or fitting-out of the present premises. In such a case, the actual expenses for the polling station and its supplies shall be recovered by the Central Electoral Commission from the municipal administration. CHAPTER II Constituencies and Polling Districts Article 10. Formation of the Constituency For the organisation and conduct of elections, one multi-member constituency shall be established in the Republic of Lithuania, in which all the voters shall cast their votes and all the Lithuanian members of the European Parliament shall be elected. Article 11. Formation of Polling Districts 1. With a view of making it more convenient for voters to reach a polling station and with account of the number of voters, the territories of municipalities shall be divided into polling districts. 2. The division of the territory of a municipality into polling districts is permanent when organising and holding elections and referenda; however, it may be changed, where necessary, by the Central Electoral Commission on the recommendation of the mayor. The Central Electoral Commission shall publish a list of approved polling districts, and changes made therein in the supplement Informaciniai pranešimai to the official gazette Valstybės žinios. 3. No more than 5, 000 voters must reside within the territory of a polling district.  4. The boundaries of a polling district and the address of a polling station shall be changed, where necessary, but no later than 100 days prior to elections. In his recommendation to approve the division of the territory of the municipality into polling districts, the mayor shall specify the proposed name of the polling district, the addresses belonging to the polling district, the number of voters in the polling district, the address and telephone number of the polling station. The recommendation on changes in the division of the municipality into polling districts shall specify the changes it is proposing. Such recommendation must be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission at least 110 days prior to elections. In the event when it is impossible to have polling at the polling stations established earlier, the Central Electoral Commission, on the recommendation of the municipal electoral committee, may change the address of the polling station within a shorter time limit than the one specified in this Article.    CHAPTER III ORGANISATION of Elections Article 12. Electoral Committees 1. Elections to the European Parliament shall be organised and conducted by: 1) the Central Electoral Commission; 2) municipal electoral committees; and 3) polling district committees. 2. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania or a citizen of any other Member State of the European Union, permanently residing in Lithuania, may be nominated to municipal electoral committee and a polling district committee, provided he is eligible to stand in elections as a member of the European Parliament (without taking into consideration the minimum age limit set for a candidate, but who is not younger than 18 years of age on the election day), has university higher education or an equivalent education, or non-university higher education and has not been dismissed, in the course of the last three elections to the Seimas, the office of the President of the Republic, the European Parliament, municipal councils or a referendum from the an electoral or referendum committee due to violations of the Law on Elections to the Seimas, the Law on Presidential Elections, the Law on Elections to the European Parliament, the Law on Elections to Municipal Councils or the Law on the Referendum.           3. The same person cannot concurrently be: a member of the electoral committee and a candidate; a candidate and a representative for elections; a representative for elections and a member of the electoral committee; a candidate and an observer at the elections; a member of the electoral committee and an observer at the elections. If a member of the electoral committee seeks to stand as a candidate, at least 10 days in advance of giving his consent to stand as a candidate, he must hand in a written resignation from the post of a member of the electoral committee. If a member of the electoral committee fails to do so, he shall be dismissed from the electoral committee for the violation of this Law and shall be not registered as a candidate or his name shall be struck off the list of candidates. Article 13. Powers of the Central Electoral Commission in Elections 1. When conducting elections, besides the functions laid down in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Law on the Central Electoral Commission, the Central Electoral Commission shall: 1) accept application documents as well as applications concerning the withdrawal of such documents, examine them, register the candidates for participation in elections, register representatives of the parties for elections and issue certificates to them, make public the parties and the lists of candidates who will participate in the elections, the numbers they have been assigned, and adopt decisions concerning the withdrawal of application documents of the candidates; 2) issue certificates of the European Parliament member to the members of the European Parliament, elected in the Republic of Lithuania, and proclaim the results of the elections to the European Parliament. Article 14.  Formation of Municipal Electoral Committees 1. The Central Electoral Commission shall for the period of elections form municipal electoral committees no later than 74 days in advance of the elections. 