The amendments stipulate that a single-member constituency shall be established when the turnout of voters residing abroad and casting a ballot in diplomatic representations and consular offices of the Republic of Lithuania at the previous election, which is estimated one year prior to the following elections to the Seimas, exceeds 90 percent of the average turnout in all the single-member constituencies. In that case, Lithuanian citizens residing abroad will be entered in the electoral roll of the single-member constituency for Lithuanian expatriates.
In the event of the establishment of the single-member constituency for Lithuanian expatriates, the Central Electoral Commission will have to carry out the functions of the electoral committee in that constituency.
The authors of this amendment claim that the new practice will encourage a greater civic participation and political involvement among Lithuanian expatriates and ensure them smoother and more efficient voter representation since they will now be able to elect a member of the Seimas to represent them in the separate single-member constituency.
So far, citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who vote abroad have been put on the electoral roll of the single-member Naujamiesčio constituency and have not had a separate single-member constituency for the elections to the Seimas.
