Election commissions urge voting changes after Saeima poll

Latvia’s Central Election Commission is reviewing proposals from municipal election commissions after the 15th Saeima elections, with the procedure for casting ballots for safekeeping among the practices under scrutiny, LSM reported.

The commission plans to hear from all 42 municipal election commissions by the end of next week. Early discussions have highlighted several problems, including lengthy vote counts and confusion over the safekeeping procedure.

Jelgava’s election commission chair, Arvīds Prančs, said counting requires sustained concentration late into the night, when tiredness can lead to human error. Voters also make mistakes that can invalidate their ballots, such as putting more than one ballot paper in an envelope.

Ināra Natarova, who chairs the election commission in Augšdaugava municipality, suggested shortening the five-day period for casting ballots for safekeeping to save money. Prančs said the procedure had caused the greatest uncertainty for both election commissions and residents using it for the first time.

Central Election Commission chair Māris Zviedris said the procedure should be changed before the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2030. He said this would require amending the Constitution and that casting ballots for safekeeping was not the best option. Zviedris also cited unclear communication as another problem raised by election commissions.