3.The post office head or a person authorised by him shall deliver unused voucher envelopes and ballot papers to the constituency electoral committee one day prior to election day.
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4.The head of a post office or a person authorised by him shall deliver voucher envelopes containing ballot papers marked by voters to polling district committees on 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 election day, shall be transferred to a constituency 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 constituency electoral committee shall not alter than on the Friday preceding 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 election day, shall be transferred to the chairman of a polling district committee not later than 9.00 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 73 of this Law and in the same manner as the votes received by post.
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Article 70Organisation of Work of a Polling District Electoral Committee When Counting Votes
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1.The chairman of the polling district electoral committee shall organise and supervise vote count in the committee. His instructions for vote count shall be compulsory and all persons present in the polling station must adhere to them. He must ensure that votes would be count 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 decision. The decision shall be entered on the vote count record and shall be signed by the committee chairman. The decision must be enforced immediately and, if necessary, the electoral committee may consider it only after the vote counting record has been signed.
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2.All of the data which are entered into the record must be publicly announced in such a manner that all the persons participating in vote count would hear them. If the validity of a ballot paper or the meaning of the marks in it raise 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 71Accounting of Ballot Papers in Polling Districts
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1.Upon the closing of a polling station, the chairman of the polling district electoral 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 electoral committee, shall be counted publicly, the number of them shall be entered in the vote counting record. According to signatures in the electoral roll, voter certificates, arrival cards, ballot papers which have been spoiled by voters and returned to be exchanged for blank ballot papers it shall be inspected if the committee member has handed all ballot papers lawfully.
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3.The electoral 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 stamp these envelopes. The number of unused or spoiled ballot papers shall be entered in the vote counting record.
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Article 72Counting of Votes of the Voters who Have Voted in the Polling Station of the Polling District
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1.The polling district electoral committee, in the presence of at least 3/5 of its members, shall inspect whether the ballot box seals of the polling district have not been broken and whether there are no other signs, 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 constituency electoral committee. The constituency electoral committee shall take a decision concerning calculation of votes of this ballot box.
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2.Having ascertained, in the presence of at least 3/5 if the members of the committee as well as observers, that the ballot box has not been tampered with, it shall be opened, all ballot papers shall be placed on tables on which there are no other documents and writing-materials (except black lead pencils), and the committee shall start counting the votes. When counting, the committee may divide all ballot papers into groups according to votes cast by voters for lists of candidates and additionally single out a group of ballot papers with which the voter has not voted for any list of candidates or has voted for several lists. Upon having counted the ballot papers in the said groups, the number of votes cast by voters for lists of candidates and the number of invalid ballot papers shall be set.
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Ballot papers which do not hold necessary attributes (irregular ballot papers, unstamped or stamped with a seal of another electoral committee, etc.) must, if found, be separated from the rest of the ballot papers. The constituency 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. All ballot papers must be recounted at least two times. The second time different committee members must check whether ballot papers are grouped according to the marks made by voters, as well as recount the ballot papers. Counting results must be proclaimed and entered in the record of vote counting of the polling district, counted ballot papers put into a special envelope (envelopes), which is sealed and safeguarded.
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After the electoral committee establishes how many votes have been cast for lists of candidates by voters who voted in the polling station of the polling district, counting of postal votes 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 for whom the voter have cast a preference vote or votes, may not be declared invalid solely 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 or as when it is impossible to define voter’s will from the inscription or inscriptions regarding the preference, a 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 three 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 committee must recount the votes if at least one committee member or observer requests so before the signing of the vote counting record.
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6.The Central Electoral Committee shall lay down a specific procedure for the counting of ballot papers and votes not later than 14 days before elections.
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Article 73Keeping of the Records of Voters who Have Voted by Postal Envelopes and the Counting of their Votes and Preference Votes for a Candidate
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1.After the counting of ballot papers found in the ballot box, ballot papers received by post and at homes 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 homes. 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 stamped and the ballot paper in the envelope shall be considered invalid. This fact must be noted on the voucher envelope (voucher envelopes). The content of such envelopes shall not be reckoned 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 stamped 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 stamped voucher envelopes shall be opened. If there is more than one ballot paper in the voucher 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 71.
