Electoral commission member sought to conceal Nemuno Aušra consultations

Laura Matjošaitytė, a member of Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission, sought from the outset to conceal consultations she provided to the Nemuno Aušra party before the parliamentary election, LRT reported, citing the Delfi news portal.

In September 2024, just over a month before the election, Matjošaitytė emailed Robertas Puchovičius, the party’s deputy chair, a draft response she had prepared for the commission concerning the party’s sources of funding.

In the same email, she asked Puchovičius to transfer the response to a Word document he had created “so that my metadata would not remain,” according to Delfi.

Puchovičius told the portal he did not remember either the request or the email. Neither the party nor Matjošaitytė declared their previous cooperation.

After initially refusing to say whether she had been paid by the party, Matjošaitytė later said she had not earned any money. She has declined to comment on the details of her professional relationship with Nemuno Aušra, citing attorney-client privilege.

BNS previously reported that the Central Electoral Commission was examining the scope of the consultations Nemuno Aušra received from Matjošaitytė.

Matjošaitytė chaired the commission from 2017 to 2021. She returned as a commission member after her candidacy was put forward by then-Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus, who had been delegated by Nemuno Aušra.

In May 2025, the newly formed commission considered violations related to Nemuno Aušra’s political campaign financing. Matjošaitytė voted that the party had committed violations in some decisions and abstained in others.

She said the votes did not create a conflict of interest or grounds for her recusal because, after returning to the commission, she no longer provided consultations to political organisations.