Referendum in Lithuania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lithuania
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Lithuania

Constitution President Valdas Adamkus Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas Parliament Political parties Elections Refrenda Counties EU Politics Foreign relations Ministers of Foreign Affairs
Other countries • Politics Portal view • talk • edit

There have been nine referenda in Lithuania since it declared independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990. Because of strict requirements only four referenda were successful. Older Lithuanian laws required that more than a half of all registered voters (not a half of voters who participate) would vote in support of a proposal in order for it to become a binding obligation to the government. In 2002, this requirement was lowered to one third of all registered voters.

The procedure to call for a referenda is also challenging. The initiators need to present 300,000 signatures of registered voters in three months or the Seimas, Parliament of Lithuania, has to approve it by a fourth of all the members of the Seimas. Despite the difficulties, the idea to call referenda is very popular among the politicians.

1 2002 law changes
2 Referenda results
3 Notes
4 References

[edit] 2002 law changes

In anticipation of referendum regarding the membership in the European Union, the Law on Referendum was passed on June 4, 2002.

The law prescribes that the voting is conducted based on democratic principles: universal, direct, and equal suffrage and secret ballot. There are two types of referenda: mandatory and consultative (deliberative). Mandatory referenda must be held to:

amend Chapters 1 (The State of Lithuania) and 14 (Amending the Constitution) of the Constitution of Lithuania
amend the June 8, 1992 Constitutional Act, "On Non-Alignment of the Republic of Lithuania to Post-Soviet Eastern Alliances"
approve participation in international organizations if membership requires partial transfer of the scope of competence of Government bodies to the institutions of international organizations or the jurisdiction
other mandatory or consultative referenda might be held if enough registered voters express support by signing the petition which specify what type of referenda it should be.

The law lowered the requirements for number of votes needed to approve the resolution. For consultative referenda, a half of all registered voters need to participate and a half of those participating need to vote in favor. Seimas then have a month to decide on the resolution. For mandatory referenda, instead of a half of all registered voters it now demands one third. In addition, more than a half of all voters need to participate and of those participating a half needs to vote in favor. There are exceptions to this rule:

To change the first sentence ("The State of Lithuania shall be an independent, democratic Republic") of the Constitution and to amend the Constitutional Act of June 8, 1992 it requires approval of at least three-fourths of all the citizens registered to vote.
To amend Chapter 1 and 14 of the Constitution it requires approval of more than half of all the registered voters.
The decision on the participation in international organizations will be adopted if it has been approved by more than one half of the voters who have participated in the referendum. This exception was adopted on February 25, 2003, just 2.5 months before the referendum on the European Union.

The law also lowered the number of Seimas votes needed to announce a referendum from one third to one forth. However, the requirememnts for citizen initiated referendum are the same: they need to collect 300,000 signatures of registered voters in three monts.

[edit] Referenda results

Te successful referenda are marked in light green, while failed ones are in pink. The color denotes which number was used to determine the outcome. Two referenda failed on two counts: they not only did not receive support from more than 50% of all registered voters, but also less than 50% of the voters came to vote. They are deemed not to have taken place.

#	Date	Topic	Voter turnout (%)	Voted "Yes" (%)		Voted "No" (%)
#	Date	Topic	Voter turnout (%)	from total^[1]	from voters^[1]	from total^[1]	from voters^[1]
1	February 9, 1991	Demand independence from the Soviet Union	84.74	76.46	90.24	5.54	6.54
2	May 23, 1992	Restore the institution of the President of Lithuania	59.18	40.99	69.27	15.13	25.57
3	June 14, 1992	Demand immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and compensation for demages from the Soviet Union	76.05	68.95	90.67	5.51	7.25
4	October 25, 1992	Approve the Constitution of Lithuania	75.26	56.75	75.42	15.78	20.98
5	August 27, 1994	Pass Law on Illegal Privatization, Depreciated Deposits, and Broken Laws	36.89	30.85^[2]	83.63^[2]	3.81^[2]	10.34^[2]
6	October 20, 1996	Amend Articles 55, 57, and 131 of the Constitution of Lithuania	52.11	33.86^[3]	65.00^[3]	9.18^[3]	17.63^[3]
7	October 20, 1996	Should the deposits be compensated by funds acquired from privatization	52.46	38.97	74.31	10.01	19.10
8	November 10, 1996	Amend Article 47 of the Constitution of Lithuania	39.73	17.24	43.41	15.91	40.05
9	May 10-11, 2003	Approve Lithunia's membership in the European Union	63.37	57.00	89.95	5.59	8.82

[edit] Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The phrase "from total" means a percentage from the total number of registered voters. In order for a referendum to be sucessful it must be higher than 50%. The phrase "from voters" means a percentage from the voters who participated in the referenda.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The ballot included 8 distinct statements. Only numbers for the first statement are shown as the results for other statements differ only slightly.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The ballot included three distinct statements. Only numbers for the first statement are shown as the results for other statements differ only slightly.