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2.If only one sealed voucher envelope for voting by post or at home is in the polling district (committee), in order to protect the secrecy of voting, it shall not be opened, and shall be handed over to the constituency electoral committee which has formed this committee. The constituency electoral committee 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, this part of the record have been signed by the committee members, chairman and observers and the polling district committee has announced to the constituency electoral committee that the votes for lists of candidates were counted, the polling district committee may commence counting votes cast for candidates (preference votes). The polling district committee may decide to count preference votes at once or, with the consent of the chairman of the constituency 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 Committee, be transferred in a special envelope for safekeeping to the constituency electoral committee. In this case, the constituency 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 committee of another polling district to count preference votes or to count preference votes itself. In this case, the constituency electoral committee must set the place and time of counting preference votes.
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4.If the committee counts preference votes the next day or recounts ballot papers, it shall, in the presence of at least 3/5 of the members, check whether the special envelope (envelopes) has (have) not been opened. If the polling district committee takes 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 constituency electoral committee. The Central Electoral Committee shall be immediately informed about this. The constituency electoral committee shall take 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 constituency 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 constituency electoral committee is situated, and the other in the facilities 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 are no 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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A specific procedure for counting preference votes shall be laid down by the Central Electoral Committee not later than 7 days prior to elections. Votes must be counted in such a way that this 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, ballot papers shall be packed, the package shall be sealed and transferred to the constituency electoral committee.
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Article 74Vote Counting Record of the Polling District
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1.One vote counting record consisting of two parts shall be drawn up in every polling district, the first part of which shall include:
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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 constituency 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 voter signatures, 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 ballot papers found in the ballot box by which voters did not vote for any list of candidates or voted for several lists of candidates;
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8)the number of ballot papers found in the ballot box by with which voters voted for one list of candidates;
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9)the number of votes found in the ballot box which have been separately cast for each list of candidates;
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10)the number of voting envelopes of voters who voted at home, the number of voting envelopes received by post, the total number of voting envelopes received by post or at homes, and the number of stamped voucher envelopes;
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11)the number of ballot papers received by post, by which voters did not vote for any list of candidates or voted for several lists;
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12)the number of ballot papers received by post by which voters voted for one list of candidates;
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13)the number of votes received by post, cast for each list of candidates;
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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 ballot papers by which voters did not vote for any list of candidates or voted for several lists; and
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16)the total number of votes cast for each list of candidates.
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2.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 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 found in the ballot box of the polling district. The number of the voters who have participated in the polls in the polling district shall be established according to the number of the ballot papers found in the ballot boxes of the polling districts and the number of the ballot papers received by post.
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3.If more ballot papers are found in the ballot box than were delivered to voters, the committee shall take measures to ascertain the causes. This fact shall be entered in the vote counting record, indicating the number of extra ballot papers, which were found.
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4.After all data have been entered in 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), this part of the vote counting record of the polling district shall be signed by the chairman and members of the polling district electoral committee. Following this, the observers shall sign the first part of the vote counting record. Their marks, the separate opinions of the members of the committee shall be appended to the first part of the vote counting record and shall be an inseparable part thereof. At their request, an extract from the first part of the record shall be presented to the observers.
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5.The second part of the vote counting record shall include:
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1)the number of ballot papers which are being counted;
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2)the number of preference votes received by each candidate;
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3)the sum of the preference votes received by all candidates;
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4)the number of invalid ballot papers;
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5)other data of vote counting, established by the Central Electoral Committee, necessary when checking if the votes cast by voters have been counted accurately.
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6.After all data have been entered in the second part of the polling district vote counting record and all counted ballot papers have been put into the sealed packages, this part of the polling district vote counting record shall be signed by the chairman and members of the electoral committee. After that the observers shall sign the second part of the record. Their remarks, the separate opinions of the members of the committee shall be appended to the second part of the record and shall be an inseparable part thereof.
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7.If the polling district committee or the constituency electoral committee establishes that a mistake has been made in the data recorded in the first part of the vote counting record, a record shall be drawn up to correct the mistake. The second part of the record and ballot papers shall be returned to the constituency electoral committee. The constituency electoral committee shall take a decision concerning the mistake.
