Voting rights and attendance at regional councils of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania between the 16th and the 18th century

The article discusses the right to vote and attendance at regional councils of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania between the 16th and the 18th century. Beginning from the mid-16th century, only citizens who resided permanently in a given county were awarded electoral rights. However, popular practice frequently deviated from the provisions of the Third Statute of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Constitution. The author analyzes passive electoral rights based on numerous sources and concludes that parliamentary candidates were not required to attend regional councils, which was not always approved by the councils. The author also notes that attendance at regional councils is difficult to examine based on unreliable records of attendance where the participants’ signatures had been often forged