2. Municipal electoral committees shall be composed of: 1) a person nominated by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, having a university law degree, who resides or works in the territory of that municipality;  2) a person nominated by the Lithuanian Lawyers’ Association, having a university law degree, who resides or works in the territory of that municipality; 3) a career public servant employed in the administration of that municipality, nominated by the director of the administration of the said municipality;               4) persons nominated by the parties which during the last elections to the Seimas have received the mandates of the Seimas members in the multi-member constituency of the elections to the Seimas. 3. The Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers' Society or the director of the municipal administration may nominate more candidates for members of the committee. 4. Parties which have received the mandates of the Seimas members in the last elections to the Seimas according to the list (joint list) of candidates shall each have the right to nominate one representative to each municipal electoral committee from the list of nominated candidates (joint list). If the representatives satisfy the requirements of this Law, the Central Electoral Commission may not turn down the said candidacies. If candidates have not been nominated, the Central Electoral Commission may determine a smaller number of members of the municipal electoral committee or may, instead of them, additionally appoint as members of the committee the persons nominated by the Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers' Society or the director of the municipal administration. 5. In all cases, no less than 3 committee members must be persons who have been appointed to municipal electoral committees from among the candidates nominated by the Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers' Society or the director of the municipal administration. If the number of such persons is less, additional members to the committee shall be appointed from among the candidates nominated by the Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers' Society or the director of the municipal council. 6. If elections to the European Parliament or elections to the Seimas, or elections of the President of the Republic, or elections to a municipal council, or a referendum are concurrently held on the same day, the same polling district committees or referendum committees shall be formed. The Central Electoral Commission shall decide which committee will be formed in a separate electoral, referendum territory (in a municipality or a electoral constituency), and shall form a single - municipal, constituency or referendum – committee, and shall define its functions in organising and conducting other elections or a referendum. 7. The Central Electoral Commission shall appoint the chairman of a municipal electoral committee. A person who has got work experience as the chairman or the member of the Central Electoral Commission or a municipal electoral committee, or constituency electoral committee, or work experience as the chairman of a polling district committee shall be appointed as the chairman of the municipal electoral committee. 8. During its first meeting, the municipal electoral committee shall elect the deputy chairman and the secretary of the committee. Article 15.  Powers of the Municipal Electoral Committee The municipal electoral committee shall: 1) inform, in the manner established by the Central Electoral Commission, the voters who reside in the territory of the municipality about the boundaries of  the polling  districts,  their offices, their working hours and polling stations; 2) supervise the implementation of this Law in the territory of the municipality; 3) form polling district committees; 4) distribute the funds allocated for the election among the polling district committees, control how these funds are used and report to the Central Electoral Commission about the funds used for the election; 5) register election observers and issue certificates to them; 6) make up a list of healthcare (with the exception of outpatient healthcare), social care and guardianship institutions, military units, arrest houses, remand prisons (detention facilities) and penal institutions situated in the territory of the municipality, in which special post offices will be open, and together with the heads of these institutions and the head of the post office make arrangements to organise voting by post in those institutions, and to create conditions for the voters who are in those institutions to vote by post; 7) draw  up the vote counting  record of  the municipality, establish voting results and transfer them for approval to the Central Electoral Commission; 8) consider complaints against decisions and actions of the committees of polling districts and take decisions; 9) in a manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Commission, collect, describe and store data on political advertising disseminated publicly within the territory of a municipality during the election campaign and submit such data to the Central Electoral Commission; 10) exercise other powers provided for in this Law. Article 16.  Formation of the Committees of Polling Districts 1. No later than 65 days prior to the elections, the municipal electoral committee shall determine the number of the members of each polling district committee that must be a multiple of the number of the parties, which have the right to nominate candidates to electoral committees. At least 5 members must comprise a committee of a polling district. If the number of the candidates nominated by the parties is insufficient or if there is a vacancy in the committee and the party does not nominate a candidate, the director of the administration of the municipality in the territory whereof the polling district is formed may nominate the needed candidates, upon the request of the municipal electoral committee. 