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Article 75Invalid Ballot Papers
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1.Invalid ballot papers shall be:
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1)ballot papers of a non-established sample;
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2)ballot papers stamped with the seal of the electoral committee of the wrong polling district (ballot papers received by post – not stamped with the seal of the constituency electoral committee);
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3)ballot papers of the wrong constituency;
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4)ballot papers by which the voter did not vote for any list of candidates (marked more than one list of candidates; did not mark any lists of candidates; it is impossible to ascertain the voter’s will from the mark made thereon).
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Article 76Presentation of Documents of the Polling District to the Constituency Electoral Committee
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1.The polling district electoral committee shall put all ballot papers, as well as invalid and unused ballot papers, other election documents into packages, inventory them and seal them in the manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Committee. The packages shall be delivered together with the vote counting record and its annexes, electoral rolls, records of the polling district electoral committee and financial documentation for the whole period of its work to the constituency electoral committee within 12 hours of the closing of polls, unless the Central Electoral Committee provides otherwise.
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2.The Central Electoral Committee 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 77Counting of Votes in the Constituency Electoral Committee
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1.The constituency electoral committee shall accept the documents delivered by the polling district electoral committee and shall check:
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1)whether all required documents (packages and special envelopes 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 first part of the vote counting record; whether they do not contradict one another; whether they correspond to the data available to the polling constituency electoral committee (the number of ballot papers issued to the polling district electoral committee, the number of voters, the number of outer envelopes received by post, the number of all ballot papers according to the first and second parts of the record); whether all of the necessary signatures are put; whether all separate opinions of the committee members, remarks of 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 examined in the polling district electoral committee.
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2.The constituency electoral committee shall, in the manner prescribed by the Central Electoral Committee, immediately report the data of both parts of the vote counting record, its comments concerning the documents submitted by the polling district electoral committee to the Central Electoral Committee, and shall ensure the safety of submitted documents.
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3.The packages sealed by the polling district electoral committees, which contain ballot papers or other election documents, may be opened in the constituency electoral committee only by the decision of the constituency electoral committee. The special envelope with ballot papers in the constituency electoral committee to count votes may be submitted only to the chairman of the polling district electoral committee or to a committee member authorised by him in writing. The Central Electoral Committee and the Ministry of the Interior must ensure the security of transportation of special envelopes with ballot papers and the persons who transport them.
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4.Upon establishing the shortage of documents submitted by the polling district electoral committee, the constituency electoral committee shall take measures to eliminate the shortage, request the chairman of the polling district electoral committee to supply the missing documents.
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5.The constituency electoral committee shall count the votes in the following manner: totals the data submitted by the polling district electoral committees and adds to them those votes cast by the voters by post, which have been counted in the constituency electoral committee.
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Article 78Presentation of Vote Count Documents of the Constituency to the Central Electoral Committee
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All documents (except financial documentation) received from polling districts, electoral rolls, the vote counting record of the constituency, the records of the constituency electoral committee for the whole period of the activities and other election documents shall be put into special packages and sealed by the constituency electoral committee. Packages shall be delivered to the Central Electoral Committee within the time limits fixed by the Central Electoral Committee.
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Article 79Participation of 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 calculation of votes in polling districts and constituencies, and also in the establishment of election results in constituencies.
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2.The observers shall be entitled to make remarks and claims to the appropriate 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 observers shall be entitled to make a written protest to the polling district electoral committee, which shall be appended to the vote counting record of the polling district and delivered to the constituency electoral committee together with other election documents of the polling district. The protest of an election observer to the constituency electoral committee shall be attached to the vote counting record of the appropriate constituency. The protests shall be considered by that electoral committee to whom they have been filed.
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Article 80Publication of the Preliminary Election Results
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1.Preliminary election results may be proclaimed only by the Central Electoral Committee. If the constituency electoral committee communicates the preliminary data of the election results in all polling districts, the Central Electoral Committee must immediately prepare a report to the mass media. This report shall be announced on the Internet in the first place.
