Lithuania confirms results of presidential election, referendum

Vilnius, May 20 (IANS) Lithuania’s Central Election Commission (VRK) has confirmed results of the first round of presidential election and the referendum on the amendment of Article 12 of the Constitution.According to VRK on Sunday, no candidate received the required majority of votes in the first round and a run-off will be organised on May 26 between the top two candidates — incumbent President Gitanas Nauseda who garnered 43.95 per cent of the votes and incumbent Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte who obtained 20.5 per cent.VRK also said this year’s turnout reached 59.95 per cent, up 2.59 per cent from 2019, Xinhua news agency reported.Meanwhile, the VRK also approved the result of the referendum held together with the presidential election on the amendment of Article 12 of the Constitution to allow dual citizenship.A total of 1,429,382 voters or 59.51 per cent of the electorate participated in the referendum. Of these, 1,014,304, or 73.9 per cent, voted in favour of the change, but this was not enough.At least half of all eligible voters this year, or 1,192,617, must vote “yes” for the amendment to be adopted.–IANSint/khz