On Thursday, 3 September 2020, the Central Election Commission (CEC) examined the received submissions regarding the results of the elections to the Riga City Council of 29 August 2020 and, after hearing the reasons of the applicants, decided to reject the appeals submitted.
The CEC had received submissions contesting the election results from representatives of four candidate lists – the New Harmony (Jaunā Saskaņa), "Harmony" the Social Democratic Party ("Saskaņa" sociāldemokrātiskā partija), the Latvian Russian Union (Latvijas Krievu savienība) and the Political party "Alternative" (Politiskā partija "Alternative") – on the grounds that a total of 627 ballot envelopes without the polling station stamp were found in the ballot boxes of two polling stations. In two submissions, as an additional argument for the cancellation of the election results, it was mentioned that the possibility to vote at the place of voter’s residence had not been provided for some voters who had applied for it.
According to the City Council and Municipality Council Election Law, the ballot envelopes, which have not been stamped with the stamp of the relevant polling station commission, shall be deemed invalid. The law also states that invalid ballot envelopes shall be counted and packaged unopened, indicating that the package contains invalid ballot envelopes and the number of such envelopes. Consequently, in the opinion of the CEC, although it is more likely that ballot envelopes were not stamped at these stations due to a failure of the polling station commission, only the court can assess in depth the circumstances mentioned in the complaints.
The City Council and Municipality Council Election Law provides that submitters of the candidate lists as well as candidates may contests the decision of the CEC in the Administrative District Court within three working days. The court must consider the case and take the decision within seven days of the date of receipt of the application.
If the court, when examining the complaint, finds that the organisation of the elections or the counting of votes and the calculation of the election results have committed violations of the law which have affected the allocation of seats among political parties, political party associations, it shall repeal the decision regarding the approval of the results of the local government elections. In such a situation, the court may take one of the following decisions: asking the CEC to ensure the recount of votes, asking the CEC to ensure the repeat voting in a certain polling station or asking the CEC to ensure repeat elections. The decision taken by the District Court is final and may not be appealed.
The results of the Riga City Council elections were approved by the Riga City Election Commission on 30 August of this year. According to the City Council and Municipality Council Election Law, submitters of the candidate lists as well as candidates have the right to contest the decision of both the polling stations commission and the Riga City Election Commission regarding the approval of the election results to the CEC within three working days after the day of taking the decision.
“New Harmony” asked to cancel both the decision of the Riga City Election Commission regarding the approval of the results of the extraordinary elections to the Riga City Council and the results of the polling stations No. 97 and 144. In the light of the above, “New Harmony” asked for new elections in these stations and for the recount of votes in all polling stations in Riga, as well as to assess the fact that not all voters who had applied for voting at their place of residence have been serviced. “New Harmony” also called for new extraordinary elections in Riga.
The Latvian Russian Union asked the CEC to ensure the recount of votes in the polling stations No. 97 and 144 of the Riga City, recognizing as valid the unsealed ballot envelopes found in the ballot boxes of these polling stations.
At the same time, the candidates from the Social Democratic Party "Harmony" Antons Klindžāns and Vladimirs Frolovs asked for a re-vote at the polling stations No. 97 and 144 of the Riga City.
The Political party "Alternative" asked to cancel the decision of the Riga City Election Commission regarding the approval of the results of the Riga City Council's extraordinary elections and to take a decision to announce repeat extraordinary elections to the Riga City Council.
03.09.2020.
CEC Information Department
Tel. +371 67814900/+371 20237331