Reelection of Vilnius’ sub-elderships’ leaders starts on Monday

Photo by Saulius Žiūra

Only a small number of sub-eldership leaders were elected in the first round, that means that residents of Vilnius will are invited to vote again from Monday. Voting will take place from 30th October to 20th November. Voting will take place both electronically and in the Elderships’ offices. The winner of the second round will be the candidate with the most votes.

“Compared to the election of sub-elderships’ leaders in 2019, the turnout is much lower. Vilnius residents can even vote electronically, but the turnout is low. All you have to do is log on to the voting portal and cast your vote. Everyone should be a citizen and be involved in the city. And we should take advantage of the opportunity to have our own representative-interlocutor to interact with the city on issues that are important for the community,” says Daiva Mikulskienė, advisor of the Organisational Development Group of the Vilnius City Council, inviting us to be active citizens and vote.

In the first election of sub-elderships’ leaders, only 18 elders were elected out of a total of 146 sub-elderships’ leaders in 146 sub-elderships. In some sub-elderships, the elections had to be cancelled immediately because no candidates stood. In Vilnius, there were no candidates in 43 sub-elderships. Naujininkai District had the highest number of candidates – 18 (of whom 3 were elected), while Paneriai District had the highest turnout with 775 voters – 8.43% of the total electorate of Paneriai Elders’ District.

According to D. Mikulskienė, it is difficult to say why there is such a passive candidacy for the position, as the position of eldership leader is actually the first step towards a bigger ambition.

“Maybe the residents are afraid to take the initiative, maybe they are reluctant to get the support of the citizens. The residents already expect the candidate to solve a specific problem, such as a burst pipe. However, a sub-eldership leader is not a decision-maker, but a legal representative of the residents of a certain area, who interacts with the city administration by collecting relevant information and opinions of the residents and presenting them to the municipality,” the Vilnius municipality representative reflects on the lack of candidates.

A total of 4,825 residents voted in the first round of the elders’ election – 1.26% of all eligible voters in the capital city. For the election to be considered a success, at least 5% of the total electorate had to vote in the first round and at least one candidate had to be registered. Full statistics and results can be found here.

The re-run in 128 constituencies will take place between 30 October and 20 November. Only candidates who stood in the first round are eligible to stand again.

New candidates will be able to stand in those districts where the elections are being re-organised (43).

All persons entitled to vote in the local elections are adults who have declared their place of residence in the municipality where the elections are held.

Further information: tapkseniunaiciu.lt