The first round of regular elections to the Seimas (unicameral parliament) has started in Lithuania.
As the Lithuanian National Television and Radio Company (LRT) reports, polling stations opened at 07:00 local time, and voting will last until 20:00.
In total, 1740 candidates will compete for 141 parliamentary seats, and 2 million 375 thousand 800 citizens are included in the voter lists. The participating party must receive at least 5 percent of the votes, and the multi-party coalition must receive at least 7 percent in order to receive a mandate in the proportional electoral system.
In order to be elected in a single-mandate constituency, a candidate must receive at least 20 percent of the votes of all eligible citizens. Before election day, 238,540 voters or 10.25 percent of voters voted in advance at home or at special polling stations.
If no candidate breaks the tie, the top two candidates will advance to the second round, which will take place in two weeks on October 27.
