As adults voted for Saeima, children in Cēsis municipality held their own election
On the day of Latvia's 15th Saeima elections, Cēsis municipality also held a parallel vote for children and young people, with 2,680 participating. The municipality has pledged to implement the winning ideas in 2026 and 2027.
On Saturday, October 3, as Latvians went to the polls to elect the 15th Saeima, Cēsis municipality simultaneously ran a special vote exclusively for children and young people. As part of the project "Democracy Starts in the Family," 2,680 young residents cast their choices at 11 voting locations, with turnout reaching 39.5%.
Participation was highest in Cēsis itself, where 59.6% of eligible children and youth voted, compared to 40.4% in the other voting locations.
Different questions for different ages
Unlike the adult elections, which concern national governance, children and young people voted on topics relevant to their own lives. Preschool-age children chose a cake for their celebration, with strawberry cake winning decisively at 47.2% of votes, ahead of chocolate and honey cake.
Primary school pupils decided on a leisure activity for their neighborhood, with an outdoor table tennis table proving most popular, backed by 40.5% of participants.
Older school pupils voted on an event they would like to see happen in Cēsis municipality. Their choice was the most decisive of all — 55.2% voted for a youth evening or overnight event, which won in all 11 voting locations and received more support than the other three proposed ideas combined.
A pledge to follow through
The municipality emphasized that the vote is not merely symbolic — the ideas chosen by children and young people are planned for implementation in 2026 and 2027. The project aims to give the municipality's youngest residents a practical understanding of democratic decision-making and collective choice.
