Although there are currently no indications that the voter register might become unusable, the Central Election Commission of Latvia (CVK) has developed several contingency plans for such a situation, CVK Chairman Māris Zviedris told the LETA news agency.
Speaking about preparations for the Saeima elections, Zviedris noted that polling station locations have already been determined, and voters will be able to cast advance votes starting from the 28th of September.
The formation of polling station commissions is also in its final phase. Although regulations set the deadline for the end of May, many municipalities have already completed the process. Zviedris added that applications to work in polling station commissions are still being accepted beyond the formal deadline, and interested individuals are encouraged to contact one of the 42 municipal election commissions across Latvia.
The CVK chairman also reported that all 16 CVK instructions—updated and refined for each election in line with current regulations—have been adopted.
At the same time,
the CVK has approved the allocation of funding for all municipal election commissions.
The total budget amounts to approximately 7 million euros, covering staff salaries (including vote counting), as well as goods, services, materials, and transport costs. Contracts with municipal commissions are expected to be finalized by the end of April, possibly even earlier than planned.
Regarding election security, Zviedris emphasized that the CVK is working with various risk scenarios, taking into account public concerns about the functioning of IT systems. Most system disruptions would not significantly affect the election process, but the electronic online voter register is an exception.
If the electronic voter register could not be used, it would significantly impact election organization and require alternative solutions that could be more burdensome for society.
He noted that security services have not identified any grounds for a scenario in which the electronic voter register would be unusable, and the CVK maintains close cooperation with system developers and the State Digital Development Agency.
Development and improvements to the register are currently proceeding as planned.
Nevertheless, the CVK has prepared at least five main contingency options in case the electronic register becomes unavailable. These include returning to assigning voters to specific polling stations, using voter certificates, or conducting voting solely with registration envelopes.
Zviedris explained that a full transition to registration envelopes would allow voters to vote at any polling station, but it would have a significant drawback: counting the results could take more than a week, as all data would need to be manually verified to prevent double voting or unauthorized participation.
“The loss of the electronic voter register would be the most painful scenario politically and organizationally, but even in such a case, elections would still take place,” the CVK chairman stressed.
It has already been reported that
the Saeima elections will take place in the autumn, with votes counted manually.
The proposal to ensure manual vote counting was put forward by Edgars Rinkēvičs, citing concerns about potential risks related to IT system interference. Under current regulations, the decision on the vote-counting method should be made by the CVK, but it has referred the decision to the Saeima.
Rinkēvičs made this proposal after reviewing information provided by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) regarding possible irregularities in IT procurement and their potential impact on the 2026 Saeima election process.
Within the EPPO-led criminal investigation, the State Police of Latvia detained 21 individuals on suspicion of fraud in IT procurements worth 1.5 million euros, including public officials.
As a security measure, pre-trial detention was applied to public procurement specialist Ainars Biders,
former head of the State Digital Development Agency Jorens Liopa, and owner and head of the “Corporate Solutions” group Aigars Ceruss.
The criminal proceedings were initiated at the end of last year and are classified under articles of the Criminal Law related to large-scale fraud by an organized group and large-scale money laundering.
According to the investigation, an organized group allegedly entered into an illegal secret agreement to predetermine winners in public procurement processes in at least six projects funded by the European Regional Development Fund, amounting to up to 1.5 million euros. There are suspicions that contracts were unlawfully secured with the assistance of public officials, and the illicit profits were distributed among those involved.
In a press release, the EPPO noted that the implementation of some of these projects could pose potential national security risks, as they may affect elections and democratic processes.
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