Experts link record-low turnout to lack of bold change offers

Record-low turnout in Latvia’s 15th parliamentary election may reflect a lack of compelling calls for change and prominent populists able to draw non-voters to the polls, experts told Latvian Television, LSM reports.

Political scientist Sanda Liepiņa, head of the Providus think tank, said that in the final week before the election, efforts were made to present it as decisive. But in a fragmented media environment, she said, a week is not enough for a message to circulate widely.

Political scientist Andis Kudors also said the campaign lacked prominent populists who might have brought out people who do not usually vote.

Arnis Kaktiņš, a sociologist and head of the SKDS research centre, said turnout depends in part on whether campaigns frame an election as historic, with a choice between “light and darkness.” He said he had not seen that kind of framing in this campaign. Many voters may want change, he added, but the offers were not convincing enough. People may have looked at the choices and thought they amounted to “more or less the same swamp,” Kaktiņš said.

Latgale-based LSM journalist Viktors Andruškevics told Latvian Radio that the region traditionally has the lowest turnout. Voters there were less active, although the city of Rēzekne recorded higher turnout than the rest of Latgale. Andruškevics suggested this may have been connected to former Rēzekne mayor Aleksandrs Bartaševičs being on the candidate lists, with many people choosing to vote for him.

At least 790,000 people, or 50.81% of eligible voters, took part in the election, according to Central Election Commission data from 995 of the country’s 1,059 polling stations. The turnout was the lowest recorded in parliamentary elections.