Early voting for Sunday’s presidential election and referendum on dual citizenship got underway in Lithuania on Tuesday.
Eight politicians are vying for the presidency, including Gitanas Nauseda, the incumbent, who is seeking a second term.
Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte is running for the ruling conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats. The Freedom Party, another member of the ruling coalition, has nominated Dainius Zalimas, dean of the Faculty of Law at Vytautas Magnus University.
The Labor Party has named MP Andrius Mazuronis, its chairman, as its candidate, and the Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, another opposition party, is fielding Giedrimas Jeglinskas, a former deputy defense minister.
Ignas Vegele, a lawyer, Eduardas Vaitkus, a medical doctor, and Remigijus Zemaitaitis, leader of the Dawn of the Nemunas party, are standing as independent candidates.
Zemaitaitis has recently resigned as an MP after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had broken his oath of office and grossly violated the Constitution by his anti-Semitic statements.
Alongside Sunday’s presidential election, Lithuania is holding a binding referendum to allow dual citizenship.
The Central Electoral Commission has said early voting polling stations in all 60 municipalities will be open between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday through Thursday.
On Sunday, election day, polling stations across Lithuania will also open at 7 a.m. and close on 8 p.m.
A presidential runoff will take place on May 26 if none of the candidates wins an outright majority.
Source: BNS
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