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2.The representatives of the mass media shall be prohibited from disseminating the information about vote counting or election results by video or sound recording equipment, orally, in writing, or otherwise, until the report of the Central Electoral Committee.
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Article 81Complaints against the Decisions of Electoral Committees which Have Been Adopted after the Closing of Voting
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1.Parties, which have nominated lists of candidates, candidates for councillor, their representatives for elections, election observers may appeal against the decisions of polling district electoral committees concerning the drawing-up of vote counting records to constituency electoral committee not later than within 24 hours of their drawing up. These complaints must be considered not later than within 24 hours.
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2.The decisions of the constituency electoral committee concerning vote counting records may be appealed against to the Central Electoral Committee not later than within 72 hours following their drawing up and must be considered before the official proclamation of election results.
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3.While considering complaints against the decisions of polling district electoral committees concerning the drawing up of vote count records, constituency 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 electoral committee, and, in the event of an mathematical error in the records, incorrectly counted valid and invalid ballot papers, the committees shall draw up an additional vote counting record of the polling district and appended it to the vote counting record of the polling district. The constituency electoral committee shall have no right to nullify the vote counting records of the polling district electoral committee.
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4.While considering the complaint against the decision of the constituency electoral committee concerning the drawing-up of the vote counting record of the constituency, the Central Electoral Committee may recount ballot papers which are presented by the constituency electoral committee, and, in the event of an mathematical error in the record, incorrectly counted valid or invalid ballot papers, shall draw up an additional vote counting record of the constituency, polling district and append it to the vote counting record of the constituency.
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5.After the official proclamation of the final election results until the first sitting of a newly elected municipal council the parties which have nominated the lists of candidates, candidates for councillor, municipal councillors may appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania against any decisions of the Central Electoral Committee or its other activities, within 5 days after the adoption of the decision of the Central Electoral Committee or after the contested activity has become known. The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania shall investigate such complaints within 5 days. Its decision shall become effective from the moment of its pronouncement.
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6.After the first sitting of a newly elected municipal council the parties which have nominated the lists of candidates, persons entered on the lists of candidates for councillor who received mandates, municipal councillors may appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania against decisions of the Central Electoral Committee taken on the termination of the powers of a municipal councillor or recognition of the powers for new municipal councillors, or refusals to take these decisions, within 15 days after coming into effect of the decision. The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania shall investigate such complaints within 15 days. Its decisions shall become effective from the moment of its pronouncement.
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Article 82Vote Counting Record of the Constituency Electoral Committee
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1.In accordance with vote counting records of polling districts, and when necessary - according to ballot papers and other documents, the constituency electoral committee shall establish:
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1)the number of voters who have participated in the elections in the constituency;
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2)the number of invalid ballot papers in the constituency as well as the vote counting data established by the Central Electoral Committee, necessary when checking whether the votes cast by voters have been counted accurately;
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3)the number of votes cast for each list of candidates and the number of votes cast for each list of candidates.
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2.The post-voting order of succession of a list of candidates shall be made for each list of candidates separately according to the preference votes cast for each candidate. The candidate who received more preference votes shall be entered higher on the post-voting list. If candidates received equal number of preference votes or less than there are councillors being elected in this constituency, the candidate whose position is higher in the order of succession in the application documents shall be entered higher on the list.
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3.The chairman and the members of the constituency electoral committee shall sign the vote counting record of the constituency only after considering separate opinions of the members of the polling district electoral committees, remarks of observers and complaints of voters. The constituency electoral committee may recommend the Central Electoral Committee to declare the election in the constituency invalid.
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ELEVENTH CHAPTER ESTABLISHMENT AND PROCLAMATION OF ELECTION RESULTS
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Article 83Establishment of Election Results in Multi-Member Candidate Constituencies
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1.The preliminary election results shall be established by the constituency electoral committee after the constituency vote counting record has been signed.
