Election chief: Latvia ready for crisis scenarios ahead of parliamentary vote
A day before Latvia's 15th Saeima elections, Central Election Commission chairman Māris Zviedris discussed preparedness and crisis response on the 'Spried ar Delfi' programme. In the first four days of advance voting, 7.44% of eligible voters had already cast ballots.
Ahead of Saturday's elections for Latvia's 15th Saeima, journalists Andris Auzāns and Oskars Rekšņa questioned Central Election Commission (CVK) chairman Māris Zviedris on the programme "Spried ar Delfi" about the readiness of the voting process. In the first four days of advance voting, 7.44% of eligible voters had already cast their ballots.
Past problems
Concerns about a smooth election process grew after last year's municipal elections were marred by technical issues during vote counting, and difficulties also arose at polling stations during an earlier voting week. The CVK has also faced criticism over its communication with the public and polling stations.
IT security concerns
Further uncertainty stems from a criminal investigation opened by the European Public Prosecutor's Office into alleged fraud in IT procurement, under which 21 people were detained in March. After reviewing this information, President Edgars Rinkēvičs called for manual vote counting to be ensured. The company RIX Technologies, which had been involved in developing the election platform, confirmed its representatives testified in the investigation, while the State Regional Development Agency terminated its contract with the firm. Completion of the platform's development was handed to LMT, Tet and Latvia's State Forests. In early September, the agency and CVK reported that testing had found no significant problems.
Crisis readiness
Concerns have also been raised by airspace threats that have affected municipalities along Latvia's eastern border over the past six months. Zviedris has previously promised the election process will continue uninterrupted even in emergencies, including fires or evacuations, during which ballot boxes could be sealed and premises closed.
Meanwhile, two candidates were expelled from their parties shortly before the election — Reinis Uzulnieks after being detained for drunk driving, and Valts Dalbiņš over social media posts. Both remain on the ballot lists, however, since candidates cannot be withdrawn after lists are registered.