2. An equal number of candidates to the polling district committees may be nominated by: 1) each party or a coalition of the parties which, during the last elections to the Seimas, received mandates of the Seimas members in the multi-member constituency. If a party received mandates of the Seimas members while in a coalition, the candidates may be nominated together with the parties in this coalition; 2) a party or a coalition of parties which during the last election to the municipal council received mandates of the municipal councillors. If a party received mandates of the municipal councillors while in a coalition, the candidates may be nominated together with the parties in this coalition; 3. If a party may nominate candidates in accordance with the results of both the elections to the Seimas and the elections to the municipal council, it shall nominate its candidates only according to the results of one of said elections, whichever it chooses. If one of the parties which took part in an election coalition fails to nominate candidates or refuses to nominate them, or if it chooses to nominate candidates according to the results of the elections other than those when the coalition was formed, the other parties in this coalition have the right to nominate candidates without the participation of said party. 4. A party shall submit its list of candidates for the members of the polling district committees to the municipal electoral committee no later than 48 days prior to the elections. 5. Polling district committees for the period of the elections shall be formed by municipal electoral committees no later than 45 days before the elections. If the candidate nominated by the party meets the requirements of this Law the municipal electoral committee may not turn him down. 6. If no candidates have been nominated or the nominated candidates do not meet the requirements of this Law, or if they have been nominated after the expiration of the prescribed time limit, municipal electoral committees may reduce the number of members of the polling district committee established earlier or may ask the director of the municipal administration to nominate the lacking number of candidates. The candidates nominated by the director of the municipal administration may not be party members or become party members until the expiration of the term of office of an electoral committee member. If during a meeting of a municipal electoral committee which appoints a member of the polling district committee nominated by the director of the municipal administration no less than three members of the municipal electoral committee object to the appointment of the candidate, this candidate may not be appointed a member of the committee. 7. Municipal electoral committees shall appoint chairmen of the polling district committees. A person who has got work experience as the chairman or the member of an electoral committee, or a person who has university higher education or an equivalent education, or non-university higher education shall be appointed as the chairman of a polling district committee. 8. During its first meeting the polling district committee shall elect the deputy chairman and the secretary of the committee. Article 17. Powers of the Polling district committee The polling district committee shall: 1) receive electoral rolls of the polling district from the municipal electoral committee, provide conditions for electors, representatives for elections to familiarise themselves with the said rolls, inform the voters who have the right to vote by post at home about such right, draw up an electoral roll who will vote by post at home, inform the municipal electoral committee about inaccuracies noticed in the electoral roll of a polling district, the persons who have refused to declare, have not declared whether they meet the requirements of Article 3 of this Law; 2) investigate complaints about the errors made in electoral rolls of the polling district; 3) in the manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Commission, monitor voting by post conducted in the territory of a polling district, ensure that conditions for voting by post are provided in all health care (with the exception of outpatient healthcare), social care and guardianship institutions, military units, arrest houses, remand prisons (detention facilities) and penal institutions situated in the territory of the polling district, as well as organise voting by post and early voting; 4) together with a representative of the municipal council make arrangements in accordance with the requirements set forth in this Law about a timely preparation of the polling station, voting booths and ballot boxes; 5) organise voting in the polling district on the election day; 6) count votes and draw up the vote counting record of the polling district; 7) consider the complaints of the voters and observers of their polling district on issues concerning preparation of the elections, organisation of voting, vote counting, drawing up a vote counting record, and adopt decisions related to them; and 8) exercise other powers provided for in this Law. Article 18. Written Pledge of Electoral Committee Members 1. A member of an electoral committee, its chairman shall take office upon having given a written pledge. 2. The Central Electoral Commission shall establish the procedure for giving a written pledge by the members, chairmen of the municipal electoral committees and the polling district committees. A person who gives a written pledge shall have the right to choose one of the texts of a written pledge, set forth in this paragraph of the present Article, to give a written pledge in compliance with it. The texts of the written pledge of a member and the Chairman of the electoral committee shall read as follows: 1) “I, (first name, name), swear to be faithful to the Republic of Lithuania, observe its Constitution and laws, in good faith and conscientiously perform my duties in the electoral committee and refrain from actions violating laws and the human rights. So help me God.”; 2) “I, (first name, name), swear to be faithful to the Republic of Lithuania, observe its Constitution and laws, in good faith and conscientiously perform my duties in the electoral committee and refrain from actions violating laws and the human rights.” 