2025 Latvian municipal elections
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Municipal elections were held across Latvia on 7 June 2025.[1]
The elections were held in 42 municipalities. On 1 June 2021, the Constitutional Court of Latvia ruled that the annexation of Varakļāni Municipality to Rēzekne Municipality was unconstitutional. In response, the Saeima decided to preserve the existence of Varakļāni Municipality as a 43rd local government unit until 2025.[2][3] In June 2024 the Saeima decreed that Varakļāni Municipality would be merged into Madona Municipality and 2025 Madona municipal election was held within the new borders.[4]
Electoral system
All 731 councilors are elected using open-list proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold. Seats are allocated using the Saint-Laguë method. The number of councilors was determined by the Central Election Committee based on the number of residents in a given municipality.
Voting rights
The right to participate in municipal elections is for citizens of Latvia and other European Union Member States who were 18 years of age and are eligible to vote. To participate in municipal elections in Latvia, citizens of the European Union must be registered in the Latvian Population Register 90 days before the elections. All voters must be registered in the Voters Register as well. Voters have the right to vote in the local government where they have their registered place of residence 90 days before election day or in the local government where they own real estate registered.[6]
Voters who have the right to vote in municipal elections, but who will be abroad during the election, can vote by mail from abroad.[7]
New ballot papers
Starting with the 2025 local elections, new ballot papers will be in force in Latvia. The main changes will affect those voters who wish to highlight one of the candidates in particular, or express a negative attitude towards one of the candidates on the selected list. Until now, it was customary for candidates whom a particular voter particularly supports to be marked with a "+" sign, and undesirable ones to be simply crossed out. According to this new ballot paper model, next to each candidate's name there will be two differently colored fields, and the voter will be able to shade one – the green field – if they particularly support a candidate, or shade the other – the red field – if they find the particular candidate unacceptable.[8]
Results
Daugavpils
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go, Latgale! | 15,879 | 69.03 | 14 | New | |
| For Latvia's Development | 1,601 | 6.96 | 1 |  1 | |
| Latvia First, Latgale Party | 1,119 | 4.86 | 0 |  2 | |
| Daugavpils Municipality Party, Latvian Green Party | 1,073 | 4.66 | 0 | 2 | |
| National Alliance | 1,053 | 4.58 | 0 | New | |
| Daugavpils – mana pils | 818 | 3.56 | 0 | New | |
| For Stability! | 700 | 3.04 | 0 | New | |
| Sovereign Power, Alliance of Young Latvians | 523 | 2.27 | 0 | New | |
| Together for Latvia | 159 | 0.69 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Greens and Farmers | 77 | 0.33 | 0 |  | |
| Total | 23,002 | 100.00 | 15 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 23,002 | 98.82 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 275 | 1.18 | |||
| Total votes | 23,277 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 54,893 | 42.40 | |||
| Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia[9] | |||||
Jelgava
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union of Greens and Farmers | 3,440 | 19.15 | 3 | 3 | |
| Sovereign Power, Alliance of Young Latvians | 3,357 | 18.69 | 3 | New | |
| New Unity | 1,946 | 10.83 | 2 | | |
| National Alliance | 1,869 | 10.40 | 2 | | |
| Movement For! | 1,805 | 10.05 | 2 | | |
| New Conservative Party | 1,381 | 7.69 | 1 | 1 | |
| Latvian Association of Regions | 1,371 | 7.63 | 1 | | |
| Latvia First | 1,206 | 6.71 | 1 | New | |
| Latvian Green Party | 755 | 4.20 | 0 | New | |
| The Progressives | 558 | 3.11 | 0 | | |
| Social Democratic Party "Harmony" | 215 | 1.20 | 0 | 1 | |
| Centre Party | 62 | 0.35 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 17,965 | 100.00 | 15 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 17,965 | 98.98 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 185 | 1.02 | |||
| Total votes | 18,150 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 38,531 | 47.10 | |||
| Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia[10] | |||||
Jūrmala
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latvian Green Party | 6,771 | 35.52 | 6 | New | |
| National Alliance | 4,296 | 22.54 | 4 | 2 | |
| Union of Greens and Farmers | 2,351 | 12.33 | 2 | 6 | |
| Social Democratic Party "Harmony" | 1,491 | 7.82 | 1 | 1 | |
| The Progressives | 1,409 | 7.39 | 1 | 1 | |
| Latvia First | 1,167 | 6.12 | 1 | New | |
| New Unity | 680 | 3.57 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sovereign Power, Alliance of Young Latvians | 507 | 2.66 | 0 | New | |
| Jūrmala – Our Home | 333 | 1.75 | 0 | | |
| Centre Party | 58 | 0.30 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 19,063 | 100.00 | 15 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 19,063 | 98.67 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 256 | 1.33 | |||
