Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of wikipedia)

Latvia elects on national level a legislature. The Saeima has 100 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation with a 5% threshold. An unmodified Sainte-Laguë method is used to allocate seats. The parliamentary elections are held on the first Saturday of October. Locally, Latvia elects municipal councils, consisting of 7 to 60 members, depending on the size of the municipality, also by proportional representation for a four year term.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

WANT MORE ELECTION RELATED STATS FOR LATVIA? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

Politics of Latvia

(courtesy of wikipedia)

Politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Saeima. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. 

Recent elections

Consitutional referendum- 2008

On Saturday, 2 August 2008 the referendum about the Draft Law "Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia" took place in Latvia. In the referendum, voters had to answer the question: "Do you support adopting Draft Law "Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia"? Possible answers were "For" and "Against".

The referendum turnout was 42 %. According to the results of the referendum the Draft Law "Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia" has not been adopted. In order the draft amendments to the Constitution would be deemed adopted, at least 757,468 voters that is half of the electorate had to vote in favour of it in the national referendum.

For more information on the result, the process of calling a referendum and the campaign visit the Central Election Commission's website and click here.

Past Elections

Presidential Elections - 2007

Presidential elections in Latvia took place in the Saeima (the only Chamber in Parliament) on the 31st May 2007. The government candidate Valdis Zatlers was elected President of the Republic of Latvia by the members of the Saeima and defeated his main opponent - Mr.Aivars Endziņš. Mr. Zatlers took office on the 7th July 2007, when the incumbent president’s, Mrs. Vaira Vike-Freiberga's second term came to an end.

Nominations:

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian_presidential_election,_2007

Results:

Saeima Elections - 2006

Saeima Elections are held once every four years, on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections, the 9^th Saeima elections were held on Saturday, October 7, 2006. 60,08 % of Latvian citizens eligible to vote participated in the elections. Detailed information and election results are found here. Final report of the OSCE-ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission on Saeima elections can be read here.

Local Elections - 2005

In March, 2005 local elections (elections of city, district and pagasts councils) were held in Latvia. Local elections in Latvia are held every four years. The Central Election Commission of Latvia announces each local elections not later than three months before the election day and supervises them, while the elections are prepared and organized by the election commissions of cities, districts and pagasts. In local elections the administrative territory of each city, district and pagasts makes a single electoral district. Local elections are organized by the election commissions of cities, districts and pagasti and financed from the budget of the corresponding local government. 52,85 % of citizens eligible to vote took part in local elections 2005. Election results are here.