3. The person who has given the written pledge shall sign the text of the written pledge. The text of the written pledge may not be changed. The written pledge shall be effective for the whole duration of the appointment to work in the electoral committee. 4. The written pledges of the members and chairmen of the electoral committees shall remain in the custody of the electoral committees which have appointed them. 5. When appointing an electoral committee member, the electoral committee shall fix the date by which he must give a written pledge. The person who has not given a written pledge for more than 15 days after his appointment, may not begin performing his duties in the electoral committee, and the decision concerning his appointment must be repealed. The committee which has appointed the said person shall adopt a decision to this effect.    Article 19. Organisation of the Work of Electoral Committees 1. Meetings of electoral committees shall be valid provided that at least three-fifths of the members of the committee are in attendance. Decisions of the committees shall be adopted by open vote of the majority of the committee members participating at the meeting. In the event of a tie vote, the committee chairman shall have the casting vote. Committee members who do not agree with the decision shall have the right to give a separate opinion in writing, which shall then be appended to the minutes of the meeting and shall be its integral part. 2. After the close of elections, the powers of the chairmen and members of municipal electoral committees and polling district committees shall be suspended.  The decision to suspend the powers shall be adopted by the electoral committee which appointed the committee members, provided this committee and its chairman have fulfilled all the tasks assigned to him under law. 3. The chairman or a member of an electoral committee who have given a written pledge shall be prohibited from any form of campaigning or to influence the voters' will in any other way. Individuals who violate this requirement, the written pledge of a member of the electoral committee must be dismissed from the committee and may be held liable in the manner established by law. Article 20. Appeals against Decisions of Electoral Committees Adopted before Closing of the Polls 1. A party which has nominated candidates, a candidate, a representative for elections, and an election observer may appeal the decision of the electoral committee which was adopted before closing of the polls or against any other act of the committee: 1) an appeal against a decision of the polling district committee shall be lodged with the municipal electoral committee; 2) an appeal against a decision of the municipal electoral committee shall be lodged with the Central Electoral Commission; 3) an appeal against the Central Electoral Commission’s decision shall be lodged with the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania. 2. A voter, a representative for elections or a representative of a public organisation, who does not agree with the decision of the polling district committee which has been adopted in reply to his appeal about the errors made in the electoral roll which did not let him exercise his right to vote (he has been incorrectly entered on the electoral roll or his name has been removed from the electoral roll or when the data in the roll about the voter has been inaccurate), may lodge an appeal against the decision of the polling district committee to the administrative court of an appropriate county. 3. Decisions of the Central Electoral Commission or its other acts may be appealed to the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania within 5 days after adoption of a decision but no later than before the closing of the polls. Appeals must be investigated within 48 hours of lodging them. Days off shall also be included in this period. The Court’s decision shall become effective from its pronouncement. 4. Appeals lodged not in the manner established by this Article shall not be examined and shall be forwarded to the electoral committee, which must examine them. The polling district committee, the municipal electoral committee may not forward to the Central Electoral Commission appeals for investigation which fall within their respective competence and have not been investigated. Article 21. Assistance for Electoral Committees 1. State and municipal institutions, enterprises, agencies, their officers must assist electoral committees in exercising their powers and must furnish all necessary information to them. 2. State and municipal institutions, enterprises, agencies, their officers must consider, within 3 days, requests submitted to them by electoral committees and give the electoral committees reasoned responses. 3. Electoral committees may recruit a proper number of staff for additional work. The Government shall, on the recommendation of the Central Electoral Commission, approve the procedure for paying the recruited staff for work and the amount of such payment. 4. State and municipal institutions and agencies, their officers and staff, enterprises and their employees must provide to electoral committees adequate premises and equipment for the organisation and conduct of elections. Article 22. Remuneration of Members of Municipal Electoral Committees and Polling district committees 1. For their work in electoral committees, the chairmen, their deputies, secretaries and members of electoral committees of municipalities and polling districts shall be remunerated at the rates submitted by the Central Electoral Commission and approved by the Government. 