9.It shall be prohibited to exert influence on the determination of a voter who votes at home or to hasten his voting. Committee members and observers shall be prohibited from carrying out the actions for a voter, referred to in paragraphs 6 and 7 of Article 65 of this Law, as well as from accepting an unsealed outer envelope from a voter. Voters shall be prohibited from taking out ballot papers or giving them to another persons.
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Article 66Polls in Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts of the Republic of Lithuania
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1.Voters who have gone to foreign states shall have the right to vote in diplomatic missions or consular posts of the Republic of Lithuania during their business hours. Not less than 4 hours shall be allotted for voting during a working day of these institutions. Polls shall close on election day at the Republic of Lithuania time.
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2.Voting documents to voters who have informed a diplomatic mission or consular post about the address of their place of residence shall be handed in or at their request delivered by post and accepted by voting commissions set up by these institutions.
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3.Voters who have come for voting to a diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Lithuania shall be prohibited from taking out the election documents or giving them to another persons.
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Article 67Polls held on a Ship
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1.Voters (ship’s crew and passengers) who are aboard a ship, if they left from a port of the Republic of Lithuania not later than 4 days prior to an election day and have not returned until the election day, or in the presence of other circumstances because of which they cannot vote in their polling district, by post, in a diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Lithuania, shall have the right to vote on the ship.
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2.On the recommendation of the Minister of Transport and Communications, the Central Electoral Commission shall draw up a list of ships sailing under the flag of the State of Lithuania, on which there are no less than 5 crew members - voters, voting is organised and with which the radio communication is maintained during the voting. On the recommendation of the Minister of Transport and Communications, the Central Electoral Commission shall fix such time for voting on the ship that each voter who is aboard the ship is given the opportunity to vote.
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3.Voter certificates shall not be issued to the voters voting on ships.
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Article 68Organisation of Polls in Diplomatic Missions, Consular Posts and on Ships of the Republic of Lithuania
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1.Voting commissions shall be set up in diplomatic missions, consular posts and on ships of the Republic of Lithuania in order to organise voting and count the votes cast.
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2.Voting commissions shall consist of chairman and at least two members. They shall be set up in a diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Lithuania by its head from the employees of the diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Lithuania, or from other citizens of the Republic of Lithuania residing in a foreign state. The procedure for giving written pledges by commission members shall be laid down by the Central Electoral Commission.
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3.Voting commissions on ships shall be set up by ship captains – citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, taking into account the decision of a meeting of the ship’s crew – citizens of the Republic of Lithuania.
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4.The procedure for voting, vote counting and submitting of records to the Central Electoral Commission, as well as the procedure for handing certificates of election observers shall be laid down by the Central Electoral Commission.
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5.On the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Central Electoral Commission shall draw up a list of diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Republic of Lithuania in which voting shall be conducted and shall set voting days (no less than 10) for each diplomatic mission or consular post.
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6.In diplomatic missions, consular posts of the Republic of Lithuania their heads and on ship their captains – citizens of the Republic of Lithuania shall be responsible for organizing voting, submitting to the Central Electoral Commission the records and other documents defined by it.
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7.Voting shall not be organised on the ships on which there are no conditions to organize voting pursuant to the requirements of this Law.
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Article 69Polls in Healthcare Facilities and Institutions of Social Guardianship and Care
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1.Voters who because of their health condition or age are in healthcare (except outpatient healthcare) facilities, institutions of social guardianship and care shall be entitled to vote in such institutions.
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2.A municipal electoral committee shall, not later than 15 days prior to an election day and upon the recommendation of the heads of the institutions specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, draw up a list of special post offices and, upon the recommendation of the head of the post office, set such working hours of the post offices that the days of voting in them would be in compliance with paragraph 1 of Article 65 of this Law.
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3.The heads of the institutions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall draw up a list of voters voting in a special office. The following must be indicated in such list: voter’s name and surname, personal number, municipal electoral committee (name and number), whether or not a voter has a voter certificate. The head of the institution shall transfer a list of voters voting in a special post office to a municipal electoral committee, receive voter certificates from it or print them according to the date received via means of electronic communication and ensure the delivery of the certificates to voters, allot the premises appropriate for voting, and be responsible that the voters would be notified about the working place and time of a special post office, and that the conditions would be created for voters to reach it.
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4.Voters who are able to move shall vote themselves in accordance with the procedure set forth in paragraphs 6 and 7 of Article 65 of this Law. Voters who are unable to move shall be visited by at least 2 polling district committee members, election observers (should they wish so) and employees of special post offices.
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5.If because of the physical disability voters are unable to vote themselves, they may entrust other persons to vote for them. These persons must mark the ballot papers in the presence of the voter according to his instructions and preserve the secrecy of voting.
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6.Committee members, employees of a special post office and election observers shall be prohibited from carrying out the actions related to voting, as well as from accepting from the voter an outer envelope which is not sealed.
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7.It shall be prohibited to exert influence upon a voter, his self-determination or to rush him to vote.
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Article 70Polls in Military Units
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1.Voters performing mandatory military shall be entitled to vote in the military units where they serve. Voters who perform active military service, civil service or work under the employment contract in international military operations abroad, shall be entitled to vote in military units stationed abroad, which participate in those international military operations. The procedure for voting in military units stationed abroad shall be laid down by the Central Electoral Commission on the recommendation of the Minister of National Defence.
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2.A municipal electoral committee shall, not later than 15 days prior to an election day and upon the recommendation of the commanders of military units stationed in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, draw up a list of special post offices and, upon the recommendation of the head of the post office, set such working hours of the post offices that the days of voting in them would be in compliance with paragraph 1 of Article 65 of this Law.
