2024-05-13 20:59:42
According to preliminary data released by the Central Election Commission after almost all votes were counted, 1,396,828 people or 59% of the voters participated in the referendum held on Sunday.
Of these, 1,011,014 people, or 73.9%, supported the proposed changes in the citizenship question, but that was not enough.
In order for the citizenship amendment to be adopted in the constitution, at least half of the eligible voters must vote for it. In total, there were 2,385,234 people on the voter lists this year. Therefore, it was necessary to collect 1,192,617 votes to support the amendments to the Basic Law of the country.
Also in May 2019, together with the presidential elections in Lithuania, a referendum was held on expanding the possibility of granting dual citizenship in Lithuania, but even then the support for this idea turned out to be insufficient.
Although dual citizenship was supported in the referendum by more than 900,000 voters, or 73% of all those who voted, the adoption of the constitutional amendment was about 300,000 votes short.
The legally binding referendum on Sunday was about the constitutional norm that regulates the procedure for obtaining citizenship.
Currently, Article 12 of the Constitution reads as follows: “Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania can be acquired by birth or on other grounds provided for by law. Except for the cases specified by law, no one can be a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania and another country at the same time. The procedure for acquiring or losing the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania is determined with law.”
On the other hand, the referendum voted for this article in the following wording: “Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania can be acquired by birth or with other grounds and procedures established by the constitutional law. The constitutional law also determines the grounds and procedures for losing the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania.”
If such a wording were adopted in the referendum, the ban on dual citizenship would be deleted from the Basic Law of Lithuania.
More precise conditions, process and other issues related to the acquisition of dual citizenship are intended to be determined in the constitutional law. Such a bill has already been submitted to the Seimas.
Article 12 of the Lithuanian Constitution, which regulates the procedure for obtaining citizenship, is strictly protected and can be changed only if more than half of the eligible citizens of Lithuania vote for it in a referendum.
Currently, no one who emigrated from Lithuania after the restoration of national independence on March 11, 1990, can be a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania and another country at the same time, except in certain cases provided for by law.
2024-05-13 20:59:42