Lithuania’s electoral commission wins 28 cases against cash referendum group

Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission has won 28 court cases brought by a group seeking a referendum on cash payments, LRT reported on Friday.

The latest case was decided by the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, which upheld the commission’s decision to deregister the group after it failed to collect the required number of voter signatures.

The referendum organisers had sought to continue collecting signatures and challenged the commission’s decision in court. They also filed complaints over the wording on signature sheets, access to voter data in electronic signature forms, explanations concerning referendum campaigning and political advertising, issues related to the group’s treasurer, and additional airtime for campaigning on LRT.

The latest ruling followed an appeal by Zigmas Vaišvila, Egidijus Čibirauskas and Gediminas Ustinavičius, who sought to extend the referendum initiative, return unused paper signature sheets, continue collecting signatures through the voter portal and allow them to monitor who had signed electronically.

The applicants argued that the commission had violated good administration principles, acted with bias and failed to verify the 19,756 signatures collected by the organisers, out of the 300,000 required.

The court said the commission was required to issue a reasoned decision stating that the referendum initiative had not been implemented and to deregister the group after establishing that it had failed to collect enough signatures. It said the applicants’ claims of bias and violations of good administration were based on their subjective assessment rather than evidence presented in the case.

The court also ruled that the commission could not extend the signature-collection period, as such a decision could be made only by a court in exceptional circumstances. It said the commission could not allocate more airtime for campaign purposes than provided for under the Constitutional Referendum Law.

Since October 2025, the group has taken the commission to court 28 times. The Supreme Administrative Court refused to accept 12 of its complaints, while 10 were rejected after being examined. Six complaints were partially upheld: two concerning access to the data of voters who signed electronically, one concerning a six-day extension of the signature-collection period, and three involving procedural issues that did not change the substance of the commission’s decisions after they were corrected.

The proposed referendum question would have asked whether voters supported adding to the Constitution a provision stating that the law guarantees a person’s right to pay in cash. The organisers said restrictions on cash could negatively affect some groups, particularly older people, regional residents and those lacking digital skills.