Dual citizenship referendum unsuccessful

Alongside with the presidential vote, Lithuanians on Sunday cast ballots in a binding referendum on dual citizenship. The referendum was deemed valid, with more than 50 percent of the eligible voters having had their say, but it failed to attract required votes.

The voter turnout in the referendum was 59.02%, preliminary data from the Central Electoral Commission (VRK) show.

With votes from all the 1,895 polling districts counted, the constitutional amendment allowing dual citizenship was backed by 73.94% of the voters, which is less than a half of all the eligible voters.

Dual citizenship is currently banned in Lithuania with few exceptions. Lithuanians automatically lose their citizenship once they become citizens of other countries.

In the referendum, voters decided not to reject a sentence in Article 12 of the Constitution: „With the exception of individual cases provided for by law, no one may be a citizen of both the Republic of Lithuania and another state at the same time“.