A voter casts her ballot during the first round of the presidential election at a polling station in Vilnius on May 12, 2019. AFP / Petras Malukas
Vilnius: Lithuanians started voting in a tightly contested presidential election on Sunday to elect one of nine candidates to the presidency.
Nine candidates are competing to become the successor of incumbent Dalia Grybauskaite, who can not stand for re-election after two five-year terms, in the presidential election in the Baltic EU and NATO country.
According to the polls, ex-finance minister Ingrida Simonyte, economist Gitanas Nauseda and incumbent Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis have the best chance of winning the country's highest office.
If no candidate achieves an absolute majority in the first round of voting, the two best-placed candidates will go into a run-off ballot two weeks later, parallel to the European elections on May 26.
Almost 2.5 million people are eligible to vote, with meaningful results expected during the night.
At the same time as the presidential election, two referendums are being held: one on the introduction of dual citizenship and a second on the reduction of the number of MPs in the Lithuanian parliament. (QNA)