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2.Mandates for lists of candidates shall be distributed according to the number of votes received by each of a list applying the method of quotas and remainders. The list of candidates of a party may obtain the candidate to councillor mandates (participate in the distribution of mandates) only, if no less than 4 per cent of the voters had voted in favour of it, and the list of coalition candidates - if no less than 6 percent of votes of voters, who participated in the polls, were obtained. If less than 60 percent of voters voted for the lists participating in the distribution of mandates, the right to participate in mandate distribution shall be acquired by that list of candidates, which up to that time, had not participated in the distribution of mandates (the lists, if an equal number of voters has voted in favour of them), in favour of which was voted by the majority of voters. In the same fashion, the number of the lists of candidates, who hold the right to participate in mandate distribution, shall be increased to reach such a number that not less than 60 percent of votes would be cast for the lists of candidates participating in the vote distribution.
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3.The quota of vote distribution shall be counted. It shall be equal to the sum of votes received by the lists participating in the vote distribution divided by the number 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 of the mandate distribution according to the lists. The received integer quotient shall be the number of mandates for each list according to the quota of the mandate distribution, and the remainders of this division shall be used to distribute the remaining mandates according to the remainders. Therefore, all names of the lists of candidates 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 possesses 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 of candidates according to the order of 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 accordance with the post-voting order of succession of candidates.
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Article 84Establishment and Proclamation of the Final Election Results
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1.The Central Electoral Committee shall approve the final election results after it has considered all complaints and established all election results in a particular constituency, but not later than within 7 days following the polls. The Central Electoral Committee shall approve without deliberation the decisions of those constituencies with regard to which within 3 days after the polls no complaints for the violation of this Law which had an essential effect on election results have been received from the representatives of the party which nominated the lists of candidates. Following approval by the Central Electoral Committee of its decision, the constituency electoral committee shall publish the constituency election results no later than within 2 days of the decision approval.
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2.If the Central Electoral Committee changes the decision of the constituency election committee or adopts a decision concerning a vacant municipal councillor’s seat, the Central Electoral Committee shall proclaim the election results and issue the councillor certificates no sooner than 7 days following this, and finish no later than within 10 days following the proclamation of the election results or the decision.
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3.The Central Electoral Committee shall refund the election deposits to the parties which have submitted the lists of candidates, who participated in the mandate distribution, with the exception of the deposits for the lists in those constituencies in which they did not participate during the elections when distributing mandates.
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4.The Central Electoral Committee shall within 3 months from the proclamation of the final election results publish a book about the election results and shall within 4 months transfer the vote counting records of polling districts and constituencies, application documents, minutes of the sittings and the decisions of the Central Electoral Committee, as well as the set of samples of election documents to the State Archives for unlimited preservation. After that the Central Electoral Committee may decide to destroy the election documents that are not subject to preservation.
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Article 85Declaration of the Election Invalid
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The Central Electoral Committee may declare the election results in the constituency invalid if it establishes that severe violations of this Law committed in the polling district or constituency, or the falsification of documents or the loss thereof had an essential effect on the election results, and the following essential results cannot be determined from the vote counting records or other election documents: it is possible to establish the number of lists of candidates participating in the distribution of mandates or the number of mandates going to a list of candidates only by more than one mandate accuracy.
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Article 86Run-off Elections
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1.Run-off elections shall be held, if the election to the council has been declared invalid in accordance with the procedure established by this Law.
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2.Run-off elections shall be held no later than within 3 months following the recognition of the elections invalid. The Central Electoral Committee shall also take a decision concerning the extension of the authorisation of the constituency electoral committee to hold run-off elections, to change its composition or to make up a new one. Further, run-off elections shall be held according to the procedure established by this Law. The election deposits of the parties submitting lists of candidates, who previously registered to participate in elections in this constituency, shall be counted.
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3.Upon declaring by the Central Electoral Committee the results of run-off elections in the constituency invalid, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania shall consider a motion made by the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities regarding introduction of direct rule into the municipality and set the date of by-elections to the council.
