Editing Elections in Lithuania (section)

=== Election process and eligibility ===

Each municipality in Lithuania is governed by a municipal council and a mayor, who is a member of the municipal council. The number of members, elected on a four-year term, in each municipal council depends on the size of the municipality and varies from 15 (in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents) to 51 (in municipalities with more than 500,000 residents). 1,524 municipal council members were elected in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vrk.lt/naujienos/-/content/10180/1/vrk-prieme-svarbius-sprendimus-artejanciu-savivaldybiu-tarybu-rinkimu-klausimais |title=VRK priėmė svarbius sprendimus artėjančių savivaldybių tarybų rinkimų klausimais |language=lt |trans-title=CEC took important decisions regarding the upcoming election to municipal councils |date=23 September 2014 |publisher=Central Electoral Commission |access-date=31 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212040822/http://www.vrk.lt/naujienos/-/content/10180/1/vrk-prieme-svarbius-sprendimus-artejanciu-savivaldybiu-tarybu-rinkimu-klausimais |archive-date=12 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Members of the council, with the exception of the mayor, are elected using proportional representation. Starting with 2015, the mayor is elected directly by the majority of residents of the municipality.<ref name="MunicipalLaw">{{cite web |url=http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=491878 |title=Law on elections to municipal councils |publisher=The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref> Before 2015, the mayors were elected by the municipal councils. Ordinary elections take place on a date proclaimed by the parliament no earlier than two months and no later than a month before the end of the current term.

To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 20 years old on the election day and permanently reside in the respective municipality. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the election are not eligible. Also, residents performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments may not stand for election.<ref name="MunicipalLaw" />

The mayor is elected in a majority vote if the voter turnout in the constituency is at least 40%. If the voter turnout is less than 40%, the candidate with the most votes (and at least 20% of the votes) is declared the winner. If there are more than two candidates and no candidate wins in the first round, a second round of voting is held within 15 days. The two leading candidates from the first round are eligible for the second round of voting. The candidate that gets more votes in the second round is declared the winner, regardless of voter turnout.<ref name="MunicipalLaw" />

Council seats (other than the seat of the mayor) are allocated to the participating political parties proportionally to the share of vote received. Parties receiving less than 4% of the vote and joint multi-party electoral lists receiving less than 6% of the vote are not eligible to receive any seats, unless the remaining eligible parties received less than 60% of the vote.<ref name="MunicipalLaw" />

Candidates take the seats allocated to their parties based on the preference lists submitted before the election. The preference lists are adjusted by preference votes given by the voters.