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3.The commanders of military units shall draw up a list of voters voting in a special office. The following must be indicated in such a list: voter’s name and surname, personal number, municipal electoral committee (name and number), whether or not a voter has a voter certificate. The commander of a military unit shall transfer a list of voters voting in a special post office to a municipal electoral committee, receive voter certificates from it or print them according to the date received via means of electronic communication and ensure the delivery of the certificates to voters, allot the premises appropriate for voting, and be responsible that the voters would be notified about the working place and time of a special post office, and that the conditions would be created for voters to reach it. In it is impossible to set a special post office or to ensure that voters will be able to properly carry out actions related to voting, the commanders of military units (with the exception of the commanders of military units stationed abroad) shall create conditions for voters to go to a special post office for voting or on the election day to travel to a polling district on the electoral roll of which they have been entered.
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4.The provisions of Article 65 of this Law shall apply to voting in military units.
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5.It shall be prohibited to exert influence upon self-determination of a voter voting in a military unit or to rush him to vote.
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Article 71Polls in Penal Institutions
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1.Voters who serve arrest or imprisonment sentence shall be entitled to vote in an institution they serve a sentence.
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2.A municipal electoral committee shall, not later than 15 days prior to an election day and upon the recommendation of the heads of penal institutions, draw up a list of special post offices and, upon the recommendation of the head of the post office, set such working hours of the post offices that the voting days in them would be in compliance with paragraph 1 of Article 65 of this Law.
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3.The heads of penal institutions shall draw up a list of voters voting in a special office. The following must be indicated in such list: voter’s name and surname, personal number, municipal electoral committee (name and number), whether or not a voter has a voter certificate. The head of a penal institution shall transfer a list of voters voting in a special post office to a municipal electoral committee, receive voter certificates from it or print them according to the date received via means of electronic communication and ensure the delivery of the certificates to voters, allot the premises appropriate for voting, and be responsible that the voters would be notified about the working place and time of a special post office, and that the conditions would be created for voters to reach it.
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4.The provisions of Article 65 of this Law shall apply to voting in penal institutions.
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5.The provisions of this Article and Article 65 of this Law shall apply to voting in arrest houses, remand prisons (detention facilities).
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6.It shall be prohibited to exert influence on self-determination of a voter voting in an arrest house, remand prison (detention facilities) or penal institution, or to rush him to vote.
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CHAPTER X
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COUNTING OF VOTES
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Article 72Counting of Voting Envelopes and Ballot Papers
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1.The procedure for counting voting envelopes and ballot papers in the Republic of Lithuania shall be laid down and this accounting shall be administered by the Central Electoral Commission.
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2.Accounting of voucher envelopes and ballot papers for voting by post, their issuing and acceptance when voting shall be managed by the heads of the appropriate post offices. They shall indicate accounting data in a journal specially designated for this purpose. Accounting of voucher envelopes and ballot papers used when voting in military units stationed abroad, their issuing and acceptance shall be managed by the commanders of those military units. They shall transfer to the Central Electoral Commission the accounting data on election documents, unused voucher envelopes, ballot papers and voucher envelopes with ballot papers filled in by voters. The Central Electoral Commission shall, not later than until an election day, transfer the received voucher envelopes with ballot papers filled in by voters to a polling district committee on the electoral roll of which a voter has been entered.
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3.The post office head shall deliver unused voucher envelopes and ballot papers to the municipal electoral committee one day prior to an election day.
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4.The head of a post office shall deliver voucher envelopes containing ballot papers marked by voters to polling district committees on the election day, but not later than 2 hours before the closing of the polls.
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5.Outer envelopes, unused and damaged ballot papers of voters who voted on the Thursday preceding an election day, shall be transferred to a municipal electoral committee by the members of the electoral committees who went to the homes of the voters pursuant to the provisions of Article 651 of this Law. The municipal electoral committee shall not alter than on the Friday preceding an election day transfer outer envelopes to a post office.
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6.Outer envelopes, unused and damaged ballot papers of voters who voted on the Friday or Saturday preceding an election day, shall be transferred to the chairman of a polling district committee before 9 pm of the same day. Having checked the received election papers, the polling district committee shall decide whether or not voting at home has met the requirements of this Law.
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7.Outer envelopes shall be kept together with ballot papers.
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8.Before starting to count the votes, outer envelopes of voters who voted by post shall be put together with outer envelopes of voters who voted at home, mixed and counted together according to Article 76 of this Law and in the same manner as the votes received by post.
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Article 73Organisation of Work of a polling district committee Concerning Vote Counting
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1.The chairman of the polling district committee shall organise and direct vote counting in the committee. His instructions when counting votes shall be mandatory and all persons present in the polling station must adhere to them. He must ensure that votes would be counted in accordance with the established procedure and shall have the right to warn any person present in the polling station if he hinders the committee in its work or does not perform his duties properly. The committee chairman shall publicly announce such a decision. The decision shall be entered into the vote counting record of the polling district, and shall be signed by the committee chairman. The decision must be enforced without delay, and if necessary, the electoral committee may consider it only after the vote counting record has been signed.
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2.The data which are entered into the record must be publicly announced in such a manner that all the persons participating in vote counting would hear them. If the validity of the ballot paper or the meaning of the marks in it raises doubts, the committee chairman shall present it to the committee members and shall announce voting concerning its evaluation (if there are several such ballot papers, he shall produce them one by one). The results of this voting shall be entered on the empty side of the ballot paper.
