Editing Elections in Lithuania (section)

== European elections ==

=== Election process and eligibility ===

Lithuania joined the [[European Union]] in 2004. In the same year, the first election took place for 13 seats in the [[European Parliament]] allocated to Lithuania. As of 2014, the number of seats allocated to Lithuania was 11,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/us/en/elections_2014.html |title=European Parliament 2014 |publisher=European Parliament Liaison Office with U.S. Congress |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref> down from 12 in 2009. Members of the parliament are elected by proportional representation for a five-year term.<ref name="EuropeanLaw">{{cite web |url=http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=1044648 |title=Law on elections to the European Parliament |publisher=The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref>

Ordinary elections take place on a Sunday on the same day as in other EU countries. Early voting is available during Wednesday and Thursday before the election. Mail-in voting and at-home voting is available for eligible voters. The vote is open to all citizens of Lithuania, as well as citizens of other EU countries that permanently reside in Lithuania, who are at least 18 years old on the election day.<ref name="EuropeanLaw" />

To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 21 years old on the election day, citizen of Lithuania or citizen of another EU country permanently residing in Lithuania. Candidates are not allowed to stand for election in more than one country. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the election are not eligible. Also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments may not stand for election.<ref name="EuropeanLaw" />

The seats are allocated to the participating political parties or lists proportionally to the share of vote received. Parties or lists receiving less than 5% of the vote are not eligible to receive any seats, unless the remaining eligible parties received less than 60% of the vote.<ref name="EuropeanLaw" />

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.

=== Elections and results ===

Five elections to the European Parliament have taken place in Lithuania.

The [[2004 European Parliament election in Lithuania|election in 2004]] took place on 13 June 2004, together with the second round of the presidential election, resulting in a relatively high turnout of 48%. As with later elections, the election campaign in 2004 centered around domestic issues and not European policies, and populist parties featured prominently. The election was a disappointment for the governing Social Democrats, who received only 2 of the 13 seats, and their partners in the government, New Union (Social Liberals), who failed to win a seat. The biggest winners in the election were the populist Labor Party, who contested their first national election and walked away with 5 seats in the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Routledge Handbook of European Elections |editor1-last=Viola |editor1-first=Donatella M. |publisher=Routledge |page=532 |date=2016 |isbn=9780415592031}}</ref>

The [[2009 European Parliament election in Lithuania|election in 2009]] took place on 7 June 2009. The onset of the financial crisis after years of economic growth led to economic and social security issues dominating the election agenda, despite the limited influence the European Parliament has over the economy of Lithuania.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Routledge Handbook of European Elections |editor1-last=Viola |editor1-first=Donatella M. |publisher=Routledge |page=540 |date=2016 |isbn=9780415592031}}</ref> The election took place just three weeks after the presidential election and achieved a voter turnout of only 21% - the lowest turnout in any elections in post-communist Lithuania and one of the lowest in Europe. The election was a success for the governing Homeland Union, which increased its share of vote to more than 26%, up from 19.7% in the parliamentary election six months before. Homeland Union won 4 seats in the European Parliament, compared to 3 achieved by opposition Social Democrats.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Routledge Handbook of European Elections |editor1-last=Viola |editor1-first=Donatella M. |publisher=Routledge |pages=541–542 |date=2016 |isbn=9780415592031}}</ref>

The [[2014 European Parliament election in Lithuania|election in 2014]] took place on 25 May 2014. In a close election, governing Social Democrats and Order and Justice parties, as well as opposition Homeland Union and Liberal Movement won two seats each, with Homeland Union getting the highest share of the vote - 17.43%. The election was held together with the run-off of the presidential election, leading to a turnout of over 47%.

The [[2019 European Parliament election in Lithuania|election in 2019]] took place on 26 May 2019. The Homeland Union and the Social Democratic Party, both in the opposition, won the most votes, securing 19.74% of the vote (3 seats) and 15.88% (2 seats) respectively. The ruling Peasant and Greens Union also won 2 seats, although its coalition partners—Order and Justice and the [[Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania|Social Democratic Labour Party]]—failed to earn any seats. The turnout was high at 53.48% because the vote was held in concert with the [[2019 Lithuanian presidential election|presidential election]].

