2025 Latvian municipal elections
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Voting rights
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.
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]