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Article 74Keeping of Records of Ballot Papers in Polling Stations
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1.Upon closing the polling station, the chairman of the polling district committee, in the presence of at least 3/5 of the members of the electoral committee, shall seal and stamp the ballot box slot.
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2.Unused ballot papers shall be individually collected from each member of the polling district committee, shall be counted publicly, the number of them shall be entered into the vote counting record of the polling district. According to signatures in the electoral roll, voter certificates, arrival cards, ballot papers that have been spoiled by voters and returned to be exchanged for blank ballot papers it shall be inspected if a committee member has handed all ballot papers lawfully.
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3.The polling district committee shall count the unused and spoiled ballot papers publicly; annul them by cutting off the upper right corner; put them into the envelopes specially designated for this purpose and seal these envelopes. The number of unused or spoiled ballot papers shall be entered in the vote counting record of the polling district.
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Article 75Counting of Votes of the Voters who Have Voted in the Polling Station of the Polling District
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1.The polling district committee, in the presence of at least 3/5 of its members, shall inspect the ballot box of the polling station whether the seals have not been broken and whether there are no other evidences which indicate that it could have been opened or that ballot papers could have been removed in any other way. The electoral committee, in the presence of at least 3/5 of its members, shall decide if the ballot box has been tampered with. If the committee decides that the ballot box was tampered with, an act shall be drawn up about this, the ballot box shall be packed up, the package shall be put under seal and votes shall not be counted. The ballot box shall be delivered to the municipal electoral committee. The municipal electoral committee shall adopt a decision concerning counting of votes of this ballot box.
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2.Having ascertained that the ballot box has not been tampered with, in the presence of at least 3/5 of the members of the polling district committee as well as election observers, it shall be opened, all ballot papers shall be placed on tables on which there must not be any other documents and writing materials (except black lead pencils), and the committee shall start counting votes. Ballot papers shall be sorted out into valid and invalid ballot papers. Valid ballot papers shall be divided into groups according to the marks made in them by voters. Each group of ballot papers must be recounted at least two times. For the second time ballot papers must be counted by other members of the committee. Ballot papers which do not hold necessary attributes (irregular ballot papers, unsealed or sealed with a seal of an electoral committee of another polling district, etc.) must, if found, be separated from the rest of the ballot papers. The municipal electoral committee shall be immediately informed about such ballot papers and such fact must be entered into the vote counting record of the polling district. Counting results must be proclaimed and entered into the record, counted ballot papers put into a special envelope (envelopes) which is sealed and safeguarded. After the electoral committee establishes how many votes have been cast by voters who voted in the polling station of the polling district for lists of candidates, counting of votes received by post shall commence.
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3.Ballot papers from the marking whereof it is possible to establish which list of candidates a voter voted for, but it is impossible to establish what kind of opinion he expressed regarding the candidates from the list he voted for, may not be declared invalid only because of this reason. If a voter has not indicated the election number of a candidate in the ballot paper, indicated a non-existing election number of a candidate, as well as when it is impossible to define voter’s will from the inscription or inscriptions, preference vote or votes in the special space (spaces) of the second part of this ballot paper shall not be counted. If the election number of the same candidate is written down two or more times, only one vote shall be counted in accordance with this ballot paper.
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4.A decision regarding the declaration of a ballot paper invalid or in the presence of dispute between committee members concerning the assessment of marks in the ballot paper shall be adopted by the electoral committee by way of voting. The result of such voting shall be indicated on the other side of the ballot paper.
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5.Votes shall be counted in such a way that this procedure, marks of voters in the ballot papers may be observed by all the persons present during the counting of votes, and they would be able to make sure that votes are counted justly and fairly. The electoral committee must recount the votes if at least one committee member or election observer requests so before the signing of the vote counting record of the polling district.
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6.The Central Electoral Commission shall establish the concrete procedure for counting ballot papers and votes not later than 14 days before the elections.
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Article 76Keeping of the Records of Voters who Have Voted by Envelopes and the Counting of their Votes and Preference Votes for the Candidate
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1.After the counting of ballot papers found in the ballot box, ballot papers received by post and at home shall be calculated in the following procedure:
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1)the chairman of the polling district committee shall present, unopened, all outer envelopes received by post and at home. Their number shall be announced and entered in the vote counting record;
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2)outer envelopes shall be opened one at a time;
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3)a voter certificate shall be taken out of the outer envelope, the voter’s surname shall be read aloud, it shall be checked against the voter list of the polling district, and the voucher envelope shall be stamped with the seal of the polling district. If the person on the voter certificate is not on the electoral roll; if the voter has already signed the electoral roll indicating that he has already voted in the polling district; if another envelope for voting by post has been received from the same voter; if there is no voter certificate in the outer envelope; or if there is more than one voucher envelope in the outer envelope - the seal shall not be affixed and the ballot paper (ballot papers) in the envelope shall be considered invalid, the envelope shall not be opened. This fact must be noted on the voucher envelope (voucher envelopes). The content of such envelopes shall not be taken into account in the vote counting record of the polling district;
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4)in the voter list of the polling district, the words \"voted by post\" or “VBP” shall be written by the surname of the voter whose vote has been received by post or at home;
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5)the sealed voucher envelope shall be cast into the ballot box prepared and sealed according to the established requirements; and
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6)when all envelopes received by post have been inspected, the ballot box shall be opened and the sealed voucher envelopes shall be opened. If there is more than one ballot paper of the single-member and multi-member constituency in the voting envelope, all ballot papers in the envelope shall be considered invalid. Then the votes received by post shall be counted according to the requirements of Article 75.