2. The procedure for imposing incentive measures to the chairmen, their deputies and members of the electoral committees of municipalities and polling districts shall be approved by the Government on the recommendation of the Central Electoral Commission. Article 23.  Changing of the Composition of Municipal Electoral Committees and Polling district committees 1. The chairman or a member of a municipal electoral committee, a polling district committee may be removed from his office in the committee by the municipal electoral committee which appointed him to this office, or the Central Electoral Commission. 2. The Central Electoral Commission, the municipal electoral committee may consider only a reasoned proposal of a party or a coalition to recall a member of the electoral committee whom it has nominated. 3. A new chairman or a member of the municipal electoral committee, the polling district committee may be appointed, as necessary, in accordance with the procedure established by this Law, even after the expiration of the time period specified in paragraph 1 of Article 14, and paragraph 5 of Article 16. CHAPTER IV ELECTORAL ROLLS and VOTER CERTIFICATES Article 24. Electoral Rolls 1. For the organisation and conduct of elections to the European Parliament, the following electoral rolls shall be compiled: 1) the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania; 2) municipality electoral rolls; and 3) polling district electoral rolls. 2. Electoral rolls shall be drawn up two times - preliminary and final. These rolls may be used only for the organisation and conduct of elections. 3. The procedure of drawing up electoral rolls must be such that every person who is eligible to vote is entered on electoral rolls. No one may be entered on an electoral roll more than once. 4. Repealed 5. The electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania and municipality electoral rolls  which are compiled and kept by the keeper of the population register or any other competent authority, shall, upon the instruction of the Central Electoral Commission, be drawn up in the electronic information media. Electoral rolls of polling districts shall be held in electronic information media and printed as a preliminary electoral roll of a polling district, one copy of which is used for the issuing of voter certificates, and the other copy for the voter to familiarise themselves with.  The printed final electoral roll of a polling district shall be used for voting on the election day. Together with the final electoral roll of a polling district, its annexes are printed in which the changes made in this electoral roll are indicated. The procedure and form of drawing-up of electoral rolls, the method of drawing up and the manner of their use shall be determined by the Central Electoral Commission. The following data shall be used when drawing up electoral rolls: 1) in the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania: name, surname, personal number, date of birth, home Member State, number of the personal document confirming the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania or any other Member State of the European Union, data of the document confirming the time period during which a citizen of any other Member State of the European Union resided in the Republic of Lithuania, earlier place of person’s residence in any other Member State of the European Union or the home Member State, the address of the declared place of residence and the grounds for and the date of the entry of the said address into the Population Register of the Republic of Lithuania; 2) in the municipality electoral roll: name, surname, personal number, date of birth, the address of the declared place of residence and the grounds for and the date of the entry into the Population Register of the Republic of Lithuania; 3) in the polling district electoral roll: name, surname and the address of the place of residence. The addresses of the voters who have refused to consent that their addresses of the place of residence would be announced in the polling district electoral roll, shall be indicated in the annex to the printed polling district electoral roll, and in the voter certificate.    6. Each voter shall have the right to refuse to consent that the address of his place of residence would be publicly announced in the printed electoral roll of a polling district. The Central Electoral Commission shall, in conjunction with the keeper of the population register, create conditions for a voter to exercise his right not to consent that the address of his place of residence would be announced in the printed electoral roll of a polling district. Article 25. General Procedure for Entering Citizens on the Electoral Roll of the Republic of Lithuania 1. All citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and the citizens of other Member States of the European Union, specified in paragraph 1 of Article 3 of this Law, who are eligible to vote shall be entered on the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania according to the data of issuance of the document (a passport or an identity card) certifying citizenship and according to the population register of the Republic of Lithuania. State and municipal institutions and establishments which issue documents certifying citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania, manage the data on declaration of persons’ place of residence, register death of citizens and loss of the citizenship shall be also responsible for a timely and proper updating of the population register of the Republic of Lithuania. Electoral rolls compiled according to the data of the population register of the Republic of Lithuania shall be preliminary. 