Kristīne Saulīte, Chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC), announced her resignation on Wednesday during a meeting of the Saeima’s Public Administration and Local Government Committee.
The committee is reviewing the recent municipal elections, which were marred by technical problems.
During the meeting, Saulīte noted that new elements introduced in the election process had been positively received, such as mobile polling stations, as well as the fact that early voting lasted five days.
“Voter turnout in these elections was significantly higher,” Saulīte stated.
In her view, the CEC had done an outstanding job overall.
“As we know, another matter defined in the law is that the responsibility for the systems lies with the State Agency for Digital Affairs (VDAA),” Saulīte said, adding that there were a number of technical glitches within the VDAA’s area of responsibility.
She also pointed out that on election night it was very difficult to obtain information from the VDAA.
“I take responsibility for what falls within my competence,” Saulīte said, adding that at present, she is being “blamed for the failures of others.”
She also stressed that she has “no political backing,” which is why she is announcing her resignation.
During the committee meeting, CEC representatives stated that they could not take responsibility for systems that are not under their control. They emphasized they had done everything possible “to prevent a crisis situation.”
As previously reported, ballot counting during the 2025 municipal elections on Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday faced technical issues. Problems also occurred earlier in the week during early voting, with polling stations experiencing technical failures.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs has said that the CEC and the VDAA failed in organizing the elections, and therefore the accountability of officials must be evaluated.
State Chancellery Director Raivis Kronbergs told journalists on Monday, after an inter-institutional working group meeting, that no official inquiry has been launched yet into the ballot counting failures, as it is first necessary to gather all required and available information on the incident.
Meanwhile, Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development Inga Bērziņa (New Unity), who oversees the work of the VDAA, has suspended VDAA Director Jorens Liopa due to the election troubles.
On Monday morning, after the working group meeting, Liopa said it was necessary to reassess how projects of such scale are implemented. “It is not within my competence to evaluate the minister’s actions,” he added when asked whether he thought the minister acted prematurely.
During a special election broadcast on TV3’s “Nekā personīga” on Sunday, the 8th of June, Liopa stated that it was too early for him to take responsibility for the technical problems experienced on election night.
At the same time, the VDAA has launched a detailed internal investigation across all levels of responsibility within the agency—from staff directly responsible for the election system to the developers and auditors—regarding the causes of the ballot scanning delays, the agency confirmed.
For her part, CEC Chair Saulīte previously stated that the CEC had done everything to ensure the elections proceeded successfully. She emphasized, “If there had been even the slightest indication that the systems weren’t ready or that something might malfunction, the responsible authorities would have immediately decided to count the votes manually.”
She also maintained that there is no doubt about the validity of the election results. “The reality is that the elections took place, the results have been compiled, and they are accurate,” Saulīte said.