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2.If only one sealed ballot paper envelope for voting by post is in the polling district (committee), it, in order to protect the secrecy of voting, shall not be opened, and shall be handed over to the electoral committee which has formed this committee, which shall enter the results of the voting in its vote counting record.
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3.After votes cast in a polling station and by post for lists of candidates have been counted, all data have been entered into the first part of the vote counting record of the polling district, the record and the first part of the record have been signed by the committee members, chairman and election observers, and the polling district committee has announced to the municipal electoral committee that the votes for lists of candidates were counted, the polling district committee may commence counting preference votes cast for candidates. The polling district committee may decide to count preference votes at once or, with the consent of the chairman of the municipal electoral committee, to count them at another time, but not later than within 24 hours. If it is decided to count preference votes at another time, the ballot papers to be counted shall, in a manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Commission, be transferred in a special envelope for safekeeping to the municipal electoral committee. In this case, the municipal electoral committee, after it has accepted election documents from the polling district committee, must adopt one of the following decisions on the counting of preference votes in the ballot papers transferred to it:
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1)to return ballot papers and to instruct the polling district committee from which it has got the preference votes to count such votes;
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2)to change the decision of the polling district committee from which the election documents have been received, regarding the counting of preference votes and to instruct the electoral committee of another polling district to count preference votes or to count preference votes itself. In this case, the municipal electoral committee must set the place and time of counting preference votes.
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4.If the polling district committee counts preference votes at another time or recounts ballot papers, it shall, in the presence of at least 3/5 of the members, check whether the special envelope (envelopes) has not been opened. If the polling district committee adopts a decision that the envelope has been tampered with or its contents have been changed, an act shall be drawn up concerning this fact, the envelope shall be packed, the package shall be sealed and the votes shall not be counted. The package shall be delivered to the municipal electoral committee. The Central Electoral Commission shall be immediately notified about this. The municipal electoral committee shall adopt a decision pertaining to the counting of the votes which are in the package.
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Upon having ascertained that the envelope has not been tampered with, counting of preference votes shall commence. Information on the time and place of the counting of preference votes as well as in the event when the municipal electoral committee decides to recount ballot papers, must, not later than one hour before the commencement of the counting, be announced on two notice boards: one installed in the building in which the headquarters of the municipal electoral committee is situated, and the other in the premises in which preference votes shall be counted. When counting preference votes, election observers may attend and a police officer must be on duty. All ballot papers shall be put on tables on which no there must not be any other documents and writing materials (except black lead pencils), and the committee shall check if there are all the ballot papers from which preference votes must be counted.
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The concrete procedure of preference votes counting shall be established by the Central Electoral Commission not later than 7 days prior to elections. Preference votes must be counted in such a way that such procedure might be observed by all the persons present during the counting of votes and would be able to ascertain that votes are counted fairly and justly. Counted votes shall be recorded in the second part of the vote counting record of the polling district, the ballot papers shall be packed, the package shall be sealed and transferred to the municipal electoral committee.
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Article 77Vote Counting Records of the Polling District
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1.In each polling district the vote counting record of the polling district shall consist of two parts.
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2.The first part of the vote counting record of the polling district shall include the following:
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1)the number of voters in the polling district;
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2)the number of ballot papers received from the municipal electoral committee;
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3)the number of ballot papers delivered to each member of the committee, the number of ballot papers delivered to voters, the number of voters' signatures in the electoral roll of the polling district, the number of voter certificates, the number of arrival cards, and the number of unused and spoiled ballot papers;
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4)the number of annulled ballot papers;
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5)the number of voters who have voted in the polling station of the polling district;
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6)the time of the opening of the ballot box;
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7)the number of invalid ballot papers found in the ballot box;
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8)the number of valid ballot papers found in the ballot box;
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9)the number of votes found in the ballot box which have been separately cast for a list of candidates nominated by each party (their coalition);
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10)the number of voting envelopes of voters who have voted at home, the number of voting envelopes received by post, the total number of voting envelopes received by post and at home, and the number of sealed voucher envelopes;
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11)the number of invalid ballot papers received by post;
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12)the number of valid ballot papers received by post;
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13)the number of votes received by post for a list of candidates nominated by each party (their coalition);
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14)the total number of voters who participated in the elections in the polling district;
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15)the total number of invalid ballot papers in the polling district; and
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16)the total number of votes cast for a list of candidates nominated by each party (their coalition).
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3.The number of the voters of the polling district shall be established according to the electoral rolls of the polling district. The number of the voters who have been delivered the ballot papers, shall be established according to the voters’ signatures in the electoral roll of the polling district, proving that the ballot papers have been received. The number of the voters who have voted in the polling district shall be established according to the number of the ballot papers lawfully delivered to voters by the electoral committee of that polling district and found in the ballot box of the polling district. The total number of the voters who have participated in the elections in the polling district shall be established by adding the number of the ballot papers found in the ballot boxes to the number of the ballot papers received by post and counted.
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4.If more ballot papers are found in the ballot box than it has been delivered to voters, the polling district committee shall take measures to discover the causes. This shall be entered in the vote counting record of the polling district, indicating the number of extra ballot papers, which were found.
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5.After all data have been entered into the first part of the vote counting record of the polling district and all ballot papers have been put into sealed packages and the special envelope (envelopes) for preference votes to be counted, the vote counting records of the polling district shall be signed by the chairman and members of the polling district committee. After that the election observers shall sign the records. Their remarks, the separate opinions of the committee members shall be appended to the records and shall be an integral part thereof.
