The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Right to Vote in Lithuania

Abstract

This article analyses the special legal regimes that were introduced in Lithuania which dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring of 2020 and which decided on extraordinary measures in order to contain the spread of this vicious transmissible disease, and how the right to vote was ensured during the 2020 Parliament (Seimas) elections. After examining these special legal regimes, the article concludes that according to the Constitution, the threat to public health, inter alia caused by the worldwide spread of a vicious contagious disease, is not a constitutional ground for introducing a state of emergency per se, unless this threat to public health menaces the constitutional order or social peace. Therefore, the establishment of other special legal regimes – a disaster management regime and quarantine – was chosen, and were introduced by the government in accordance with the law. The analysis in this article shows that the right to vote during the 2020 Seimas elections was proportionately restricted due to the pandemic, and the pandemic did not prevent the holding of general, secret and direct parliamentary elections. The pandemic forced the Seimas to adopt long-awaited amendments to the laws that legalized electronic voting in the country.