Registration of candidates
1. The Central Electoral Commission shall take a decision in favour or against registering a candidate and/or a list of candidates at least 31 days before polling day.
2. A candidate and/or a list of candidates shall be registered provided all the application documents and forms for the collection of electoral signatures which meet the requirements of this Code and other legal acts have been submitted and the candidate meets the requirements laid down in this Code.
3. A person shall acquire the legal status of a candidate upon registration.
4. Candidate registration shall be denied or cancelled upon the establishment of at least one of the following circumstances:
1) failure of the candidate to meet the requirements of this Code;
2) submission of incomplete or deficient application documents containing false information;
3) failure of the submitted application documents to meet the requirements of this Code and other legal acts;
4) forgery of voter signatures on nominating petitions;
5) violation of the procedure for collecting voter signatures or other requirements laid down in this Code during the collection of signatures;
6) loss of the status of an independent participant by the candidate or by the political party/political committee that had nominated the candidate;
7) gross violation of the prohibition on bribing voters or of the rules for financing political campaigns set out in this Code;
8) pre-trial investigation initiated on the candidate, in which case candidate registration shall be cancelled at the request of the political organisation that had nominated the candidate or at the request of the nominated candidate;
9) the candidate’s death.
5. The list of candidates shall not be registered or its registration shall be cancelled upon the establishment of at least one of the following circumstances:
1) submission of incomplete application documents (failure to pay the electoral deposit);
2) failure to meet the requirements for lists of candidates set out in this Code;
3) forgery of voter signatures on nominating petitions;
4) violation of the procedure for collecting voter signatures or other requirements laid down in this Code during the collection of signatures;
5) loss of the status of an independent participant by the list of candidates or the political party/political committee;
6) gross violation of the prohibition on bribing voters or of the rules for financing political campaigns set out in this Code.
6. If, having registered a candidate or a list of candidates, the Central Electoral Commission finds out that that candidate or the list of candidates fails to meet the requirements set out in Articles 80(4) and 80(5), it shall cancel the registration of that candidate or that list of candidates not later than 12 days before polling day. If less than 12 days are left before polling day or if the circumstances set out in in Articles 80(4) and 80(5) are established after the elections, the Central Electoral Commission shall take a decision on the cancellation of the registration of the candidate or the list of candidates after polling day, but not later than by the date of the confirmation of the final election results.
7. If a registration of a list of candidates is cancelled, the votes cast for the list shall be invalidated. If a candidate’s registration is cancelled, the votes cast for the candidate in a single-member constituency and/or the preference votes cast for the candidate in a multi-member constituency shall be invalidated. Where the votes cast are recognised to be invalid, the decision may be taken under the procedure set out in Article 181 to recognise the elections invalid.
8. If a self-nominated or nominated candidate at an election to the Seimas, presidential election, local election, mayoral election, or election to the European Parliament fails to indicate in the candidate’s questionnaire having knowingly collaborated with the special services of the former USSR, the Central Electoral Commission shall check the candidate’s data in this respect not later than 32 days before polling day by addressing the state institution storing the data on the collaboration of individuals with the special services of the former USSR. Upon receipt by the Central Electoral Commission of data from the competent authority that confirms a candidate’s collaboration with the special services of the former USSR, the Central Electoral Commission shall refuse to register the candidate or shall immediately cancel the registration, where it already exists; the Central Electoral Commission shall also publish this decision on its website. Should it be established, after elections and under the procedure set out by law, that a candidate had deliberately collaborated with the special services of the former USSR and failed to inform the Central Electoral Commission thereof, this shall be considered a gross violation of this Code.
9. Should the grounds be established, less than 12 days before polling day, for cancellation of the registration of a candidate or a list of candidates, the Central Electoral Commission shall use media to inform the voters about the cancellation of the registration of a candidate or a list of candidates ahead of the confirmation of the final results, the upcoming invalidation of the votes cast for that candidate or list of candidates and the possibility of the elections being declared invalid.