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6.The second part of the vote counting record of the polling district shall contain the following information:
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1)the number of counted ballot papers;
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2)the number of ballot papers in which voters have not indicated preference votes;
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3)the number of preference votes cast for each candidate;
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4)the sum total of preference votes received by all candidates;
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5)other vote counting data established by the Central Electoral Commission necessary when checking if the votes cast by the voters have been counted accurately.
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7.After all data have been entered into the second part of the polling district vote counting record and all counted ballot papers have been put into sealed packages, this part of the polling district vote counting record shall be signed by the chairman and members of the polling district committee. After that the election observers shall sign the second part of the said record. Their remarks, the separate opinions of the committee members shall be appended to the second part of the record and shall be an integral part thereof. If when counting preference votes the polling district committee or the municipal electoral committee establishes that the data recorded in the first part of the vote counting record are inaccurate, a record shall be drawn up to correct the mistake. The second part of the record and ballot papers shall be returned to the municipal electoral committee. The municipal electoral committee shall adopt a decision concerning the mistake.
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Article 78Invalid Ballot Papers
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1.Invalid ballot papers shall be:
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1)non-standard ballot papers;
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2)ballot papers sealed with the seal of the electoral committee of the wrong polling district (ballot papers received by post - without the seal of the municipal electoral committee);
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3)those ballot papers on which the voter has marked more than one list of candidates or has not marked any list of candidates, or it is impossible to ascertain the voter’s will from the mark made thereon.
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2.The decision to declare a ballot paper invalid in the event of dispute among the committee members as to the assessment of markings on the ballot paper, shall be made by the polling district committee by voting. The voting results shall be indicated on the other side of the ballot paper. If the polling district committee declares the ballot papers invalid in accordance with subparagraphs 1 or 2 of paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall immediately inform the municipal electoral committee about this.
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Article 79The Presentation of Documents of the Polling District to the Municipal Electoral Committee
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1.The polling district committee shall put all ballot papers, as well as invalid and unused ballot papers, other election documents into packages, inventory them and affix the seal to them in the manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Commission. The packages together with the vote counting record of the polling district and its annexes, electoral rolls, records of the polling district committee and financial documentation for the whole period of its work shall be delivered to the municipal electoral committee within 12 hours of the close of polls, unless the Central Electoral Commission provides otherwise.
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2.The Central Electoral Commission and the Ministry of the Interior must ensure the safety of transportation of the election documents and the persons transporting them.
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Article 80The Counting of Votes in the Municipal Electoral Committee
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1.The municipal electoral committee shall accept the documents delivered by the polling district committee and shall check:
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1)whether all required documents and packages with ballot papers have been delivered;
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2)sealing and descriptions of the packages (whether the description is full and correct);
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3)whether all data have been entered in the vote counting records of the polling district; if they do not contradict one another; if they correspond to the data available to the municipal electoral committee (the number of ballot papers issued to the polling district committee, the number of voters, the number of covering envelopes received by post, data on the votes cast by voters for lists of candidates, which are indicated in the first and second parts of the vote counting record, etc.); if there are all necessary signatures; whether all separate opinions of the polling district committee members, remarks of election observers are appended to the record in which they are specified;
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4)whether all remarks and complaints of voters have been considered in the polling district committee.
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2.The municipal electoral committee shall immediately report the data of the vote counting record of the polling district, its comments concerning the documents submitted by the polling district committee to the Central Electoral Commission in the manner prescribed by it, and shall ensure the safety of submitted documents.
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3.The packages sealed by the polling district committees, which contain ballot papers or other election documents, may be opened in the municipal electoral committee only by decision of the municipal electoral committee. The municipal electoral committee may recount the ballot papers of the polling district committee or instruct the polling district committee, from which it has received the ballot papers, to recount the said ballot papers, or instruct another polling district committee to recount the ballot papers. When recounting votes, electoral committees must act in compliance with paragraph 4 of Article 76 of this Law.
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4.Upon establishing deficiencies of the documents submitted by the polling district committee, the municipal electoral committee shall take measures to eliminate the deficiencies, request the chairman of the polling district committee to submit the missing documents.
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5.The municipal electoral committee shall count the votes in the following manner: it shall sum up the figures submitted by polling district committees and shall add to them the votes cast by the voters by post or at home, which have been counted in the municipal electoral committee.
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Article 81Vote Counting Records of the Municipality
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1.According to vote counting records, ballot papers and other election documents of the polling districts, the municipal electoral committee shall establish and enter into the municipal vote counting record the following:
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1)the number of voters who participated in the elections in the municipality;
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2)the number of the invalid ballot papers in the municipality, as well as the vote counting data established by the Central Electoral Commission, necessary when checking if the votes cast by voters have been counted precisely;
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3)the number of valid ballot papers in the municipality;
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4)the number of votes cast for each list of candidates;
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5)the number of preference votes cast for each candidate.
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2.The chairman and the members of the municipal electoral committee shall sign the municipal vote counting record only after considering separate opinions of the members of the polling district committees, remarks of election observers and complaints of voters. The municipal electoral committee may recommend the Central Electoral Commission to declare the election in the municipality invalid.
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Article 82Submitting of Vote Counting Documents of the Municipality to the Central Electoral Commission
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All documents (except financial documentation) received from polling districts, voter lists, the vote counting record of the municipality, the minutes of the sittings of the municipal electoral committee for the whole period of the activities and other election documents shall be placed into special packages and sealed by the municipal electoral committee. The packages shall be delivered to the Central Electoral Commission within the time period established by the Central Electoral Commission.
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Article 83The Participation of Election Observers in the Counting of Votes and Establishment of Election Results
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1.The election observers and also representatives of the mass media may participate in the counting of votes in polling districts and municipalities, and also in the establishment of election results in municipalities.
