Portsmouth to host Latvian parliamentary election station for first time

Portsmouth will host a Latvian parliamentary election station for the first time on October 3, LSM reports, giving voters in southern England a closer place to cast their ballots.

Latvians abroad are looking forward to the election as an opportunity not only to fulfil their civic duty but also to meet friends and acquaintances they have not seen for a long time. There will be 82 polling stations in 37 countries, including nine in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, home to Latvia’s largest diaspora.

Two of the stations in the UK will be organised by the Latvian Embassy, while the remaining seven will be run by volunteers. The Portsmouth station will be new, and all its staff will be working at an election station for the first time.

The coastal city’s polling station will be located in St Luke’s Church in the city centre. Regardless of the weather, voters will have access to warm rooms and a café where they can rest after travelling.

The Portsmouth Latvian community has regularly used the church over the past two years, filling its large hall with Latvian choir songs and children’s games organised by a Latvian school.

“Lively and lovely people. Really lovely people. We have very good relations. Latvians have been using our spaces for some time now, including the church, the café and the small hall. We get along really well,” said Lisa Jones, manager of St Luke’s Church.

The church’s large hall is apparently already occupied on election day, so the polling station will be set up in a smaller room next door. It has a separate entrance and exit and is accessible to people with mobility impairments.

Ilze Aleksa, chairwoman of the Portsmouth polling station, said she was encouraged to organise it after leading the Latvian community in southern England for three years and seeing that there were enough active residents to support such an initiative.

“This is one way to demonstrate civic responsibility,” Aleksa said.

Lorija Cekule, secretary of the Portsmouth polling station, said the opportunity to run the station was too valuable to miss.

“It does not matter that we live far away or that we do not travel to Riga, Liepaja or Ventspils every other week. We still have a responsibility to our homeland and our place, and we want to be part of the decisions made concerning Latvia,” Aleksa said.