The Social Democratic Party (LSDP) emerged as the winner of Lithuania’s general elections, leading in the party list vote. However, the definite results and the composition of the country’s next government will not be known before the runoffs in two weeks.
The party list vote in the country-wide constituency will allocate 70 seats. A party must receive at least 5 percent, and a multi-party coalition at least 7 percent, of the national vote to qualify for the proportional representation seats:
Six party lists cleared the electoral threshold and will distribute the 70 multi-member constituency seats:
Social Democrats 18
Homeland Union 17
Dawn of the Nemunas 14
Democrats "For Lithuania" 8
Liberal Movement 7
Farmers and Greens Union 6
The remaining 71 members are elected in single-member constituencies. Eight candidates won these seats in the first round of voting, the remaining 63 constituencies will hold run-off races between two leading candidates on October 27.
Leaders of the Social Democratic Party (LSDP), which leads the party list vote, and the Democratic Union “For Lithuania” announced even before the ballot count was over that they would attempt to form the ruling coalition.
“We have decided to form the ruling majority together,” Vilija Blinkevičiūtė of the LSDP told journalists after a meeting with Saulius Skvernelis.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 and closed at 20:00.
A total of 2,375,800 citizens are on the electoral rolls. Slightly more than half, 52 percent, voted.
Before the election day, 238,540 voters, cast their ballots during the three days of advance voting, at home, or at special polling stations.
On Sunday, the main election day, a ban on campaigning came into force at midnight, seven hours before voting started.
Lithuania will elect 141 MPs, 71 in single-member constituencies and 70 are elected in a nationwide vote based on open list proportional representation.
Each voter is therefore casting two ballots.
A total of 1,740 politicians are standing for election to the Seimas. Parties are fielding 15 lists of candidates.
A party must receive at least 5 percent, and a multi-party coalition at least 7 percent, of the national vote to qualify for the proportional representation seats.
In a single-mandate constituency, a candidate must receive at least 20 percent of the votes of all eligible voters in order to be elected.
If no candidate clears the mark, two leading candidates will advance to the run-offs to be held in two weeks, on October 27.
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