2. Drawing up, updating and keeping of electoral rolls shall be organised by the Central Electoral Commission on the basis of the information furnished by State and municipal institutions and polling district committees. 3. The following persons shall be removed from the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania: 1) a diseased citizen of the Republic of Lithuania or any other citizen of a Member State of the European Union, who permanently resided in Lithuania; 2) a person who has lost the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania and does not have the citizenship of any other Member State of the European Union; 3) a citizen who permanently resides in Lithuania but who has lost the citizenship of a Member State of the European Union; 4) a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who has confirmed that he will make use (or has made use) of the right to vote when electing the European Parliament for another member State of the European Union at these elections to the European Parliament, or a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who on reasonable grounds (a notification has been received about his entry on the electoral roll or candidate list of another Member State of the European Union, he permanently resides in any other Member State of the European Union, etc.) is held that he will make use (or have made use) of the right to vote in these elections to the European Parliament, when electing the European Parliament for another Member State of the European Union, and who refuses to confirm or has not confirmed that he will make use of the right to vote when electing the European Parliament only for the Republic of Lithuania; 5) a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, permanently residing in Lithuania, who has refused to declare or has not declared that he will make use of the right to vote in these elections to the European Parliament, when electing the European Parliament only for the Republic of Lithuania, or that he has not been deprived of the right to vote in his home Member State; 6) a person who has been declared legally incompetent by the court. 4. The Central Electoral Commission shall establish the form of and procedure for presenting the information about the implementation of the requirements laid down in subparagraphs 4 and 5 of paragraph 3 of this Article.  5. At least 7 days in advance of the elections, updated preliminary electoral rolls acknowledged in the manner established by the Central Electoral Commission shall be approved as final electoral rolls. Changes in final electoral rolls may be made (because of the voter’s death, voting abroad, measures pertaining to the avoidance of double voting, upon the change of the voter’s address after the drawing-up of a roll, etc.) only in the manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Commission through the institution authorised to keep electoral rolls. A change in the final electoral roll shall be made upon the receipt of the consent of the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission or a member (members) of the Committee, authorised by him, regarding the changes in the electoral roll. The members of the Central Electoral Commission shall be immediately informed about the number of the changes in the final electoral roll. 6. In order to avoid double voting, the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Lithuania shall maintain relations with the institutions of other Member States of the European Union, holding elections to the European Parliament, and notify them about the entry or removal of the citizens of their States from the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania, and about the striking-off of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who will vote in any other Member State of the European Union, from the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 26. Electoral Rolls of Municipalities, and of Voters Residing Abroad 1. The electoral roll of a municipality shall be drawn up in the electronic information media by the Central Electoral Commission according to the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania and the place of residence of a voter indicated therein, and shall be delivered to the municipal electoral committee at least 39 days before the elections. 2. Rolls of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania residing abroad shall be drawn up in accordance with the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania and the information supplied by the diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Republic of Lithuania. The persons entered on such rolls shall be requested to confirm that in these elections to the European Parliament they will elect only for the Republic of Lithuania. Such confirmation shall not be requested from the voters who vote in the State other than a Member State of the European Union. Rolls of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, residing abroad, shall be revised by the diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Republic of Lithuania. 3. A roll of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania whose place of residence is unknown shall be compiled besides the rolls specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. Article 27. Electoral Rolls of Polling Districts The electoral roll of a polling district shall be drawn up by the municipal electoral committee according to the electoral roll of the municipality and the place of voter’s residence indicated therein, and shall be delivered in the printed form to the polling district committee at least 26 days prior to the elections. A roll of citizens who have not declared their place of residence shall be drawn up according to the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania and the last known address of the place of citizen’s residence or the address indicated in the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania of the last elections or referendum.  