118 of 444 postal ballots in Latvia election ruled invalid

Of 444 postal ballots received by Latvia’s postal voting commission for the 15th Saeima election, 118 were ruled invalid, LSM reported, citing the Central Election Commission (CVK).

A total of 838 voters applied for postal voting through the online service and received voting materials addressed to the commission. Of those, 98 later voted in person, so their postal ballots were annulled.

The CVK said 91 of the invalid ballots had been sent from within Latvia. It has not yet analysed whether any of those voters later cast a ballot in person. Ballots were ruled invalid for several reasons, including when a voter could not be identified, a required declaration of personal voting was missing, or the ballot paper was not placed in the voting envelope.

Provisional figures show that 806,641 voters, or 51.79% of those eligible, took part in the election. The CVK described the vote as relatively calm and well organised, and said all compiled data would be carefully checked before the final results were approved.

The United List won 41 seats, followed by Latvia First with 17, Sovereign Power/Association of New Latvians with 15, the National Alliance and The Progressives with 10 each, and New Unity with seven.