Early voting ahead of Latvia’s 15th Saeima election began on Monday without any significant incidents, while voter activity was slightly higher than expected, Central Election Commission (CVK) Chairman Māris Zviedris told LETA.
Zviedris said the election process had generally proceeded as planned, although minor delays were observed at some polling stations as staff familiarised themselves with the new procedures and their details.
“I would say everything is within the normal range. There have been minor delays at polling stations as staff become familiar with the process and understand all its nuances, but that is natural and within acceptable limits,” Zviedris said.
According to him, the CVK has so far received no reports of serious incidents or problems requiring special attention.
Commenting on voter turnout, the CVK chairman said the figures indicate that the public has been successfully informed about the possibility of casting a vote for safekeeping ahead of election day.
“It is positive that turnout is slightly higher than expected,”
Zviedris said, adding that the CVK hopes more convenient voting options will also encourage overall voter participation in the 15th Saeima election.
Zviedris said delays by some polling stations in submitting voter turnout data should not be regarded as a serious problem. In most cases, they are related to clarifying data and carrying out additional checks in the voter register.
The CVK chairman said polling station staff are paying particular attention to preventing incorrect entries and ensuring that voters cannot be marked in the system more than once. If an incorrect entry is identified, it is corrected after the polling station closes.
As previously reported, nearly 26,000 people cast their votes on the first day of early voting ahead of the 15th Saeima election, representing 1.67% of Latvia’s 1,557,615 eligible voters, according to data compiled by the CVK.
In the previous Saeima election, 11,316 voters, or 0.73% of eligible voters, cast their ballots for safekeeping on the first day. At that time, however, this was possible at only 66 polling stations and over a three-day period.
The State Digital Development Agency previously confirmed that the Election Platform operated stably and as planned on the first day of voting, while CERT.LV detected no cybersecurity incidents related to the election process.
The official election day is Saturday. Until then, voters can cast their ballots for safekeeping on every working day this week at any of the 933 polling stations across Latvia.
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