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Article 87Discontinuation of the Powers of a Municipal Councillor Prior to the Expiration of His Term of Office
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1.The powers of municipal councillor shall discontinue or he shall lose the right to hold office of municipal councillor:
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1)upon his resignation - namely, according to a resignation statement written down by the councillor himself. This statement of the councillor must be notarised or signed by the mayor of the municipality and the head of the party, which had nominated the councillor, or the councillor should personally submit it to the Central Electoral Committee;
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2)if he has failed to attend 3 consecutive municipal council meetings without a reasonable excuse - in accordance with the recommendation of the Commission of Ethics of the municipal council and the decision of the Central Electoral Committee;
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3)if the court declares him legally incompetent - in accordance with an effective decision of the court;
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4)according to an effective judgement of conviction of the court - in accordance with an effective judgement of the court;
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5)if he leaves for permanent residence outside the territory of a municipality the municipal councillor of which he has been elected – according to the notification of the municipal mayor and the information of the population register;
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6)if it comes to light that the councillor has violated the provisions of Article 89 - in accordance with an effective decision or judgement of the court;
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7)upon the death of the councillor - in accordance with the data of the Residents’ Register of the Republic of Lithuania;
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8)if the court takes a decision on the deportation of the councillor who is not a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania from the Republic of Lithuania - in accordance with an effective decision of the court;
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9)if he moves to the post incompatible with the post of municipal councillor or does not resign from such a post.
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2.Moreover, the powers of municipal councillor shall discontinue when direct rule is temporarily introduced within the territory of a municipality in accordance with the procedure laid down by law by the decision of the Seimas of the republic of Lithuania, with the exception of the cases temporary introduction of direct rule pertains to introduction of state of emergency within the territory of a municipality.
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3.A municipal councillor, before moving to the post which is incompatible with the post of municipal councillor under the Constitution, this and other laws, or who holds such post, shall personally submit to the municipal mayor or the Central Electoral Committee a written statement (statements) concerning the renouncement of a mandate of municipal councillor or mails such statement, upon having it notarised. A person who has not notified the Central Electoral Committee that he moves to the post incompatible with the post of municipal councillor or that he holds such post shall be held liable under the procedure laid down by the Code of Administrative Offences.
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4.The Central Electoral Committee shall, within 15 days from the occurrence of the grounds referred in paragraph 1 of this Article, recognise the powers of a municipal councillor as discontinued before the expiration of his term of office.
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Article 88Filling a Vacant Seat in the Council
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1.If the powers of a municipal councillor discontinue before the expiration of his term of office on the grounds specified in paragraph 1 of Article 87 of this Law, or a municipal councillor loses his mandate, a vacancy occurs in the council for the position of municipal councillor. It shall be filled in the following manner: the top candidate who did not receive a councillor mandate, from the post-voting list of candidates according to which the former councillor had been elected, shall become municipal councillor. If on this list of candidates there are no candidates who have not received mandates, the councillor’s mandate shall be transferred to another list according to the order of succession of the lists of candidates made after the election for the distribution of mandates by the method of remainders, i.e., that list which comes first following the list which was the last to receive its mandate according to this order of succession, and the first candidate, not having received his mandate who appears on the list with the newly-received mandate shall become municipal councillor.
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When the circumstances which constituted the grounds for recognising the powers of a municipal councillor as discontinued before the expiration of his term of office under subparagraph 5 or 9 of paragraph 1 of Article 87 of this Law, cease to exist, or when the circumstances due to which persons who were elected municipal councillors have lost the mandate of municipal councillor under Article 90 of this Law for the time period between elections cease to exist, they shall enjoy the right of precedence to be candidates who have not received the mandate of municipal councillor to fill a vacancy of municipal councillor in the post-voting list of candidates, if they submit within 15 days to the Central Electoral Committee a notarised request to recognize the positions on the post-voting list of candidates who have not received the mandate of municipal councillor.
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It shall be permitted to recognise only once a position of such persons on the post-voting list of candidates who have not received the mandate of municipal councillor. The Central Electoral Committee must take a decision concerning recognition of the mandate of municipal councillor for a new municipal councillor not later than within 7 days after the occurrence of a vacant seat in the council.
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2.If the person, who should receive the mandate of councillor in accordance with part 1 of this Article, is unable to become councillor according to Article 2 of this Law or if upon his becoming councillor, the provisions of Article 87 of this Law must apply to him immediately, this person shall then be passed over in the order of succession of the list of candidates for municipal councillor.
