An internal inquiry into the vote-counting mishap has not yet been launched, as all necessary and available information about the incident must first be gathered, State Chancellery Director Raivis Kronbergs told journalists following a meeting of the inter-institutional working group.
Kronbergs explained that the parties involved will meet again in this format during the first half of the week, with additional representatives from relevant institutions invited. The situation with the system’s developers will also be addressed. He stated that some crucial information is still missing — including data on performance testing and full analysis from all involved.
He noted that the decision to switch to manual vote counting could have been made earlier, but there were no indications that the system would not be ready.
“Not yet,” Kronbergs replied when asked if an internal investigation had been launched. He emphasized that all facts need to be verified first, including bringing in IT companies and auditors who oversaw the digital tools, in order to collect complete data on the incident.
Kronbergs said that as recently as last week, “there was full confidence” that everything would work as intended, and there were no signs of potential failure. “Had we not been so confident, we definitely would have made decisions sooner,” he added, reiterating that there were no indications that the system couldn’t handle the load.
Central Election Commission (CVK) Chair Kristīne Saulīte echoed this, stating that if there had been even the slightest indication the systems were not ready or might malfunction, the responsible parties would have acted immediately and switched to manual counting.
“There were no signs, so we proceeded with the plan,” Saulīte said.
She added that all election results have been certified, and there is currently no reason to doubt their accuracy. Several control mechanisms are in place to ensure correctness, she said. If any political party formally requests a recount, it will be carried out.
Regarding her own responsibility, Saulīte said she is willing to take full responsibility within her area of competence, but stressed that the current discussions involve technical issues outside CVK’s mandate.
As previously reported, vote counting in the 2025 municipal elections on Saturday and into Sunday night faced technical problems. Similar issues also occurred during the early voting period earlier in the week.
The State Agency for Digital Affairs (VDAA) has launched a detailed internal review at all levels of responsibility — from staff directly responsible for the election system to developers and auditors — to determine the cause of the slow performance of the ballot scanning system, said Agnese Tkačenko, VDAA Project Manager.
Tkačenko stated that if the cause of the system’s slowness had been clearly identifiable on election night, VDAA would have done everything possible to address it promptly.
She noted that more than 600 polling stations used electronic systems, meaning that ballots were scanned in two-thirds of precincts.
According to VDAA data, 284 381 ballots, or 41%, were scanned and processed electronically.
These figures will be re-evaluated during the audit to better assess the performance capabilities of the current system, she added.
When asked whether VDAA Director Jorens Liops plans to resign, the agency’s representatives did not comment. However, in a TV3 News and “Nekā personīga” special election broadcast on Sunday, the 8th of June, Liops said it was too early for him to take responsibility for the election night’s technical issues.
As reported, President Edgars Rinkēvičs earlier stated that CVK and VDAA failed in organizing the municipal elections. He believes that the Saeima and government must assess the performance and accountability of these institutions.
The President also stressed that concrete solutions are needed to ensure that next year’s parliamentary elections proceed smoothly and without the kind of disruptions seen in the recent local vote.