Editing Elections in Lithuania (section)

== Presidential elections ==

=== Election process and eligibility ===

The [[President of Lithuania]] is the head of state of the country, elected to a five-year term in a majority vote. Elections take place on the last Sunday no more than two months before the end of current presidential term.<ref name="Constitution">{{cite web |url=http://www3.lrs.lt/home/Konstitucija/Constitution.htm |title=Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania |publisher=The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref>

[[File:2009 m. Respublikos Prezidento rinkimai Dalia Grybauskaitė 03.jpg|thumb|[[Dalia Grybauskaitė]] casting a vote in the 2009 presidential election]]To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 40 years old on the election day and reside in Lithuania for at least three years, in addition to satisfying the eligibility criteria for a member of the parliament. A person who has been removed from office through impeachment for breach of constitution or an oath of office may not be elected as a president.<ref name="PresidentLaw">{{cite web |url=http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=1040824 |title=Law on Presidential Elections |date= 14 May 2015 |publisher=The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref> This provision of the constitution had been ruled to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The president is elected in a majority vote if the voter turnout is at least 50%. If the voter turnout is less than 50%, the candidate is declared the winner only if they get the votes of at least 1/3 of all eligible voters. If there are more than two candidates and no candidate wins in the first round, a second round of voting is held on a Sunday no more than two weeks after the first round. The two leading candidates from the first round are eligible for the second round of voting and the candidate that gets more votes in the second round is declared the winner. If two or fewer candidates stand for election and none manage to win in the first round, a new election is held no more than three months after the election date.<ref name="PresidentLaw" />

=== Elections and results ===

Eight presidential elections have taken place in Lithuania since independence.

Algirdas Brazauskas, a former communist party leader, was the first elected president of independent Lithuania. [[1993 Lithuanian presidential election|Election]] took place on 14 February 1993, with Brazauskas defeating [[Stasys Lozoraitis]], a Lithuanian diplomat, who had spent almost all his life in Italy and the United States representing interwar Lithuania.<ref name=ash>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yFoDJUq4qjQC&pg=PA82 |title=Lithuania: the rebirth of a nation, 1991–1994 |first=Alexandra |last=Ashbourne |page=82 |publisher=Lexington Books |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7391-0027-1}}</ref> Brazauskas won with 60% of the vote.

Brazauskas did not stand in the [[Lithuanian presidential election, 1997–1998|1997-1998 presidential election]], held on 21 December 1997, with the second round on 4 January 1998. In the election, [[Artūras Paulauskas]], a former Prosecutor General of Lithuania won the first round with 44.7% of the vote, but was defeated in the second round by [[Valdas Adamkus]], a former US civil servant, who got 50% of the vote compared to 49.2% by Paulauskas.

Adamkus stood for reelection in the [[Lithuanian presidential election, 2002–2003]], which took place 22 December 2002, with the second round on 5 January 2003. After leading in the first round with 35.1% of the vote, Adamkus was convincingly defeated in the second round by [[Rolandas Paksas]], a former Prime Minister and Mayor of [[Vilnius]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2631745.stm |title=Profile: Rolandas Paksas |date=6 April 2004 |publisher=BBC |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref> who received 54.2% of the vote.

Rolandas Paksas was subsequently impeached and removed from office,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/world/lithuanian-parliament-removes-country-s-president-after-casting-votes-three.html?pagewanted=1 |title=Lithuanian Parliament Removes Country's President After Casting Votes on Three Charges |last1=Myers |first1=Steven Lee |date=7 April 2004 |work=The New York Times |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref> prompting early [[2004 Lithuanian presidential election|election in 2004]]. Valdas Adamkus became the first President of Lithuania to be elected for a second term, leading the first round with 30.2% of the vote and defeating [[Kazimiera Prunskienė]] in the second round with 51.8%.

Valdas Adamkus was not eligible to stand for reelection in 2009 due to term limits. In the [[2009 Lithuanian presidential election|election]] that took place on 17 May 2009, European Commissioner [[Dalia Grybauskaitė]] won in the first round with more than 68% of the vote. Grybauskaitė became the country's first female president.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/eem/0924-dalia-grybauskaite-becomes-the-first-woman-president-of-the-republic-of-lithuania |title=Dalia Grybauskaite becomes the first woman President of the Republic of Lithuania |date=18 May 2009 |publisher=Fondation Robert Schuman |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref>

Grybauskaitė was reelected in the [[2014 Lithuanian presidential election|2014 presidential election]] that took place on 11 May 2014, with a second round held on 25 May. Grybauskaitė received 45.9% of vote in the first round and defeated [[Zigmantas Balčytis]] in the second round with 57.9% of all votes. She became the first president of Lithuania to be reelected for a second consecutive term.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27571609 |title=Lithuania's Dalia Grybauskaite wins re-election after run-off |date=25 May 2014 |publisher=BBC |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref>

