2019 Lithuanian presidential election
← 2014 12 May 2019 (first round)
26 May 2019 (second round)		 2024 →
 
Nominee Gitanas Nausėda Ingrida Šimonytė
Party Independent Independent (TS–LKD)
Popular vote 881,495 443,394
Percentage 66.53% 33.47%
Vote share by municipality in the first round[1]
President before election

Dalia Grybauskaitė
Independent

Elected President

Gitanas Nausėda
Independent

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Presidential elections were held in Lithuania on 12 May 2019, with a second round held on 26 May 2019.[2] Due to a constitutional limit of two terms in office, incumbent president Dalia Grybauskaitė was unable to run, having won the 2009 and 2014 elections.

As no candidate obtained 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round was held between the top two candidates, Ingrida Šimonytė and Gitanas Nausėda. Nausėda was elected with 67% of the vote and was inaugurated as President of Lithuania on 12 July.[3]

Electoral system

The elections were held using the two-round system. To win in the first round, a candidate required an absolute majority of the vote and either voter turnout to be above 50% or for their vote share to be equivalent to at least one-third of the number of registered voters. If no candidate wins in the first round, a second round is required, featuring the top two candidates.[4]

Candidates

Approved candidates

Declined candidates

Opinion polls

First round

Date Vytenis Andriukaitis Arvydas Juozaitis Valentinas Mazuronis Gitanas Nausėda Mindaugas Puidokas Naglis Puteikis Ingrida Šimonytė Saulius Skvernelis Valdemar Tomaševski Other Don't Know Will Not Vote
May 2019[8] 5.5% 4.8% 1.2% 24.6% 1.9% 1.5% 26.2% 16.6% 1.8% 0.4% 6.9% 8.6%
April 2019[9] 4.2% 5% 0.6% 27.9% 0.7% 2.3% 24.8% 14.5% 1.9% 0.2% 8.4% 9.2%
March 2019[10] 4.7% 3.6% – 23.5% 0.4% – 22% 18.4% 1.7% 1.1% 9.8% 7.4%
February 2019[11] 2.8% 4.5% – 27.3% – 2.1% 20% 16% – – – –
November 2018[12] – 4.7% – 24.6% – 2.4% 19.7% 13.2% – – – –
October 2018[13] – – – 23% – 2.4% 17.5% 12.8% – – – –
September 2018[14] 0.3% 3.3% 0.3% 19.7% – 1.4% 8.0% 16.6% – – 13.9% –
May 2018[15] 1.6% – 1.6% 22.9% – 2.7% 5.3% 12.8% – – 10.2% 11.9%
16-24 November 2017[16][17] – – – 12% – – 7% 12.2% – – 32.6% –

Results

The first round was narrowly won by former Finance Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, with economist Gitanas Nausėda finishing second. As neither candidate passed the threshold of 50% of votes cast, a run-off was held between Šimonytė and Nausėda on 26 May. Nausėda won the second round with over 66% of the vote.

After finishing a distant third, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis announced his intention to resign on election night, with his resignation coming into effect on 12 July.[18] Later, it was revealed that Skvernelis will continue his tenure as the Prime Minister until the next election of the Parliament.

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Ingrida ŠimonytėIndependent[a]446,71931.53443,39433.47
Gitanas NausėdaIndependent441,39631.16881,49566.53
Saulius SkvernelisIndependent[b]279,41319.72
Vytenis AndriukaitisSocial Democratic Party of Lithuania68,1184.81
Arvydas JuozaitisIndependent66,9574.73
Valdemar TomaševskiElectoral Action of Poles in Lithuania56,4763.99
Mindaugas PuidokasIndependent37,0362.61
Naglis PuteikisLithuanian Centre Party11,3020.80
Valentinas MazuronisIndependent9,2050.65
Total1,416,622100.001,324,889100.00
Valid votes1,416,62299.291,324,88998.72
Invalid/blank votes10,0720.7117,2051.28
Total votes1,426,694100.001,342,094100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,486,91557.372,491,02153.88
Source: VRK, VRK

Notes

  1. ^ Supported by the Homeland Union
  2. ^ Supported by the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union

References

  1. ^ "Rezultatai - vrk.lt". www.vrk.lt. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Seimas announced the dates for the 2019 elections". Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  3. ^ Gitanas Nausėda Elected as the New Lithuanian President for a Five Year Term
  4. ^ Lithuania: Election for President IFES
  5. ^ "R. Valatka. Kitas premjeras ir kitas prezidentas – tas pats S. Skvernelis?". delfi.lt.
  6. ^ "Žygimantas Pavilionis is not going to participate in the presidential elections" (in Lithuanian). 15min.lt. 2018-09-17.
  7. ^ "Prezidento posto nesieksiantis Visvaldas Matijošaitis: "Apsisprendžiau per atostogas"". 15min.lt.
  8. ^ "Last rankings before the election: The leader has changed, the two candidates have decided firmly" (in Lithuanian).
  9. ^ "Recent Presidential Ratings: The Real Nervous War Begins" (in Lithuanian).
  10. ^ "Latest Presidential Rankings: One of the top three leaders has risen, the other has gone" (in Lithuanian).
  11. ^ "Prezidentiniuose reitinguose ryškėja du lyderiai" (in Lithuanian). delfi.lt. 2019-02-23.
  12. ^ "Naujausi prezidentiniai reitingai: į viršų lipa du kandidatai" (in Lithuanian). delfi.lt. 2018-11-24.
  13. ^ "Prezidento rinkimai: trejetukas keičiasi – į priekį veržiasi I. Šimonytė" (in Lithuanian). diena.lt. 2018-10-20.
  14. ^ "Kandidatų į prezidentus reitingai jau keičiasi: artėja didžiųjų permainų metas" (in Lithuanian). delfi.lt. 2018-09-13.
  15. ^ "Naujausi reitingai: vieno iš kandidatų sprendimas gali situaciją pakeisti iš esmės" (in Lithuanian). delfi.lt. 2018-05-21.
  16. ^ "Apklausa: Prezidento rinkimuose gyventojai palaikytų Saulių Skvernelį ir Gitaną Nausėdą". LZINIOS. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18.
  17. ^ "Kas bus Prezidentas? Apklausos rezultatai". Rokiškis Rabinovičius (in Lithuanian). 2017-10-17.
  18. ^ "Lithuanian PM to quit in election upset". BBC News. 2019-05-13. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
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