This is noted by the Law Department of the Seimas Chancellery, which evaluated the draft amendment to the Referendum Constitutional Law prepared by Andrias Bagdonas, a member of the Liberal Movement faction, proposing that from 2026 online voting be used only in advance voting. Voters who exercised their right to vote online should not be deprived of the opportunity to vote on election day or “during pre-voting in a controlled environment,” the MP suggests.
Seimas lawyers see a possible violation of the Constitution in the parliamentarian’s initiative, as citizens participating in the referendum would be treated unequally.
“According to the proposed legal regulation, it would be possible to vote online several times, in addition, citizens who voted online would have the right to vote “during the pre-voting in a controlled environment” (…) and on the day of the referendum (only the voter’s last vote would be counted), i.e. this voting period Citizens who have chosen this method, unlike those who vote in other ways, could change their already expressed will. Thus, citizens exercising the constitutional right to express their will in a referendum would be treated unequally, they would be given different voting conditions,” the lawyers of the Law Department note in their conclusion.
According to them, it should be considered whether the constitutional principle of equal suffrage would not be violated, according to which “all voters must be treated equally when organizing and conducting elections.” Seimas lawyers emphasize that according to the Constitution, the referendum must be conducted on the basis of, among other things, equal electoral rights.
The amendments to the law prepared by A. Bagdon provide that a voter who voted online could come to the polling station to vote on election day, then his electronic ballot submitted online would be removed from the electronic ballot box. Only the last vote cast by the voter would be counted in the counting of votes.
Emphasizing that the referendum is a responsible political process, Seimas lawyers have doubts about the proposed possibility of allowing residents to change their opinion, which has already been expressed by voting once.
“Granting citizens the right to change (…) their already expressed will (by voting several times in the same or different way), in our opinion, would be constitutionally unjustified, except in the exceptional case, if the votes submitted during online voting would be recognized as invalid,” says the Department of Law in the conclusion.
It also raises the issue of early voting in municipal buildings, special polling stations, healthcare and social care institutions, places of deprivation of liberty, military units and homes.
“It is debatable whether early voting in the referendum is carried out only through online voting, which would properly (…) ensure the opportunity to express their will for all citizens who wish to do so and cannot come to the referendum site on the set day due to illness, disability or other personal reasons,” says Seimas Law Department.
According to lawyers, it is the constitutional duty of the legislator to determine the procedure for early voting in the referendum for those citizens who cannot vote on the day of the referendum.
He proposes to change not the Constitutional Law on the Referendum, but the Election Code
In order to modernize the election process, in the opinion of Seimas lawyers, it is not necessary to initiate amendments to the Constitutional Law on the Referendum, but to the Election Code.
Due to the financial and technical possibilities of implementing advance online voting from 2026. on January 1, in the opinion of the Seimas Law Department, the conclusions of the Government and the Chief Election Commission (CEC) should be obtained. They should evaluate the possibilities of implementing the proposed new method of voting in the referendum, the creation of a secure online voting information system.
As ELTA has already announced, after the failed referendum on dual citizenship, in order to increase voter turnout and modernize the electoral system, Andrius Bagdonas, a member of the Liberal Movement faction of the Seimas, proposes legalizing online voting in referendums.
The parliamentarian who registered the draft amendment to the constitutional law of the referendum proposes that from 2026 such voting be applied only in advance voting. If the Seimas approves, all eligible voters living in Lithuania and abroad who have registered for online voting in accordance with the procedure established by the Central Election Commission (CEC) could vote online.
2024-09-07 08:49:04