Lithuanian presidential election, 2009

Lithuanian presidential election, 2009

19 May 2009

Nominee Dalia Grybauskaitė Algirdas Butkevičius Party Independent Social Democrats Popular vote 950,407 162,665 Percentage 69.1% 11.8%

Dalia Grybauskaitė      Valdemar Tomaševski      Algirdas Butkevičius      Kazimiera Prunskienė

President before election Valdas Adamkus Independent Elected President Dalia Grybauskaitė Independent

A presidential election was held in Lithuania on 17 May 2009. A run-off election would have been held on 7 June 2009 had one been necessary.^[1] European Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected with 69 percent of the valid vote and took office on 12 July as the country's first female president.

Candidates to participate

The Electoral Commission registered 14 candidates for participation in the presidential election. Candidates who dropped out of election before the start.

• Speaker of the Seimas Arūnas Valinskas (National Resurrection Party) (withdrew)^[2]
• Algirdas Pilvelis (did not collect the needed minimum number of signatures)
• Algimantas Matulevičius (did not collect the minimum needed number of signatures)
• Zigmas Vaišvila (did not collect the minimum needed number of signatures)
• Vidmantas Sadauskas (did not collect the minimum needed number of signatures)
• Vytautas Kundrotas (did not collect the minimum needed number of signatures)
• Jonas Jankauskas (did not collect the minimum needed number of signatures)
• Vladimir Romanov - application rejected.

Candidates for election

Candidates confirmed for election with more than 20 thousands signatures.

• Dalia Grybauskaitė^[3]
• Valentinas Mazuronis (Order and Justice)
• Kazimiera Danutė Prunskienė (Former prime minister)
• Česlovas Jazerskas
• Valdemar Tomaševski (Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania)
• Loreta Graužinienė (Labour Party)
• Algirdas Butkevičius (Social Democratic Party of Lithuania)

Polls

According to the opinion polls Dalia Grybauskaitė was the undisputed leader in the race for the Presidency.^[4][5]

Results

 Summary of the 17 May 2009 Lithuanian presidential election results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Dalia Grybauskaitė	Independent	950,407	68.21
	Algirdas Butkevičius	Social Democratic Party of Lithuania	162,665	11.68
	Valentinas Mazuronis	Order and Justice	84,656	6.08
	Valdemar Tomaševski	Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania	65,255	4.68
	Kazimira Prunskienė	Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union	53,778	3.86
	Loreta Graužinienė	Labour Party	49,686	3.57
	Česlovas Jezerskas	Independent	9,191	0.66
Invalid votes			17,640	1.27
Total			1,393,278	100
Registered voters/turnout			2,691,603	51.76
Source: Central Election Commission

References

1. Usackas pulls out of presidential race. Baltictimes.com (17 February 2009). Retrieved 15 May 2012.
2. A.Valinskui mesti kaltinimai dėl parašų klastojimo sudomino ir Generalinę prokuratūrą (2 video, dar papildyta). lrytas.lt (31 August 2009). Retrieved 1 December 2015.
3. D. Grybauskaitė sieks prezidento posto. Retrieved on 2009-02-26
4. Po D.Grybauskaitės apsisprendimo politologai nemato jai konkurencijos. Retrieved on 2009-02-26
5. Grybauskaite is Favourite Contender in Lithuania | Angus Reid Public Opinion. Angus-reid.com (11 March 2009). Retrieved 15 May 2012.