An analysis is made of electromagnetic activity due to the chirality of conducting multiturn helical objects in the quasi-stationary approximation. The complex chiral admittance &xgr;c is computed analytically for a lossy helix embedded in a dielectrically lossy host material as a function of the helix dimensions and medium properties using a parallel-wire transmission line model. The condition for chiral losslessness of an electromagnetically lossy chiral is obtained, and it is shown that irrotativity is not possible in the quasi-state approximation. The dependence of &xgr;c on helix diameter, gauge, pitch, and length is demonstrated. With the aid of this model, electromagnetic rotation and circular dichroism are calculated for lossy chirals and compared with measured data. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996