Following a meeting of the Saeima’s Public Administration and Local Government Committee, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chair Kristīne Saulīte — who had earlier in the same meeting announced her resignation — told the media that she is still considering whether to step down from her position.
“I haven’t actually put anything down on paper,” she said, adding that she is still “thinking about the matter.”
“I wasn’t prepared for the accusations made during the committee meeting, suggesting that I am acting irresponsibly by resigning. It would not be responsible on my part to ignore that,” Saulīte stated.
She added that she would announce later whether she would proceed with the resignation. At the same time, she noted that political games are currently being played, and no one has clearly explained why she should be removed from her position.
As previously reported, the ballot counting process during the 2025 municipal elections on Saturday and into the night encountered technical difficulties. Technical issues also affected polling stations during the early voting period earlier in the week.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs stated that the CEC and the State Agency for Digital Affairs (VDAA) failed in organizing the election and that officials’ responsibility must be assessed.
State Chancellery Director Raivis Kronbergs told journalists on Monday, following an inter-institutional working group meeting, that no official internal investigation into the ballot counting issues has yet begun, as all necessary and available information must first be collected.
Meanwhile, Inga Bērziņa (New Unity), Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development — who oversees the VDAA — has suspended VDAA Director Jorens Liopa due to the election failures.
Liopa himself stated on Monday that there now needs to be a reassessment of how projects of this scale are implemented. “It is not within my competence to evaluate the minister’s actions,” he said when asked whether he believed the minister had acted prematurely.
During a special election broadcast on TV3’s “Nekā personīga” on Sunday, the 8th of June, Liopa said it would be premature for him to accept responsibility for the technical problems on election night.
Meanwhile, the VDAA has launched a detailed internal investigation across all levels of responsibility — from the staff directly involved with the election system to the developers and auditors — to determine the cause of the slow processing of scanned ballots, the agency confirmed.
CEC Chair Saulīte had previously stated that the Commission had done everything in its power to ensure the successful conduct of the election. She said, “If there had been even the slightest indication that the systems were not ready or something might not work, the responsible parties would have immediately made the decision to count the ballots manually.”
She also stressed that there is no doubt about the validity of the election results. “The reality is that the election took place, the results have been compiled, and they are accurate,” Saulīte concluded.