The [[2019 Lithuanian presidential election|2019 presidential election]] was held in two rounds on 12 and 26 May. Grybauskaitė was not eligible to stand for reelection due to term limits. In the first round, the two leading candidates, [[Ingrida Šimonytė]] and [[Gitanas Nausėda]], both received 31% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 m. gegužės 12 d. Respublikos Prezidento rinkimai (I turas) |url=https://www.vrk.lt/2019-prezidento/rezultatai?srcUrl=/rinkimai/904/1/1546/rezultatai/lt/rezultataiPreRezultatai.html |publisher=Central Electoral Commission |language=lt |date=2019-05-16}}</ref> Nausėda won in the second round with 66% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 m. gegužės 26 d. Respublikos Prezidento rinkimai (II turas) |url=https://www.vrk.lt/2019-prezidento/rezultatai?srcUrl=/rinkimai/904/2/1544/rezultatai/lt/rezultataiPreRezultatai.html |publisher=Central Electoral Commission |language=lt |date=2019-06-03}}</ref> Šimonytė would go on to be appointed prime minister following the [[2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election|2020 Seimas elections]].

Nausėda was reelected in the [[2024 Lithuanian presidential election|2024 presidential election]], which took place on 12 and 26 May. In the first round, the independent candidate Nausėda{{efn|name=nauseda|Supported by the [[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania]] and the [[Lithuanian Regions Party]]}} finished first with 44% of votes, while then-prime-minister Šimonytė of the [[Homeland Union]] finished second with 20%.<ref name="Official Results">{{cite web |title=2024 m. gegužės 12 d. Respublikos Prezidento rinkimai (I turas) |url=https://rezultatai.vrk.lt/?srcUrl=/rinkimai/1504/1/2070/rezultatai/lt/rezultataiPreRezultatai.html |publisher=Central Electoral Commission |language=lt |date=2024-05-19}}</ref> Nausėda won in the second round with 75% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |title=2024 m. gegužės 26 d. Respublikos Prezidento rinkimai (II turas) |url=https://www.vrk.lt/2024-prezidento/rezultatai?srcUrl=/rinkimai/1504/2/2068/rezultatai/lt/rezultataiPreLietuvoje.html |date=2024-06-01 |language=lt}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
!rowspan=2|Election
!colspan=2|Turnout, %
!colspan=3|Winner, vote %
!colspan=3|Runner-up, vote %
|-
!First round
!Second round
!
!First round
!Second round
!
!First round
!Second round
|-
|align=right|[[1993 Lithuanian presidential election|1993]]||78.07||-||align=left|[[Algirdas Brazauskas]]||60.03||-||align=left|[[Stasys Lozoraitis]]||38.28||-
|-
|align=right|[[Lithuanian presidential election, 1997-1998|1997-1998]]||71.45||73.66||align=left|[[Valdas Adamkus]]||27.56||49.96||align=left|[[Artūras Paulauskas]]||44.73||49.22
|-
|align=right|[[Lithuanian presidential election, 2002-2003|2002-2003]]||53.92||52.65||align=left|[[Rolandas Paksas]]||19.40||54.15||align=left|Valdas Adamkus||35.06||44.83
|-
|align=right|[[2004 Lithuanian presidential election|2004]]||48.40||52.46||align=left|Valdas Adamkus||30.18||51.83||align=left|[[Kazimiera Prunskienė]]||20.60||46.66
|-
|align=right|[[2009 Lithuanian presidential election|2009]]||51.76||-||align=left|[[Dalia Grybauskaitė]]||68.21||-||align=left|[[Algirdas Butkevičius]]||11.68||-
|-
|align=right|[[2014 Lithuanian presidential election|2014]]||52.23||47.37||align=left|[[Dalia Grybauskaitė]]||45.92||57.90||align=left|[[Zigmantas Balčytis]]||13.62||40.10
|-
|align=right|[[2019 Lithuanian presidential election|2019]]||57.37||53.88||align=left|[[Gitanas Nausėda]]||30.94||65.68||align=left|[[Ingrida Šimonytė]]||31.31||33.04
|-
|align=right|[[2024 Lithuanian presidential election|2024]]||59.95||49.74||align=left|[[Gitanas Nausėda]]||43.95||75.29||align=left|[[Ingrida Šimonytė]]||20.05||24.71
|}

==== Results of the 2024 election ====
{{excerpt|article=2024 Lithuanian presidential election}}