Voters - ship crew members and passengers who are unable to return to Lithuania during the period of voting by post or on the election day, shall, according to the procedure established by the Central Electoral Commission, be entered on the electoral roll of the polling district in the territory where the administration of the ship’s registration harbour is located. Article 28. Public Announcement of Electoral Rolls and Access to Electoral Rolls 1. At least 25 days before the elections, a polling district committee, a diplomatic mission shall provide conditions for the voters to have access to electoral rolls of the polling district. Only the data which concern a particular voter and which are contained in the annexes to the electoral roll of the polling district shall be provided to such voter. It shall be prohibited to make copies of the electoral rolls of the polling districts or to copy or disseminate such rolls in any other way. The business hours of electoral committee members as well as the telephone numbers for electors to make inquiries about whether they are entered on the electoral roll must be on display at the entrance to the premises of the electoral committee. Following expiration of the time period for delivering voters’ certificates, as prescribed by this Law, the business hours of the polling district committee, its telephones must be on display in stairwell entrances of apartment houses. The time and place for the voters to exercise their right to have access to electoral rolls shall be on display in a diplomatic mission, at the entrance to the premises of the polling district committee. 2. The electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania and electoral rolls of municipalities shall not be announced publicly, however, the information about the entry of a voter on the electoral roll may be provided to the voter by telephone. Article 29. Voter Certificate 1. A voter certificate shall be a document issued by an electoral committee specifying the polling district on the electoral roll of which a voter is entered. Voter certificates signed by the chairman of the electoral committee shall be delivered in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission. A voter himself, or at his request – any other person, may print his voter certificate in accordance with the data of the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania received electronically pursuant to the procedure established by the Central Electoral Commission. In this case, the voter himself shall sign his voter certificate, except for the cases when because of the physical handicaps or disability he himself cannot sign it and the certificate is signed by another person chosen by the voter, indicating his name, surname and personal number. One may not vote without a voter certificate (duplicate), except for voting aboard the ship. 2. A voter certificate shall contain: 1) the voter’s name and surname; 2) the voter’s  birth date (year, month, day); 3)the voter’s address of the place of residence;         4) the municipality in which the voter shall vote; 5) the name, number of the polling  district on the electoral roll whereof the name of the voter has been entered, as well as the address of the polling station; 6) the number of the voter in the electoral roll of a polling district; 7) other information relevant for the voter. 3. The voter certificate may indicate that this particular voter must declare he meets the requirements laid down in Article 3 of this Law. 4. If a voter requests to issue a duplicate of a voter certificate in place of the lost one or of a voter certificate he has not received, a duplicate must be issued to the voter immediately right after the establishment of the data on the voter which must be entered in the certificate. Article 30. Delivery of the Voter Certificate 1. The delivery of voter certificates to voters shall be organised by the Central Electoral Commission. The Central Electoral Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the legal acts regulating public procurement, in negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, purchase services of a service provider authorised to deliver voter certificates. If the procurement of a public service fails or is terminated, or suspended, or the public contract is terminated because of the improper execution, or other unforeseen circumstances occur, the Central Electoral Commission shall authorize municipal and polling district committees to deliver voter certificates. 2. Articles 66, 69, 70 and 71 of this Law shall lay down the procedure for delivering voter certificates to voters who are in healthcare institutions (except outpatient healthcare institutions), social care and guardianship institutions, military units, arrest houses, remand prisons (detention facilities) and penal institutions, as well as to those gone abroad. 3. A voter certificate shall be delivered to a citizen of any other Member State of the European Union only after such person confirms (declares) in writing that in these elections to the European Parliament he will make use of the right to vote when electing the European Parliament only for Lithuania, and that in his home Member State he has the right to vote. 4. A voter certificate shall be either delivered to the voter personally or to another person who lives together with the voter and undertakes to deliver the voter certificate to the voter. The delivery of voter certificates to voters must be finished at least 20 days before the election. If an election either to the Seimas or to the office of the President of the Republic, or to municipal councils, or a referendum is announced during the same period, or the run-off voting is being held, a single voter certificate shall be delivered. 