The [[2024 European Parliament election in Lithuania|election in 2024]] took place on 9 June 2024. The ruling Homeland Union and opposition Social Democrats retained their allocations of three and two seats respectively, while six other parties secured one seat apiece. Voter turnout declined to 28.94%. Analysts attributed the low turnout to the fact that the [[2024 Lithuanian presidential election|2024 presidential election]] was held separately,<ref name=gudzinskas>{{cite web |last1=Gudžinskas |first1=Liutauras |title=Lithuania – last bastion of pro-European parties: crumbling or still in place? |url=https://feps-europe.eu/lithuania-last-bastion-of-pro-european-parties-crumbling-or-still-in-place/ |website=Foundation for European Progressive Studies |date=13 June 2024}}</ref> among other potential causes,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gaučaitė-Znutienė |first1=Modesta |title=Why could Lithuanian EP election turnout fall to historic low? |url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2288386/why-could-lithuanian-ep-election-turnout-fall-to-historic-low |publisher=LRT.lt |language=en |date=4 June 2024}}</ref> and noted that the decline in voter participation likely helped the Homeland Union.<ref name=gudzinskas /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Jegelevičius |first1=Linas |title=Lithuania’s EP election result offer a sneak peek into parties’ chances in October |url=https://bnn-news.com/bnn-analyses-lithuanias-ep-election-result-offer-a-sneak-peek-into-parties-chances-in-october-258003 |work=Baltic News Network |date=13 June 2024}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
!rowspan=3|Political party/list
!colspan=10|Election
|-
!colspan=2|[[2004 European Parliament election in Lithuania|2004]]
!colspan=2|[[2009 European Parliament election in Lithuania|2009]]
!colspan=2|[[2014 European Parliament election in Lithuania|2014]]
!colspan=2|[[2019 European Parliament election in Lithuania|2019]]
!colspan=2|[[2024 European Parliament election in Lithuania|2024]]
|-
!Seats
!% of votes
!Seats
!% of votes
!Seats
!% of votes
!Seats
!% of votes
!Seats
!% of votes
|-
|align=left|[[Labour Party (Lithuania)|Labour Party]]||5||30.16||1||8.56||1||12.38||1||8.99||-||1.66
|-
|align=left|[[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania]]||2||14.43||3||18.12||2||17.26||2||15.88||2||17.98
|-
|align=left|[[Homeland Union|Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats]]||2||12.58||4||26.16||2||17.43||3||19.74||3||21.33
|-
|align=left|[[Liberal and Centre Union]]||2||11.23||-||3.38||-||1.48||-||-||-||-
|-
|align=left|[[Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union|Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union]]||1||7.41||-||1.82||1||6.61||2||12.56||1||9.13
|-
|align=left|[[Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania]]||-||5.71||1||8.20||1||8.05||1||5.50||1||5.78
|-
|align=left|[[Order and Justice]]{{efn|The party ran in the 2004 European Parliament election under its former name 'Liberal Democratic Party'.}}||1||6.83||2||11.90||2||14.25||-||2.73||-||-
|-
|align=left|[[Liberal Movement (Lithuania)|Liberal Movement]]||-||-||1||7.17||2||16.55||1||6.59||1||5.42
|-
|align=left|[[People and Justice Union]]{{efn|The party also ran in European Parliament elections under its former name 'Lithuanian Centre Party'.}}||-||0.30||-||3.09||-||-||-||5.13||1||5.45
|-
|align=left|[[Freedom Party (Lithuania)|Freedom Party]]||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||1||8.10
|-
|align=left|[[Union of Democrats "For Lithuania"]]||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||1||5.95
|-
|align=left|Elected independents||-||-||-||-||-||-||1||6.51||-||-
|-
|align=left style="background: #E9E9E9;"|Total seats
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|13
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|12
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|11
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|11
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|11
|-
|align=left style="background: #E9E9E9;"|Voter Turnout
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|48.32%
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|20.98%
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|47.35%
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|53.48%
|colspan=2 style="background: #E9E9E9;" align=center|28.94%
|}