Posted by 
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda invited potential supporters for a cup of coffee and was quickly taken to task by his country’s electoral authority.
On Thursday, Nausėda — who is seeking another term in the May 12 election — wrote on social media: “As you know, the collection of signatures for the presidential elections has started, so I invite you to support my candidacy by signing online … I would be happy to have a coffee with her or him who will sign for me: the 5,000th, 7,500th, 10,000th, 15,000th, 20,000th person.”
He invited people to send a screenshot of their online backing to an email address “and I will invite you to meet me for a cup of coffee. We will have a frank discussion about books, basketball, and the future of Lithuania.”
Sadly for those with a joint love of espresso, basketball star Domantas Sabonis and the incumbent president, the electoral commission was quick to point out that Nausėda’s offer was against the rules.
“After we saw the information on his Facebook page, we contacted the candidate and reminded him of the provisions of the Election Code on gifts during voting and collecting signatures and invited him to respect them,” Lina Petronienė, chair of the Lithuanian Central Election Commission, told POLITICO.
The president on Friday went back to social media to revise his offer.
“In order not to violate the provisions of the Election Code of the Republic of Lithuania and not to burden the Central Election Commission with additional work, I am revising my post: I will invite those who signed for me to meet in a cafe, outside of working hours. Each participant will pay for coffee (tea) personally,” he wrote.
“I will be grateful if I, as a candidate, will not be deprived of the opportunity to meet and communicate with people who support me,” he added.
According to the electoral commission, candidates must collect at least 20,000 signatures before March 28 to be allowed to run for president. At the time of writing, Nausėda had more than 9,200.
