“I have to share information about the fact that I still haven’t received the ballot, even though the presidential election is only four days away. I received confirmation of voting by mail in the United Kingdom (UK) by e-mail on April 19,” Lina, who lives in the UK, wrote to Delfi.
On May 7, the woman called the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in London, where she was offered to contact the CEC directly.
“I called the given number 10 times. Although the signal is good, no one picked up the phone. I sent a request by email. I got the answer,” said Lina.
He asked if he could come to vote in person
The reply mentions that, due to unforeseen circumstances, the voting committee at the embassy in London is sending postal voting documents to some voters who vote by post in the UK this week. Please send back the completed documents as soon as possible. The latest day is May 12, and the embassy must receive mail-in ballot materials from voters no later than May 17.
If, however, the documents are not received, the voter is asked about the possibility of coming to one of the polling stations to vote in person on the election day.
The woman then called the embassy in London again, and received an offer to apply to a voting group in the UK. Sent her a request and waiting for a reply.
“Rhetorical question – how did it happen that the CEC (its departments) did not find time to print the ballot paper since April 19?” I claim that this is unforgivable negligence and disrespect to the citizen of our country! Does Lithuania have to get the most important person from somewhere else?!”, the woman complained.
The CEC has received more such questions
The CEC has received a number of questions from voters registered to vote by post in the UK about when their ballot papers will arrive.
“CEC registered the candidates for President of the Republic on April 9. On the same day, ballot papers began to be printed. After receiving the ballots from the printing press, the CEC team organizing the overseas vote packed and organized the distribution to diplomatic missions, giving priority to those countries to which parcels travel the longest and postal services work slower than in Europe (eg Australia, New Zealand, etc.),” the CEC explained. press representative Indrė Ramanavičienė.
According to the representative of the CEC, the ballots were sent from Vilnius to the embassy in London several times and in parcels of different sizes, as the number of voters registered to vote in the UK has been constantly growing in recent weeks.
“After completing the necessary preparations, the members of the voting commission working at the embassy also sent the ballots to the voters in parts. Some voters have already received the ballots and even sent them to the embassy. We also see that Lithuanians in the United Kingdom are happy about voting on social networks as well”, said I. Ramanavičienė.
Some ballots are still on the way
According to information available to the CEC, the last package of ballots was delivered to the UK postal service Royal Mail this week, so some ballots are still on their way to the addresses indicated by voters.
“Now the number of letters with ballots depends only on the work speed of the postal service, so we very much hope that all registered voters will receive ballots and be able to vote successfully,” said I. Ramanavičienė.
She also noted that the voters must send the completed ballots back to the embassy no later than on the day of the election – May 12 (the date of sending will be checked by the postmark). Envelopes with ballots should reach the Embassy of Lithuania in London by May 17 at the latest, since May 19 (Sunday) morning, the CEC will confirm the final election results.
“We strongly encourage Lithuanians who vote by mail all over the world to fill out their ballots immediately after receiving them and send them as soon as possible to the Lithuanian diplomatic mission from which they received them. It is important that the ballots reach the embassies or consulates on time and that the voters’ votes are counted,” said I. Ramanavičiednė.
According to the CEC, almost 23,000 voters have registered to vote in the UK, of which almost 20.5% indicated that they would like to vote by post.
Registration to vote by mail has closed, but voters who want to vote in person can register to vote at the embassy in London and five additional locations right up until election day (inclusive).
1. East London, United KingdomLithuanian Academy/Chobhan Academy 40 Cheering Lane, Stratford, London E20 1BD, UK;
2. Leeds, United Kingdomat the Lithuanian school “Saulutė”/ Ukrainian Community Centre, 5 Newton Grove, Leeds LS7 4HW, UK;
3. Dungannon, United KingdomMULC Baltic Together, 39 Thomas Street, Dungannon BT70 1HN, UK;
4. Edinburgh, United KingdomGreyfriars Charteris Centre, 138/140 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9RR, UK;
5. Peterborough, United KingdomParca Ltd: Unity Hall, Northfields Road, Peterborough, PE1 3QH, UK.
“We understand voters’ expectation to receive ballots immediately after registration, but organizing voting abroad is a huge job that requires the contribution of more than one institution, so we ask for voters’ patience and understanding – both the CEC and Lithuanian diplomatic missions are doing their best to ensure that ballots reach voters on time.” , – assured the representative of the CEC.
Tags: woman ballot paper angry inexcusable negligence disrespect
