Info
Voter Registration
VR001
Voting age
Question: What is the legal voting age in the national elections?
Answer:
c . 18
Comments: Article 1. Citizens of Latvia who have reached the age of 18 by election day have the right to vote.
Source: Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Latvia as amended on 8 April 2009, art. 8: http://legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/4777/file/Latvia_Constitution_am2009_en.pdf (2014);
Electoral Law: The Saeima Election Law as in force on 19 July 2014, art. 1: http://cvk.lv/pub/public/30870.html?doc_print=1 (2014)
Verified: 2014/10/09
VR002
Other voting requirements
Question: Beyond age, what other qualifications exist for registering to vote and voting in the national elections?
Answer(s):
a . Citizenship e . Other
Comments: Article 4: Any citizen of Latvia who has reached the age of 21 before election day may be elected to the Saeima unless one or more of the restrictions specified in Article 5 of this Law apply.
Article 5: Persons are not to be included in the lists of candidates and are not eligible to be elected to the Saeima if they:
1) have been placed under statutory trusteeship by the court;
2) are serving a court sentence in a penitentiary;
3) have been convicted of an intentionally committed criminal offence except in cases when persons have been rehabilitated or their conviction has been expunged or vacated;
4) have committed a criminal offence set forth in the Criminal Law in a state of mental incapacity or a state of diminished mental capacity or who, after committing a criminal offence, have developed a mental disorder and thus are incapable of taking or controlling a conscious action and as a result have been subjected to compulsory medical measures, or whose cases have been dismissed without applying such compulsory medical measures;
5) belong to the salaried staff of the state security, intelligence or counterintelligence services of a foreign country or have belonged to the salaried staff of the state security, intelligence or counterintelligence services of the USSR or the Latvian SSR except persons who have been employed at the Planning, Finance or Administrative Departments of the Committee for State Security of the USSR or the Latvian SSR;
6) after 13 January 1991 have been active in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (the Communist Party of Latvia), the International Front of the Working People of the Latvian SSR, the United Board of Working Bodies, the Organisation of War and Labour Veterans, the All-Latvia Salvation Committee or its regional committees;
7) have been sentenced with a prohibition to stand as a candidate in the elections of the Saeima, European Parliament, city or municipality councils unless they have been rehabilitated or their conviction has been expunged or vacated.
Source: Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Latvia as amended on 8 April 2009, art. 8: http://legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/4777/file/Latvia_Constitution_am2009_en.pdf (2014);
Electoral Law: The Saeima Election Law as in force on 19 July 2014, art. 4-5: http://cvk.lv/pub/public/30870.html?doc_print=1 (2014)
Verified: 2014/10/09
VR004
Authority responsible for voter registration
Question: Which is the authority responsible for the registration of voters for national elections?
Answer:
e . Other
Comments: Article 3: (2) Processing of data included on the Register and maintenance of the Register shall be carried out by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.
Source: Law: Voters’ Register Law, adopted on January 22, 2004, art. 3(2).
Verified: 2014/10/03
VR008
Is it compulsory to be on the voters register?
Question: Is it compulsory to be on the voters register?
Answer:
a . Yes
Comments: Article 5. (1) The Register shall include, update and store data on competent citizens of Latvia who have reached the age of 18 on the day of elections to the Saeima, the European Parliament, a town council, a county council or a parish council, or on the day of nation-wide referendum (hereinafter also referred to as “the elections), and who are filed with the Register of Residents.
(2) The Register shall include, update and store data on competent citizens of the European Union who are not citizens of Latvia and have reached the age of 18 on the day of elections to the European Parliament, and who are filed with the Register of Residents or have applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in relation to whom the Central Election Commission has made a decision on their inclusion on the Register in accordance with the law.
Source: Law: Voters’ Register Law, adopted on January 22, 2004, art. 5.
Verified: 2014/10/03
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