Lithuanians are confused: the question in the referendum ballot stunned – MadeinVilnius.lt

On May 12, not only presidential elections will be held, but also a referendum on the preservation of the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania (LR), in other words, the possibility of having dual citizenship. As the referendum approaches, more and more people complain that they do not understand the wording of the question, so it is not clear which answer to choose. Although the wording of the question was adopted by the resolution of the Seimas, the representative of the Central Election Commission (CEC) explained the referendum question in more detail.

“I am preparing to vote, I downloaded the referendum ballot. I can realistically say that my friends and I sat and tried to figure out which option is for dual citizenship. We didn’t understand.

There is no shortage of such complaints on social networks.

“I have no doubt that such wording will increase the number of those who did not vote according to their beliefs and turn voting into a lottery,” wrote a resident on the Facebook platform.

Discussions also took place among Lithuanians living abroad, for whom this issue is particularly relevant.

“Among Lithuanians in the United Kingdom, more than one discussion has arisen on this issue, people are asking how to vote, how to understand. The issue is extremely relevant, everyone is encouraged to register to vote, and people are simply confused,” the resident wrote.

The CEC has announced on its website how the ballot of the referendum on dual citizenship, which will take place on May 12 of this year, will look like.

A member of the initiative group of the referendum revealed why the question was formulated exactly like that

Less than a year ago, the Seimas, with a majority of parliamentarians’ votes, adopted the draft law submitted by the initiative group of Seimas members, in which this very text presented in the bulletin was formulated.

Therefore, the CEC, which prepared the draft of the referendum ballot, was obliged to move the question to be decided in the referendum exactly as the Seimas decided.

Dalia Asanavičiūtė, a member of the initiative group of the referendum and a member of the Seimas, answered the news portal tv3.lt why the question of the referendum was formulated exactly like this and not otherwise.

“Many expect to receive a question on the ballot: ‘Do you support the preservation of citizenship or not?’ It would be very simple, but if we held such a referendum, we would still need to change Article 12 of the Constitution in order to legalize the preservation of citizenship, dual citizenship, and it can only be changed by referendum. And because of that, a referendum on changing the wording of Article 12 of the Constitution is immediately held and the new wording is proposed to the people”, explained D. Asanavičiūtė.

She added that the new wording of the article is very similar to the current one, the second sentence is simply deleted, which regulates that only in individual cases a citizen of Lithuania can be a citizen of another state. When asked whether the complex wording could affect the results, the member of the Seimas did not agree.

“I think that the only thing that will affect the results is people’s activity in the referendum itself. If people will be active enough, I have no doubt that the result will be positive, because that was shown in 2019, when the formulation was very complicated, all the criteria were put together, it was very long, then it was also very unclear for people, but despite that, almost a million voted in favor, and about 200,000 were missing. votes for”, said the member of the Seimas.

D. Asanavičiūtė hoped that this discussion would increase voting activity during the referendum.

He explained the issue of the referendum

CEC press representative Indrė Ramanavičienė explained the wording of the referendum question to the news portal tv3.lt.

“In the referendum, the voters are asked whether they support the amendment of Article 12 of the Constitution by removing the sentence “Except for individual cases provided for by law, no one can be a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania and another state at the same time”.

It is this sentence that currently prevents the preservation of Lithuanian citizenship after acquiring the citizenship of another state.

With the wording as indicated in the referendum ballot, citizens will be sure that the text they will vote for will be in the Constitution, if the referendum takes place and its provision is adopted”, said I. Ramanavičienė.

When to mark YES or NO?

The essence of the referendum is that the citizens themselves, and not the members of the Seimas elected by them, vote for a specific text of the law. For this reason, the proposed amendment to the Constitution is presented to the voters in the referendum ballot.

“If the voter ticks the YES box on the ballot, they will approve the amendment of the Constitution and open the way for Lithuanian citizens to preserve the citizenship of our country acquired by birth in the event that they acquire the citizenship of another country friendly to Lithuania.

And if the voter votes NO, it means that he does not support the amendment of the Constitution and advocates for the current procedure to remain, when Lithuanians who have adopted the citizenship of other states lose their Lithuanian citizenship.

In such a case, if the referendum on the preservation of citizenship were to take place and the amendment was adopted, Article 12 of the Constitution would look exactly as indicated in the ballot,” explained the CEC representative.

At the end of last year, a survey conducted by “Spinter Research” showed that 3 out of 4 residents of the country believe that after acquiring the citizenship of another state, it would be important to preserve Lithuanian citizenship. At that time, more than half – 60 percent – planned to participate in the referendum. population of the country.

In order for the referendum to be considered to have taken place, more than half of the country’s citizens with the right to vote must participate in it. However, in order for the issue to be decided by the referendum to be accepted, more than half of all persons with the right to vote would have to speak in favor of it.

Photo: Agota Beresnevičiūtė, TV3.lt