Latvia will destroy used election ballots after appeals period

Used ballots from Latvia’s parliamentary election will be kept until the period for appeals has passed, then destroyed by burning or shredding, LSM reports. The new Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, is due to hold its first session on November 3, with destruction authorised ten days later.

The Central Election Commission keeps one sample set from each election as a memento and historical record. Unused ballots remain at polling stations and are either discarded or put to use.

Many polling stations were located in schools, where children can write or draw on the blank backs of unused ballots. Commission chairman Māris Zviedris said this practice had not changed in 30 years. Local election commissions decide what to do with leftover ballots; some leave them at the polling stations because transporting them would be a burden.

There were 82 polling stations in 14 municipalities on election day. The commission did not disclose how many ballots it had printed, but Zviedris said there had been enough in every constituency, with a reserve available.

Turnout in the 15th Saeima election was 51.79 percent, the lowest ever recorded in a parliamentary election in Latvia.