5. The voter who has not received a voter certificate in due time or who has received a voter certificate with incorrect data, must forthwith inform the polling district committee in the territory of which he resides, and to produce his passport or other document confirming his identity to the electoral committee. If the voter is entered on the electoral roll of this polling district, the polling district committee must write out a new voter certificate for the voter and issue it to him immediately.  If the voter is not entered on the electoral roll of this polling district, but the address of his residence according to the data of the population register falls within the territory of this polling district or if the voter produces other evidence testifying that he resides within the territory of this polling district, the polling district committee shall ask him to fill out an application form established by the Central Electoral Commission for entering the voter on the electoral roll of this polling district (or this application form may be filled out by a member of the polling district committee). The polling district committee shall forthwith notify about it the municipal electoral committee, which must cause to have the voter entered on the basis of this application on the electoral roll of that polling district. The voter certificate shall be issued and delivered to the voter following the updating of the electoral rolls. 6. A municipal electoral committee may, in the manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Commission, issue a voter’s certificate to a voter who is entered on the electoral roll of another municipality, if the said voter cannot return to his permanent place of residence to collect a voter certificate or to obtain it in some other manner. The voter must apply for this in writing.    Article 31. Updating of Electoral Rolls before Drawing up Final Electoral Rolls 1. Preliminary electoral rolls shall be updated when transferring a voter from one electoral roll of a municipality or a polling district into another, when removing a voter from or entering him on the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania. 2. A voter shall be transferred from one electoral roll into another if it transpires that the address of his place of residence in the preliminary roll is incorrect or it has changed after said roll was drawn up. 3. Transferring of a voter from the electoral roll of one polling district into another in the same municipality shall be the responsibility of the municipal electoral committee which shall notify the Central Electoral Commission about these changes made in the electoral rolls of the polling districts. Transferring of a voter from the electoral roll of one municipality into another shall be made by the Central Electoral Commission, on the recommendation of the electoral committee, or an institution authorised by it for this; the Central Electoral Commission shall notify municipal electoral committees about the changes made. A voter may be entered on or removed from the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania only by the Central Electoral Commission in the cases specified in Article 25 of this Law, and by municipal electoral committees in the cases specified in paragraphs 3 and 5 of Article 25 of this Law. Article 32. Entry of Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who are Staying Abroad on Electoral Rolls                         1. Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who are staying in other states shall be entered on the electoral roll of the municipality of the city of Vilnius. 2. A diplomatic mission and a consular post of the Republic of Lithuania shall, at least 15 days before the elections, submit to the Central Electoral Commission the electoral roll drawn up in the diplomatic mission, as well as the information about its updating. Added to this roll may be the voters who, during the period of voting by post or on the election day, are not able to return to Lithuania and are voting in the diplomatic mission or the consular post. Article 33. Entering on Electoral Rolls of Voters who are in Military Units, on Ships, in Arrest Houses, Remand Prisons (Detention Facilities) and Penal Institutions 1. Voters performing the mandatory military service shall be entered on the electoral rolls of that polling district on the territory of which they permanently resided before they were summoned for the mandatory military service. 2. Voters performing the active military service, civil service or working under the employment contract in international military operations abroad shall be entered on the electoral rolls of that polling district on the territory of which they declared their place of residence. 3. The voters who are aboard a ship and who will be unable to return to Lithuania during the period of voting by post or to be present on the election day, shall be entered on the additional electoral roll of that polling district on the electoral roll of which the ship’s crew is entered. 4. Voters who are in arrest houses, remand prisons (detention facilities) or penal institutions shall be entered on the electoral rolls of that polling district on the territory of which they have declared their place of residence. If such a person has not declared a place of residence and upon his written request, he shall be entered on the electoral roll of that polling district on the territory of which the penal institution, arrest house or remand prison (detention facility) is situated. A person who declared his place of residence before he has been put into a penal institution, arrest house or remand prison (detention facility), may not be entered on the electoral roll of that polling district on the territory of which the penal institution, arrest house or remand prison (detention facility) is situated. Article 34. Updating Electoral Ro …