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2.The election observers shall have the right to make remarks and claims to the electoral committees concerning the violations of this and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania, but they must not hinder the work of electoral committees. The election observers shall have the right to make a written protest to the polling district committee, which is appended to the vote counting record of the polling district and delivered to the municipal electoral committee together with other election documents of the polling district. The protest of the election observer to the municipal electoral committee shall be appended to the municipal vote counting record. That electoral committee to whom they have been filed shall consider the protests.
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Article 84Proclamation of the Preliminary Election Results
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1.Only the Central Electoral Commission may proclaim preliminary election results. If the municipal electoral committee delivers the preliminary data of the election results in all polling districts, the Central Electoral Commission must immediately prepare a report to the mass media. This report shall be announced in the Internet in the first place, but no earlier than the close of the polls at the elections in all Member States of the European Union.
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2.The representatives of the mass media shall be prohibited from disseminating the information about the vote counting or election results by video or sound recording equipment, orally, in writing, or otherwise, until the announcement of the report of the Central Electoral Commission.
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Article 85Complaints against the Decisions of Electoral Committees which Have Been Adopted after the Close of the Poll
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1.Parties which have nominated candidates, their representatives for elections, election observers may appeal against the decisions of polling district committees concerning the drawing up of vote counting records to the municipal electoral committee not later than within 24 hours of their drawing up. These complaints must be investigated no later than within 24 hours of the submitting of such claims to the committee.
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2.The decisions of the municipal electoral committee concerning vote counting records may be appealed against to the Central Electoral Commission no later than within 72 hours following their drawing up and must be considered before the official announcement of the final election results.
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3.While investigating complaints against the decisions of polling district committees concerning the drawing up of vote counting records, municipal electoral committees, in the presence of at least 3/5 of the committee members, may recount ballot papers which are presented by the polling district committee, and, in the event of an arithmetical error in the records, incorrectly calculated valid and invalid ballot papers, the committees shall draw up an additional vote counting record of the polling district and append it to the vote counting record of the polling district. The municipal electoral committee shall not have the right to nullify the vote counting records of the polling district committee.
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4.While investigating the complaint against the decision of the municipal electoral committee concerning the drawing up of the municipal vote counting record, the Central Electoral Commission may recount ballot papers which are presented by the municipal electoral committee (or to instruct another municipal or polling district committee to do so), and, in the event of an arithmetical error in the record, incorrectly calculated valid or invalid ballot papers, shall draw up an additional vote counting record of the municipality, the polling district and append it to the vote counting record of the municipality.
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5.Parties which have nominated candidates and their representatives for elections in the Central Electoral Commission may appeal against the decisions of the Central Electoral Commission or against the refusal of the Central Electoral Commission to investigate complaints about the violations of this Law not later than within 3 days after the official announcement of the election results, to the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania. The Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania shall, not later than within 3 days, investigate such complaints. Its decision shall become effective from the moment of its pronouncement.
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CHAPTER XI
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ESTABLISHMENT AND PROCALMATION OF ELECTION RESULTS
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Article 86The Establishment of Election Results
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1.A list candidates of the party or a joint list of candidates may receive mandates of members of the European Parliament (takes part in the distribution of mandates) only if not less than 5 percent of the voters participating in the elections voted for it. If less than 60 percent of all voters who participated in the election have voted for the lists of candidates, the list of candidates (lists of candidates if an equal amount of votes has been cast for them) which has not taken part in the distribution of mandates up till then, for whom the majority of voters have voted shall acquire the right to take part in the distribution of mandates. The number of lists of candidates which have the right to participate in the distribution of mandates shall be further increased in the same manner until not less than 60 percent of all the voters who participated in the election shall have voted for the lists of candidates participating in the distribution of mandates.
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2.Mandates for lists of candidates shall be distributed according to the number of votes received by each of them, applying the method of quotas and remainders.
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3.At first, the quota shall be counted, that is, how many votes are needed to receive 1 mandate. It shall be equal to the sum of votes, divided by the number of members of the European Parliament which are being elected, cast by voters for the lists participating in the distribution of mandates. If when dividing, a remainder is received, 1 shall be added to the quotient.
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4.The amount of votes cast for each list shall be divided by the quota. The received integer quotient shall be the number of mandates for each list according to the quota and the remainders of this division shall be used to distribute the remaining mandates according to the remainders. Therefore, all names of the lists which participate in the distribution of mandates shall be written down in succession in which the first follows the last, according to the size of the remainders of the dividing received by the lists, beginning with the largest. If the remainders of two lists are equal, the first written down shall be the list which have received more votes of voters and if these numbers are also equal, the first written down shall be the list which possess the smaller election number. The mandates which have not been distributed when distributing by the method of quotas shall be distributed by one to the lists according to the succession, beginning with the list which was written down first.
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5.If one of the lists received the larger number of mandates than there were candidates on the list, these mandates would be distributed to other lists, further continuing the dividing thereof by the method of remainders.
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6.Candidates of the same list shall receive mandates in the order which is established according to the preference votes cast by voters, after the Central Electoral Commission has counted the election rating of candidates.
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7.If the party, coalition submits together with the application documents the request that their rating should not be established, voters shall be notified about this in advance, indicating this in a ballot paper and the rating of candidates shall not be counted, and the registered sequence of candidates on the list shall be considered final.
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Article 87Counting of the Election Rating of Candidates and Establishment of the Final Order of Succession of the Lists of Candidates
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1.The Central Electoral Commission shall calculate the election rating of candidates and shall establish a final order of succession of the candidate in the lists in accordance with the opinion expressed by voters and preference votes cast.
