Presidential elections were held in Lithuania on 17 May 2009. A run-off would have been held on 7 June 2009, but was not necessary as

Dalia Grybauskaitė Dalia Grybauskaitė (; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth President of Lithuania from 2009 until 2019. She is the first woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Lithuania to be ...

was elected with 69 percent of the vote, with voter turnout just over the 50% threshold for the result to be validated.Lithuania gets first woman leader
BBC News, 18 May 2009 This is the largest margin of victory in a direct presidential election in Lithuania. Grybauskaitė took office on 12 July as the country's first female president. This was only the second time since the restoration of independence that a Lithuanian president was elected without the need for a runoff, the first being in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, when Algirdas Brazauskas was elected with 61 percent in the first round.

Candidates

The Electoral Commission registered 14 candidates for the elections, whilst

Vladimir Romanov Vladimir Nikolayevich Romanov ( rus, Владимир Николаевич Романов, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf, lt, Vladimiras Romanovas; born 15 June 1947)

's application was rejected. However, six candidates (Jonas Jankauskas, Vytautas Kundrotas, Algimantas Matulevičius, Algirdas Pilvelis, Vidmantas Sadauskas and

Zigmas Vaišvila Zigmas Vaišvila (born 20 December 1956 in Šiauliai) is a Lithuanian politician. In 1990 he was among those who signed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Ac ...

) failed to collect the 20,000 signatures required, and

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendme ...

Speaker

Arūnas Valinskas Arūnas Valinskas (born 28 November 1966 in Lazdijai) is a Lithuanian showman, TV producer, TV show host and politician. As the leader of the National Resurrection Party, he was elected to the Seimas, Lithuanian parliament, in the 2008 Lith ...

(

National Resurrection Party National Resurrection Party ( lt, Tautos prisikėlimo partija; sometimes translated as ''Rising Nation Party'' or ''National Revival Party'') was a centre-right political party in Lithuania. History Founded in 2008. The party was headed by a form ...

) withdrew his candidacy. Seven candidates collected enough signatures to participate in the elections: *

, incumbent European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget, former Minister of Finance (2001–2004) * Valentinas Mazuronis (

Order and Justice Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

), member of the Seimas since 2004 * Kazimiera Prunskienė, first Prime Minister of Lithuania (1990–1991) and former Minister of Agriculture (2004–2008) *,

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service ( ...

and wrestler * Valdemar Tomaševski ( Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania), member of the Seimas since 2000 * Loreta Graužinienė ( Labour Party), member of the Seimas since 2004 * Algirdas Butkevičius (

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

), former Minister of Finance (2004–2005) and former Minister of Transport and Communications (2006–2008) Grybauskaitė was supported by the

Homeland Union The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats ( lt, Tėvynės sąjunga Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai, TS–LKD), also known colloquially simply as the Conservatives, is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 mem ...

and Liberal Movement.

Opinion polls

According to the

opinion polls An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

, Grybauskaitė was the undisputed leader in the race for the Presidency.Grybauskaite is Favourite Contender in Lithuania
Angus Reid Public Opinion, 11 March 2009

Results

References

External links

2009 Lithuanian presidential elections
VRK {{Authority control Lithuania

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

Presidential elections in Lithuania