Civic alliance launches campaign urging Latvians to vote

The Latvian Civic Alliance, working with the State Chancellery and the Central Election Commission, has launched the “I Have One Wish” campaign to encourage people to vote in the October 3 parliamentary elections, LSM reported.

The campaign invites everyone to share their thoughts publicly about the kind of Latvia they want to live in. The elections are one month and one day away.

Kaspars Cipruss, secretary general of the Latvian Basketball Association, is among the public figures promoting the campaign and urging people to vote.

“I want us to remain a democratic, free and safe country. In Latvia, we can freely express our opinions and write to the prime minister if we do not like something, without facing consequences. These are values we must preserve and maintain,” Cipruss said.

Several well-known public figures, including Central Election Commission chair Māris Zviedris, are delivering the campaign’s message in videos. The Latvian Civic Alliance has invited everyone to record their own videos and publish them on social media using the campaign tag “man ir viena vēlēšanās”.

“During this pre-election period, let us think about what we want and what kind of country we want to live in. Let us choose it and go to the polls on October 3,” said Elīna Grīnhofa, head of the Latvian Civic Alliance’s advocacy office.

Zviedris said every vote had an impact on Latvia’s future. He pointed to recent historical examples in which a small number of votes had influenced outcomes at both municipal and national level, including who would govern and make decisions.

Turnout in the previous parliamentary election, for the 14th Saeima, was 59.43 percent. It was higher than in the two preceding Saeima elections.