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2.At first preference votes cast for each candidate shall be summed up. In the event when the sum total of the candidate’s preference votes is bigger than the number of members of the European Parliament who are being elected or such sum is equal to the said number, election rating of the candidate shall be equal to that sum, if it is smaller - election rating of the candidate shall be considered to be equal to zero.
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3.The final order of candidates the lists shall be established according the points of the rating received by each candidate. The first written down in the succession shall be the candidate who has received more points of the election rating. In the event that several candidates receive the equal amount of the election rating points, then the first written down shall be the candidate whose election number is smaller.
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4.The Central Electoral Commission shall announce the final succession of candidates on the list.
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Article 88The Declaration of the Election Invalid
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1.The Central Electoral Commission may declare the election results null and void, if it establishes that violations referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 41 of this Law or other severe violations of laws which have been committed in the municipality or polling district, the falsification of documents or the loss thereof have had an essential influence on the election results, and from the vote counting records or other election documents it is impossible to determine the lists of candidates which take part in the distribution of mandates or it is possible to determine the number of mandates due to the list of candidates at the exactness of only more than one mandate.
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2.The election may not be declared invalid if the indisputably determined election results allow determining essential election results.
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Article 89Establishment and Proclamation of the Final Election Results
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1.The Central Electoral Commission shall establish the final election results after it has investigated all complaints and established all election results, including of the votes of the voters who have voted on ships and abroad.
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2.The Central Electoral Commission shall proclaim the final election results not later than within 7 days following the election. It shall first of all announce these results in the Internet and shall publish in the next issue of the official gazette Valstybės žinios.
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3.The Central Electoral Commission shall within four months transfer the vote counting records of polling districts and municipalities, application documents, minutes of the sittings and the decisions of the Central Electoral Commission, as well as the collection of samples of election documents to the State Archives for unlimited safekeeping. After that it may decide to destroy the election documents, which are not subject to safekeeping.
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Article 90The Certificate of a Member of the European Parliament
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1.After the proclamation of election results the Central Electoral Commission shall, within 7 days, issue certificates of member of the European Parliament elected for the Republic of Lithuania to the elected candidates. The Central Electoral Commission shall notify the institutions of the European Union about the election results and the names of the elected members of the European Parliament.
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2.All disputes concerning the non-issuance of the certificate of members of the European Parliament shall, not later than within 3 days, be settled by the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania. The decision of the said Court shall become effective from the moment of its pronouncement.
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Article 91Recognition of the Lapse of the Powers of a Member of the European Parliament
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The Central Electoral Commission shall recognise the lapse of the powers of a member of the European Parliament not later than within 15 days after the occurrence of a cause for it:
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1)upon the death of a member of the European Parliament - according to the data of the Residents’ Register of the Republic of Lithuania;
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2)upon the resignation of a member of the European Parliament - according to the resignation statement written by the member of the European Parliament himself. The member of the European Parliament must repeat this statement himself during a sitting of the Central Electoral Commission. If because of the state of heath the member of the European Parliament is unable to attend the sitting, the sitting shall be held in the place where the member of the European Parliament is in the Republic of Lithuania;
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3)when the court declares a member of the European Parliament legally incompetent - according to the effective decision of the court;
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4)when the European Parliament withdraws a mandate of Member of the European Parliament in accordance with the procedure established by the regulations of the European Parliament – in accordance with the effective decision of the European Parliament;
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5)when a mandate of Member of the European Parliament is lost because of the failure to disclose the candidate’s collaboration with the special services of other states, or the sentence imposed by court judgement according to Article 93 of this Law, or the incompatibility of a mandate of Member of the European Parliament and the duties according to Article 94 of this Law.
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Article 92Filling a Vacant Seat in the European Parliament
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Upon the recognition of the lapse of the powers of a member of the European Parliament, a seat falls vacant in the European Parliament. The first candidate, who has not received the mandate of Member of the European Parliament, from the list of candidates according to which the former member of the European Parliament was elected shall become a member of the European Parliament. If there are no candidates on this list of candidates who have not received mandates of members of the European Parliament, the mandate of Member of the European Parliament shall be transferred to another list according to the sequence of the lists of candidates which was established after the election for the distribution of mandates by the method of remainders, that is to the list following the list which was the last to receive the mandate according to this sequence. So the first candidate, who has not received the mandate of Member of the European Parliament, on the list which has newly received a mandate shall become a member of the European Parliament. The Central Electoral Commission must adopt the decision concerning recognition of the mandate of Member of the European Parliament for a new member of the European Parliament not later than within 7 days after the a seat falls vacant in the European Parliament.
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Article 93Requirement to Disclose to Voters the Candidate’s Collaboration with the Special Services of other States and Earlier Conviction Imposed by Court’s Ruling
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1.Each candidate must make a public disclosure of his deliberate collaboration with the special services of other states, provided that he was not thereby carrying out the assignments of his home Member State, except for the candidates who are the citizens of other Member States of the European Union, permanently residing in Lithuania and who collaborated with the special services (service) of their home Member State. He shall indicate this fact in the questionnaire for a candidate in elections to the European Parliament. A poster with the list of candidates, issued by the Central Electoral Commission, must contain the following notice beside the surname of the candidate: “Has deliberately and not on the instruction of his home Member State collaborated with the special services of another state”.
