On Thursday, 21 January 2021, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the municipal elections on 5 June, which will take place in six cities and 35 counties. Meanwhile, elections in the Riga municipality will not take place this year because the Riga City Council was elected in the emergency elections last year and will continue to work until the elections of 2025.
The CEC intends to determine the number of councillors to be elected on 26 January this year. In accordance with the Law on Elections to Municipal Council, the number of councillors to be elected to the municipal council shall be determined according to the number of populations registered in the administrative territory of the relevant municipality in the Population Register on the day of the announcement of elections. 15 councillors are to be elected in municipalities with a population of up to 30,000, 19 councillors – in municipalities with a population of between 30,001 and 60,000, and 23 councillors – in municipalities with more than 60,000 residents. In the same time, there will be 13 councillors in cities with population of up to 50,000 residents and 15 councillors – in cities with over 50,000 residents.
In municipal elections, voters will be able to vote in any polling station in their constituency. For the first time an electronic online voter register will be used to register voters in polling stations.
The working time of polling stations on the municipal election day, 5 June, will be between 7:00 and 20:00. Voters will also be able to vote early:
- on Monday, 31 May, from 16:00 to 20:00;
- on Thursday, 3 June, from 9:00 to 16:00;
- on Friday, 4 June, from 13:00 to 20:00.
This year, for the first time, voters eligible to participate in municipal elections, which are staying abroad during elections, will be allowed to apply for postal voting from abroad. Voters will have to apply for postal voting in advance – from 27 March to 24 April. It will be possible to submit application on the State Administration Services portal www.latvija.lv, using e-service of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, in the embassies or representations of the Republic of Latvia, in the Central Election Commission or via the official electronic address.
If a voter will not be able to attend the polling station due to health reasons, it will be possible to apply for a vote in the voter’s place of residence.
The right to participate in local government elections will have citizens of Latvia and other member states of the European Union (EU) from the age of 18 who will have a registered place of residence in the administrative territory of the relevant municipality at least 90 days before the election day (7 March of this year) or who own real estate in the administrative territory of relevant municipality.
Voters will be able to find out their constituencies and polling stations within the constituency from 27 March by using the e-service of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs on the internet or by calling the CEC hotline. From 27 March to 27 May, voters will also be able to change the constituency online or in person if they prefer to vote in the constituency where they own real estate.
The submission of candidate lists for the 2021 municipal elections will take place between 17 March and 6 April. The candidate lists can be submitted by registered political parties, registered associations of registered political parties, two or more registered political parties that have not formed a registered association of political parties.
In order to stand in the 2021 municipal elections, on the day of the submission of the candidate list, the candidate must have a registered place of residence in the administrative territory of the municipality without interruption at least since 26 June 2020 or have worked in the relevant municipality as a worker or self-employed person at least since 26 December 2020. It will also be possible to stand as a candidate in that constituency where the candidate owns real estate registered in accordance with the procedures specified by law.
CEC Information Department
Tel. +371 67814900, +371 20237331