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Article 89Loss of the Mandate of Municipal Councillor because of the Failure to Disclose to Voters the Previous Conviction Imposed by the Court Judgement (Decision)
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1.Each candidate for the post of councillor must publicly announce if after 11 March 1990 he has been found guilty of the crime by the effective judgement (decision) of the court of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign state, or if he ever has been found guilty of the serious or grave crime by the effective judgement (decision) of the court of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign state. The candidate shall indicate such fact in the questionnaire of a candidate for councillor, regardless of the fact whether the previous conviction is over or not. An election poster of a list of candidates, issued by the electoral committee, must contain the following notice beside the surname of the candidate: “Has been found guilty by the court judgement\". This shall not be obligatory if the person was found guilty of the crime against the state by the court of the occupation regime.
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2.If the candidate has failed to indicate this and there is a court’s judgement (decision) which has become effective after 11 March 1990 by which the person has been found guilty of the crime, or if the person has been ever found guilty of the serious or grave crime by the effective judgement (decision) of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign state, the electoral committee shall not register him as a candidate for municipal councillor, and in the event it has already registered him, the Central Electoral Committee shall immediately cancel the registration. If the candidate has not indicated such fact and after the elections to the council it shall become established that there exists a judgement (decision) of the court of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign state by which the person has been found guilty of a certain criminal activity, the Central Electoral Committee shall within 15 days shall terminate his powers as councillor. These requirements and actions of electoral committees shall not apply if a person was found guilty of the crime against the state by the court of the occupation regime.
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Article 90Post Incompatible with the Post of Municipal Councillor, and the Loss of the Mandate of Municipal Councillor
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1.The post of municipal councillor shall be incompatible with the post of President of the Republic, Seimas member, European Parliament member, Government member, county governor or deputy county governor, Government representative in the county, Auditor General and his/her deputies. Moreover, the post of municipal councillor shall be incompatible with the post of civil servant employed with the Office of the Auditor General or the Office of Municipal Controller, with the post of director of the municipal administration and his/her deputy or the post of civil servant of the municipal administration, the post of head of a municipal budgetary establishment, the post of sole head and member of the collegiate management body of a municipal public establishment, municipal undertaking, the post of a member of the collegiate management body (board) of the companies controlled by a municipality or the post of head of a company controlled by a municipality.
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2.If a person holds the post that is incompatible with the post of municipal councillor under the Constitution, this or other laws, when elected a municipal councillor, he must decide and renounce the said post or a mandate of elected municipal councillor. An elected municipal councillor who decided to renounce the mandate of municipal councillor, shall, not later than 10 days left before the first sitting of a municipal council, submit to the Central Electoral Committee personally or by mailing a notarised application concerning the renouncement of the mandate of municipal councillor. Upon the receipt of this application, the Central Electoral Committee, in the capacity of the mandates commission, shall, not later than 7 days left before the first sitting of a municipal council, take a decision regarding the loss of the mandate of an elected municipal councillor and recognition of the mandate for a new municipal councillor.
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Candidates of the post-voting list of candidates for a vacancy in the seat of municipal councillor, who have decided to renounce the mandate of elected municipal councillor, must also submit to the Central Electoral Committee applications concerning the renouncement of the mandate of municipal councillor not later than 7 days left before the first sitting of a municipal council. If an elected municipal councillor does not notify not later than 10 days left before the first sitting of a municipal council the Central Electoral Committee that he renounces the post, which is incompatible under this Law with the post of municipal councillor, the Central Electoral Committee, in the capacity of the mandates commission, shall, not later than 7 days left before the first sitting of a municipal council, take a decision on the loss of the mandate of this municipal councillor.
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I promulgate this Law enacted by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
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PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC ALGIRDAS BRAZAUSKAS Appendix to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Elections to Municipal Councils LEGAL ACTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IMPLEMENTED BY THE LAW ON ELECTIONS TO MUNICIPAL COUNCILS Council Directive 94/80/EC of 19 December 1994 laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member Sate of which they are not nationals (OJ 2004 special edition, Chapter 20, Volume 1, p. 12) with the latest amendments adopted by Council Directive 2006/106/EC of 20 November 2006 (OJ 2006 L 363, p. 409).