| Total votes | 19,319 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 38,980 | 49.56 | |||
| Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia[11] | |||||
Liepāja
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liepāja Party | 9,144 | 46.14 | 9 | 3 | |
| Latvian Association of Regions | 4,050 | 20.43 | 4 | 1 | |
| National Alliance | 1,854 | 9.35 | 2 | 1 | |
| Latvian Russian Union | 929 | 4.69 | 0 | New | |
| Social Democratic Party "Harmony" | 878 | 4.43 | 0 | 2 | |
| New Unity | 807 | 4.07 | 0 | | |
| For Stability! | 570 | 2.88 | 0 | New | |
| Movement For! | 563 | 2.84 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sovereign Power, Alliance of Young Latvians | 507 | 2.56 | 0 | New | |
| Latvia First | 440 | 2.22 | 0 | New | |
| Latvian Green Party | 77 | 0.39 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 19,819 | 100.00 | 15 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 19,819 | 98.92 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 216 | 1.08 | |||
| Total votes | 20,035 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 46,029 | 43.53 | |||
| Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia[12] | |||||
Rēzekne
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latvia First, Together for Latvia | 5,139 | 50.95 | 8 | New | |
| National Alliance, New Unity, For Latvia's Development | 1,789 | 17.74 | 3 | | |
| Latvian Green Party, Latvian Association of Regions, New Conservative Party | 1,211 | 12.01 | 2 | 1 | |
| The Progressives | 486 | 4.82 | 0 | 1 | |
| Latgale Party | 319 | 3.16 | 0 | 3 | |
| Sovereign Power, Alliance of Young Latvians | 288 | 2.86 | 0 | New | |
| Social Democratic Party "Harmony" | 280 | 2.78 | 0 | 8 | |
| Go, Latgale! | 253 | 2.51 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Greens and Farmers | 235 | 2.33 | 0 | New | |
| Latvian Russian Union | 87 | 0.86 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 10,087 | 100.00 | 13 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 10,087 | 99.13 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 89 | 0.87 | |||
| Total votes | 10,176 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 10,176 | 100.00 | |||
| Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia[13] | |||||
Rīga
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latvia First | 38,793 | 18.29 | 13 | New | |
| The Progressives | 35,497 | 16.74 | 11 | | |
| National Alliance | 30,328 | 14.30 | 10 | 6 | |
| New Unity | 27,548 | 12.99 | 9 | 1 | |
| Sovereign Power, Alliance of Young Latvians | 25,912 | 12.22 | 8 | New | |
| For Stability! | 14,813 | 6.98 | 5 | New | |
| United List | 13,421 | 6.33 | 4 | New | |
| For Latvia's Development | 9,053 | 4.27 | 0 | 3 | |
| Social Democratic Party "Harmony" | 7,375 | 3.48 | 0 | 12 | |
| Honor to serve Riga!, Union of Greens and Farmers | 5,273 | 2.49 | 0 | 5 | |
| Platform 21 | 1,586 | 0.75 | 0 | New | |
| Self-respect, People.Land.Statehood. | 783 | 0.37 | 0 | New | |
| New Conservative Party | 751 | 0.35 | 0 | 4 | |
| Latvian Revival Party | 499 | 0.24 | 0 | New | |
| Socialist Party of Latvia | 366 | 0.17 | 0 | New | |
| Centre Party | 105 | 0.05 | 0 | | |
| Total | 212,103 | 100.00 | 60 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 212,103 | 99.13 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,852 | 0.87 | |||
| Total votes | 213,955 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 409,130 | 52.30 | |||
| Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia[14] | |||||
Ventspils
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For Latvia and Ventspils | 4,355 | 47.56 | 7 | | |
| National Alliance | 1,558 | 17.01 | 2 | 1 | |
| United List, New Conservative Party | 1,467 | 16.02 | 2 | 1 | |
| Movement For!, New Unity | 713 | 7.79 | 1 | 1 | |
| For Stability! | 524 | 5.72 | 1 | New | |
| Sovereign Power, Alliance of Young Latvians | 222 | 2.42 | 0 | New | |
| Latvia First | 219 | 2.39 | 0 | New | |
| Social Democratic Party "Harmony" | 99 | 1.08 | 0 | | |
| Total | 9,157 | 100.00 | 13 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 9,157 | 98.95 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 97 | 1.05 | |||
| Total votes | 9,254 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 22,934 | 40.35 | |||
| Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia[15] | |||||
Aftermath
After the polling stations closed, problems with the ballot scanning system provided by the State Digital Development Agency (SDAA) led to a manual count, delaying the election results. Kristīne Saulīte, head of the Central Election Commission (CVK), said an investigation would be needed into the incident. On 9 June, Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Development Inga Bērziņa suspended the director of the State Digital Development Agency, Jorens Liopa, responsible for the electoral system, from his duties. On 11 June, taking responsibility for problems with information technology solutions supporting the election process, Minister I. Bērziņa herself resigned from her position.[16] On same day, the head of the Central Election Commission (CVK), Kristīne Saulīte, has nevertheless decided to resign from her position, in following day.[17]