Živilė Verbylaitė, a member of the Central Electoral Commission, told BNS that 18,993 votes had been cast in early voting, in addition to 7,339 votes cast in special post offices. Another 199 ballot envelopes have been received from Lithuanian troops serving in Afghanistan.
Early voters in these elections are considerably more active than during the last parliamentary elections when only 16,400 voters cast ballots on the first day of advance voting.
Early voting started on Wednesday and will take place until 8 PM local time on Thursday. Early voting in municipal headquarters is open for all voters who will not be able to make it to polling stations on the day of the election, 14 October.
On Wednesday, voting also opened in special post offices for people who are currently in hospitals, social care or foster institutions, serving in the military, or held in prisons or penitentiaries. Voting in special post offices will end on Friday.
Voting from home will take place Friday and Saturday, intended for people over 70, the disabled, ill individuals, and those incapable to come to polling stations.
On the election day, polling stations will open at 7 AM and close at 8 PM.
The parliamentary elections involve 17 parties and one four-party coalition, a total of about 2,000 candidates. Over 2.5 million Lithuanian citizens are eligible to vote. An advisory referendum on construction of the nuclear power plant is held in conjunction with the elections.
