! In view of the amendments to the Law adopted by the Saeima, local government elections in the Madona municipality WILL TAKE PLACE on 5 June, the early voting only in this electoral district will be held - on June 3 from 16:00 to 20:00 and on 4 June from 11:00 to 20:00. ! In Rēzekne municipality and Varakļāni municipality elections have been cancelled! Elections in these electoral districts are scheduled for September 11, 2021.
In order to comply with the judgement of the Constitutional Court, which states that joining the Varakļāni municipality to the Rēzekne municipality does not comply with the Constitution, the Central Election Commission (CEC) decided on Friday, 28 May 2021 to cancel the local government elections of 5 June in Rēzekne municipality.
The CEC also decided, as a matter of urgency, to cancel elections in the Madona municipality, as only on Monday the Saeima will consider amendments to the law, which will determine whether the current administrative areas of Varakļāni will be added to the Madona municipality, but early voting in the local government elections will start on Monday. That is why it is important to provide voters with clarity on whether the voting will take place in this electoral district and the votes cast will be valid. In the opinion of the CEC, it is unacceptable that voters would go to vote and then a decision would be announced, which would mean the annulment of those votes.
The elections in these electoral districts should be cancelled because the Constitutional Court’s judgment changes the borders of the previous electoral district, and accordingly a set of voters who have the right to elect the council of the relevant municipality and to stand as a candidate in the respective electoral district is also changing.
The CEC has ordered the election commission of the Rēzekne municipality and the election commission of the Madona municipality to suspend the work on preparation of the local government election and immediately to place information at the polling stations on the fact that the relevant local government elections on 5 June 2021 are not taking place. Information should also be published on the webpages of the municipal Councils.
The Saeima's Administrative Territorial Reform Commission has today decided to submit the draft laws, which provide for leaving the town of Varakļāni, the rural municipality of Varakļāni and the rural municipality of Murmastiena in the Madona municipality, for consideration at an extraordinary meeting of the Saeima on May 31.
The judgement of the Constitutional Court stated that residents of the Varakļāni municipality have previously expressed their wish to be added to the Madona municipality, as well as the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) has prepared amendments to the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, in order to ensure that it complies with the Constitution, including the rural municipalities of Murmastiena and Varakļāni and the town of Varakļāni in the Madona, not the Rēzekne municipality.
The VARAM also submitted to the Saeima the draft Law “On the election of the Madona municipality council and the Rezekne municipality council”, because it is also necessary to determine the procedures for the announcing and organisation of the elections in the newly formed Madona municipality and Rēzekne municipality. The VARAM proposes to move the local government elections in the Madona and Rēzekne municipalites to 11 September.
In these electoral districts, elections will have to be re-announced, so the submission of the lists of candidates, the change of the electoral district and other electoral processes will take place again. Consequently, municipal election commissions will have to destroy the ballot papers of the elections of 5 June in these electoral districts as well as unopened ballot envelopes received in postal voting, and to draw up a statement in this regard.
CEC Information Department
Tel. +371 20237331