On May 7-9, you can vote in advance in the elections of the President of the Republic of Lithuania and in the referendum on the amendment of Article 12 of the Constitution. In Kaunas, you can perform your civic duty in two places.
Voter turnout
Normally, it was possible to vote in advance in municipal buildings, but the Kaunas City Municipality is currently conducting military exercises “Thunderstorm 2024”, so the city proposed to hold early elections in the central building of the Vytautas Didios University (VDU), located in S. Daukant st. 28. It is also possible to vote in advance in the municipality of Kaunas district, located on Savanorių pr. 371.
Pre-election polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 7-9. You can vote in advance in any municipality, regardless of where the voters declared their place of residence.
On the first day of preliminary elections in Kaunas, voters did not form long queues at the ballot boxes. It is true that during lunch I had to stand in line for a while until the ballots were issued, but the line itself moved quite quickly.
“People have been voting since the morning, but there are not very many of them, it became more active before lunch, but the overall voter turnout is still not very high. We notice that not only Kaunas residents come to vote, but also people from all over Lithuania. If those who have declared departure come to vote, it takes a little longer to check whether the person voted abroad,” said Elena Skirmantienė, chairman of the Kaunas City Election Commission.
Photo of regiment Zakshensk.
“This time, early voting is taking place in a different place, so maybe less people know about it. In the municipality, we could have seated more commission members to work, but there is less space here. However, it is still a convenient place in the very center of Kaunas. There were no incidents, voting is going smoothly”, added E. Skirmantienė.
An important choice
Eight candidates are participating in the presidential elections of the Republic of Lithuania: Andrius Mazuronis, Giedrimas Jeglinskas, Dainius Žalimas, Ingrida Šimonytė, Gitanas Nausėda, Eduardas Vaitkus, Ignas Vėgėlė and Remigijus Žemaitaitis.
Some voters who cast their votes in advance assured the portal kauno.diena.lt that it was easy to choose this time, others took the opposite position and said that there are no noteworthy candidates in these presidential elections, so they chose based on what they heard in the debates.
“It was very easy. The president must be honest, tolerant and fair to all. In the past, I always went to vote in the municipality, because there are situations when you can vote in your neighborhood during regular elections, so now I also came to the VDU,” said Gintautas.
I watched the debates, they talk to each other, you don’t always understand what ideas they are proposing.
“I liked several candidates, but I decided to put a check mark on the one with more experience,” said Mrs. Danutė.
“I watched the debates, they talk to each other, you don’t always understand what ideas they propose. Some populists appeared, promising something that is not within the competence of the president, and such candidates were rejected. This year it is very difficult to choose, because there is no one who really represents Lithuania”, – Renata had criticisms of the candidates.
Unclear wording
A referendum on the amendment of Article 12 of the Constitution is taking place together with the elections of the President of the Republic of Lithuania. This provision would allow the preservation of Lithuanian citizenship, even if the person received a passport of another country. Interviewed voters were cautious about the amendment to the Constitution, as they found the wording to be unclear.
“I don’t quite understand what you want to say with that article. A law is named, in which something should be noted in more detail, but no one will read it. I talked with my granddaughter, she said to mark “Yes”, so I marked it in the ballot,” admitted Mrs. Onutė.
She was seconded by Jonas, who was met at the polling stations, saying that the wording is too long and complicated, which makes it difficult for older people to understand.
Photo of regiment Zakshensk.
“I voted, although I don’t know exactly for what. Apparently, only in the future will we find out if my choice was successful,” said the man.
Younger voters testified that although the wording was complicated, they were interested in what such a change to the Constitution would bring, so they supported the referendum. “The more citizens Lithuania will have, the richer we will be in every sense. Lithuania needs those people who live abroad, and they need Lithuania,” said Justas.
There were those who admitted that they voted only in the Presidential elections and did not take the referendum ballot, but there are not many such voters. Others interviewed said that since the referendum has already been held, everyone must cast their vote, no matter what position they support. Only in this case, the referendum will take place and the will of the people will be revealed.
Photo of regiment Zakshensk.
