Council of Europe - Venice Commission

REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA – Electoral Code

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Article 46

Setting up of constituency and municipal electoral committees

1. Constituency and municipal electoral committees shall be set up by the Central Electoral Commission at least 95 days before the polling day in the following ways: 1) for the purposes of elections to the Seimas, constituency electoral committees shall be set up in single-member constituencies; 2) for the purposes of presidential elections, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections, a municipal electoral committee shall be set up in each municipality.

2. The constituency electoral committees set up for the purposes of elections to the Seimas shall consist of the following persons:

1) a holder of a higher education degree in law nominated by the Minister of Justice. Priority shall be given to persons residing or working on the territory of the municipality allocated, in whole or in part, to the constituency in question;

2) a holder of a higher education degree in law nominated by the Lithuanian Lawyers Association. Priority shall be given to persons residing or working on the territory of the municipality allocated, in whole or in part, to the constituency in question;

3) a career civil servant nominated by the director of the municipal administration and employed in the municipal administration of the municipality attributed, in whole or in part, to the constituency in question;

4) persons nominated by political parties or coalitions of political parties that had gained seats in the Seimas during the previous election to the Seimas in a multi-member constituency; and persons nominated by political parties to whom appropriations of the state budget are allocated for the purpose of financing political party activities (hereinafter: a ‘financed party’).

3. Municipal electoral committees set up for the purposes of presidential elections and elections to the European Parliament shall consist of the following persons:

1) a holder of a higher education degree in law nominated by the Minister of Justice. Priority shall be given to persons residing or working on the territory of the municipality in question;

3) a career civil servant nominated by the director of the municipal administration and employed in that municipal administration;

4) persons nominated by financed parties and persons nominated by political parties and coalitions of political parties whose candidates had gained seats in the Seimas in the previous election to the Seimas in a multi-member constituency.

4. Municipal electoral committees set up for the purposes of local elections and mayoral elections shall consist of the following persons:

1) a holder of a higher education degree in law nominated by the Minister of Justice. Priority shall be given to persons residing or working on the territory of the municipality in question;

3) a career civil servant nominated by the director of the municipal administration and employed in that municipal administration;

5) persons nominated by political parties and coalitions of political parties that had gained at least two seats in the municipal council during the previous local election.

5. A political committee or a coalition of political committees may nominate candidates to municipal electoral committees for the purposes of local and mayoral elections, provided these parties/coalitions had gained at least two seats in the municipal council in the previous municipal and mayoral elections. Political parties and coalitions of political parties may nominate candidates to electoral committees set up for the purposes of elections to the European Parliament, provided the said parties or coalitions had gained at least one seat in the previous election to the European Parliament.

6. The Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers Association and the director of the municipal administration may nominate more than one person to the constituency and municipal electoral committees.

7. Each political party that gained seats in the Seimas during the previous election to the Seimas in a multi-member constituency and each financed party shall have the right to nominate one candidate per constituency electoral committee and one candidate per municipal electoral committee. If a political party is eligible for nomination of candidates both as a financed party/political party that gained seats in the Seimas, and as a political party that gained seats in a municipal council, the party shall choose only one of these two options for nomination of its candidates. If a political party that was in coalition with other political parties fails or refuses to nominate its candidates, or chooses to nominate candidates based on the results of elections other than the coalition results, the remaining political parties that were in the coalition shall be entitled to nominate their candidate without the participation of that political party.

8. Nominations for work at constituency and municipal electoral committees shall be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission at least 102 days before the polling day. The Central Electoral Commission may not reject nominations that meet the requirements of this Code. In the absence of nominations, the Central Electoral Commission may additionally appoint to electoral committees the persons nominated by the Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers Association or the director of the municipal administration.

9. In any case, every electoral committee shall have at least three members appointed from among the nominations of the Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers Association and the director of the municipal administration. Where the number of these particular members is under three, the electoral committee shall be increased in size by appointing persons nominated by the Minister of Justice, the Lithuanian Lawyers Association or the director of the municipal administration. In any event, an electoral committee may not be composed of persons belonging to a single party.

10. If elections take place on the same day as other elections and a referendum, the same electoral committees shall be set up to meet all of these purposes. The Central Electoral Commission shall set up a single constituency/municipal electoral committee in each electoral territory and shall set out its functions to be carried out in the run-up to and during the parallel elections and the referendum.

11. Upon failure to meet the requirements of this Code or expiry of a mandate of a member of the electoral committee nominated by a political party, a political committee, a coalition, or a director of the municipal administration, the Central Electoral Commission shall first address the nominator for a new nomination.

12. The Central Electoral Commission shall appoint the chair of the constituency electoral committee and municipal electoral committee from among the members of that committee. The appointment to the position of the chair of a constituency/municipal electoral committee shall be limited to persons experienced in chairmanship or membership of the Central Electoral Commission, constituency electoral committee, or municipal electoral committee and persons experienced in chairmanship of a polling district electoral committee. The Central Electoral Commission shall appoint the chairs of constituency and municipal electoral committees in proportion to each entity that has nominated its candidates and in proportion to the total number of candidates proposed by each entity.

13. Each constituency electoral committee and municipal electoral committee shall elect its deputy chair and secretary at its first meeting.

14. Under Article 17, the Central Electoral Commission shall perform the functions of the single-member constituency(ies) of the Lithuanians of the world.