Some Lithuanians living abroad say they didn’t get to vote in Sunday’s presidential election and citizenship referendum despite registering to vote by post in advance. The Central Electoral Commission (VRK) confirmed that it received dozens of complaints from citizens abroad who did not receive their ballot papers on time.
Tomas Matulionis, who lives in Boston, UK, says that neither he nor his wife received their ballot papers, although they registered to vote by post on April 15 and received confirmation of their registration by email.
“I wanted to vote by post because of the nature of my work. We didn’t have the opportunity to vote in person. Such an attitude towards Lithuanian citizens abroad has become the rule,” he said.
Inesa, another Lithuanian living in Birmingham, UK, was also disappointed. According to her, neither she nor her friends living in Birmingham and Bristol received their ballot papers.
“It will be sad if the same scenario happens with the presidential election runoff, the European Parliament and the parliamentary elections because the embassy is not prepared,” she said. “It would be interesting to hear what the embassy has to say about this, as I have not seen any explanation yet as to why the sending of the ballot papers was left to the last minute.”
On the Facebook page of the Lithuanian Embassy in the UK, there are dozens of comments from outraged Lithuanians living in the country. People say that they did not receive their ballot papers at all or received them when it was too late to send them back.
The Lithuanian Embassy in the UK confirmed to LRT.lt that it had received phone calls and emails from people complaining of not receiving their ballot papers as the voting day approached.
According to the embassy, it had agreed with the VRK on the timetable for sending the voting documents and all the documents should have reached it by May 2. However, the shipments of documents were detained at UK customs for screening procedures.
“The first envelopes with the voting documents were sent on May 2. The last voting documents were sent to voters on May 7,” the embassy said.
The Lithuanian diplomatic mission in London also stated that it had actively invited voters who had not received their voting documents to come to the embassy to vote in person, as well as to additional polling stations in East London, Leeds, Edinburgh, Peterborough, and Dungannon.
“The VRK is responsible for organising and running the elections. Due to problems with UK customs, it has been decided that for the EP and parliamentary elections, the VRK will send the ballot papers through the Foreign Ministry through the diplomatic post, which is faster and will not get stuck in UK customs. The embassy will continue to do its utmost to ensure that voting documents reach voters on time,” it stated.
Voting in Norway
The ballot papers did not reach some Lithuanians living in Norway either. One of them is Jūratė Milaševičiūtė, who says she registered to vote by post on February 28.
“The situation is extraordinary, and I’m very disappointed because I was working on Sunday and could not go to Oslo to vote. For me, this vote was very important not only because of the presidential election but also because of the citizenship referendum,” she said.
The Lithuanian Embassy in Norway told LRT.lt that a record number of Lithuanian citizens living in Norway – over 4,800 – registered to vote in the presidential election and citizenship referendum this year. According to the embassy, 79 percent of them registered to vote by post.
“The packing of the envelopes with the ballot papers starts one month before the elections. The initial stage of this work is carried out in Vilnius and the first parcel reached the Lithuanian Embassy in Oslo on April 22,” the embassy said in a written response.
“The first envelopes with ballot papers started to be sent to Lithuanian citizens on April 24 and the last letter was sent on May 2,” it added.
However, the embassy admitted that it received 15 enquiries from Lithuanian citizens who did not receive their ballot papers.
“All enquiries have been checked, and the letters with the ballot papers have been sent. The fact that May 1 and May 9 are public holidays in Norway may have prevented the letters from reaching their addressees on time,” the embassy explained.
The embassy also reminded the voters that they have the right to go to the polling station on election day, even if they have registered to vote by post.
“Then, the vote cast on polling day is counted. If the polling station subsequently receives the same voter’s voting documents by post, they are not counted. On May 12, 10 such voters from different parts of Norway came to the embassy in Oslo and had the opportunity to vote,” it said.
Letters sent on time
The VRK has received several dozen complaints from voters who registered to vote but never received their ballot papers. However, the VRK sent all the ballot papers on time, according to its spokesperson Indrė Ramanavičienė
“The VRK registered the presidential candidates on April 9. On the same day, the printing of the ballot papers started. After receiving the ballot papers from the printer, the team of the VRK organising the voting abroad packed them and organised the distribution to the diplomatic missions, giving priority to the countries with the longest delivery times,” she said.
“After the necessary preparations, the members of the voting commission working in the embassies and consulates also sent the ballot papers to the voters in batches, starting with the earliest registered voters,” Ramanavičienė added.
According to her, the ballot papers were sent to all voters registered to vote abroad by post. Voters had to send the completed ballot papers back to the embassy no later than election day, May 12.
“The envelopes with the ballot papers should reach the Lithuanian embassies and consulates by Friday, May 17, at the latest, and on Saturday, they will be counted and entered into the VRK’s information system, as the VRK will certify the final election and referendum results of on the morning of Sunday, May 19,” she said.
The VRK spokesperson noted that the arrival of the letters with the ballot papers depends on the speed of the national postal services.
“We understand voters’ frustration if their ballot papers have not reached them by May 12. Organising voting abroad is a huge job that requires contributions from several institutions. The staff of the VRK and the Lithuanian diplomatic missions did their utmost to ensure that the ballot papers reached the voters on time,” Ramanavičienė said.
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