Agnė Širinskienė of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS), who chairs the parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, said on Tuesday that holding a referendum in tandem with next May’s president election would help increase the voter turnout.
“Based on information from the Central Electoral Commission, that extra day brings around 8 percent new voters to the polls in a presidential election run-off, which means that 8 percent more Lithuanian citizens will likely vote in the referendum,” she said.
A draft resolution to hold a dual citizenship referendum on May 12 and 26, in tandem with the first and run-off rounds of the presidential election, on Tuesday passed the second reading in the parliament in a vote of 68 to three with 34 abstentions.
The resolution is yet to pass the third and final reading to be adopted.
The Seimas on the same day rejected an amendment, tabled by Liberal MP Aušrinė Armonaitė, that called for holding the referendum on two days in a row.
Armonaitė said the proposed referendum with a two-week interval would violate the principle of continuity.