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2.If the candidate fails to indicate this and there is a valid court sentence which has established a fact having juridical meaning (or this fact has been confirmed by the candidate himself in the manner prescribed by law) that he with full awareness collaborated with the special services of other states which was not related to carrying out the assignments of his home Member State, the Central Electoral Commission shall not register him as a candidate; where it has already registered him a candidate, the Central Electoral Commission shall immediately cancel his registration as a candidate. If the candidate has not indicated it and after the election the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania recognises in the manner prescribed by law that he deliberately collaborated with the special services of other states which was not related to carrying out the assignments of his home Member State, the Central Electoral Commission must, within 5 working days after the coming into effect of the court’s decision, acknowledge that the said person has lost a mandate of Member of the European Parliament, announce the said fact in the Internet and the next issue of the official gazette Valstybės žinios, as well as notify the European Parliament about this. A vacant seat in the European Parliament shall be filled in accordance with the procedure established in Article 92 of this Law.
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3.Each candidate must make a public disclosure that under the sentence of the court of the Republic of Lithuania or any other Member State of the European Union, which became effective during the last 10 years before the fixed date, he was found guilty for committing a criminal act under the effective court judgement was at any time found guilty for committing a minor or major crime. He shall indicate this fact in the questionnaire for a candidate in elections to the European Parliament, regardless of whether the conviction has expired or has been annulled. A poster with the list of candidates, issued by the Central Electoral Commission, must contain the following notice beside the surname of the candidate: “Has been found guilty by the court judgement for committing a crime”.
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4.If the candidate has not indicated the sentence imposed on him by the court judgement, as required in paragraph 3 of this Article, and a court judgement of the Republic of Lithuania or any other Member State of the European Union by which a person has been found guilty for committing a criminal act has become effective during the last 10 years prior to the fixed date, or a court judgement by which a person has been found guilty at any time for committing a minor or major crime has become effective, the Central Electoral Commission does not register such person as a candidate, or if it has already registered him as a candidate, it shall immediately cancel his registration. If the candidate failed to disclose this fact and, following the elections, it has been established that there is a sentence of the court of the Republic of Lithuania or any other Member State of the European Union, effective during the last ten years prior to the fixed date, by which a person has been found guilty for committing a criminal act, or a court judgement by which a person has been found guilty at any time for committing a minor or major crime, has become effective, the Central Electoral Commission shall, within 15 days, submit copies of the court judgement and the questionnaire of a candidate in elections to the European Parliament to the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania for it to adopt a decision by which a person is found guilty of having violated the requirements of paragraph 3 of this Article.
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If the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania adopts a decision to find a person guilty of having violated the requirements of paragraph 3 of this Article, the Central Electoral Commission must, within 5 working days after the coming into force of the court decision, declare that this person has lost a mandate of Member of the European Parliament, announce the said fact in the Internet and the next issue of the official gazette Valstybės žinios, as well as notify the European Parliament about this. A vacant seat of a member of the European Parliament shall be filled in accordance with the procedure established in Article 92 of this Law.
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Article 94Incompatibility of a Mandate of Member of the European Parliament and Certain Duties
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1.A mandate of Member of the European Parliament shall be incompatible with the duties of the President of the Republic, Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, member of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, municipal councillor. Moreover, a mandate of Member of the European Parliament shall be incompatible with the office held in the institutions of the European Union specified in legal acts of the European Union.
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2.The person performing the duties specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, elected a member of the European Parliament or upon becoming such member by filling a vacant seat in the European Parliament, must decide and resign from the office which is incompatible with a mandate of Member of the European Parliament, or resign from the office of Member of the European Parliament. A person who has been elected to the European Parliament or has become a member of the European Parliament by filling a vacant seat, and who decides to resign from the office of Member of the European Parliament, must resign in accordance with the procedure established in subparagraph 2 of Article 91 of this Law not later than 15 days prior to the first sitting of a newly elected European Parliament or not later than within 15 days from the date on which the Central Electoral Commission adopted a decision regarding the acknowledgement of his mandate.
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3.Where a person elected to the European Parliament fails to resign during the set time limit or a person referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article assumed the duties of Member of the European Parliament, the Central Electoral Commission must, within 5 working days after it became aware of the incompatibility between a mandate of Member of the European Parliament with the office held, acknowledge by a reasoned decision that such person has lost a mandate of Member of the European Parliament, and must announce the said fact in the Internet and the next issue of the official gazette Valstybės žinios, as well as notify the European Parliament about this. A vacant seat of a member of the European Parliament shall be filled in accordance with the procedure established in Article 92 of this Law.
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4.Complaints concerning the loss of a mandate of Member of the European Parliament shall be filed with the Higher Administrative Court of Lithuania within 10 days of the publication of an announcement of the Central Electoral Commission in the official gazette Valstybės žinios, and must be considered not later than within 3 days of the receipt thereof. Complaints filed with the court after the expiration of the time limit shall not be considered. Court decision regarding the said issues shall become effective from the date of their adoption.
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I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
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PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC ROLANDAS PAKSAS Annex to Law of the Republic of Lithuania No. IX-1837 of 20 November 2003 IMPLEMENTED LEGAL ACTS OF The European Union 1. 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom: Decision of the representatives of the Member States meeting in the council relating to the Act concerning the election of the representatives of the Assembly by direct universal suffrage.
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2.Council Directive 93/109/EC of 6 December 1993 laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in European Parliament for citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals 3. European Parliament resolution of 15 July 1998 on a proposal for an electoral procedure incorporating common principles for the election of Members of the European Parliament.
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4.European Parliament Recommendation (A5-0212/2002) of 30 May 2002 on the draft Council decision amending the Act concerning the election of representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.
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5.2002/772/EC,Euratom: Council Decision of 25 June 2002 and 23 September 2002 amending the Act concerning the election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom.
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6.European Parliament: Rules of procedure of February 2003.