Voters changed ballots nearly seven times more often in Latvia’s election

The number of voters who changed their ballots in Latvia’s 15th parliamentary election was nearly seven times higher than before, Central Election Commission head Māris Zviedris told Latvian Television on Sunday, LSM reported. About 95% of the votes had been counted at the time.

Zviedris said the large number of changed ballots was one of the main reasons vote counting began more than two hours late. Election officials had to check and invalidate earlier ballots when voters cast another ballot during advance voting or voted again on election day.

For the first time in a parliamentary election, voters could cast ballots in advance at every polling station on all five days before election day. In previous elections, advance voting was available for fewer days and at fewer polling stations. A total of 169,605 people, or 10.89% of eligible voters, voted in advance.

Zviedris said there had been no serious election violations. He said voters have the unusual option of expressing support for or opposition to individual candidates, and that this takes longer to count. The commission does not plan to end this option, but could consider limiting opportunities to change a ballot.

Taking the possibility of appeals into account, Zviedris said final election results were expected no later than October 19.