Political parties wishing to stand in Saeima elections will be required to have at least 1,000 registered members, while party alliances must have at least 1,500 members. This is stipulated in the amendments to the Saeima Election Law adopted by the Saeima in the final reading on Thursday, 12 June.
Previously, candidate lists could be submitted if a party or party alliance had no fewer than 500 registered members. The new membership threshold will apply from the 2030 Saeima elections.
The amendments also increase the maximum length of pre-election programmes: parties and party alliances will now be allowed to submit programmes of up to 10,000 characters. Until now, the limit for Saeima elections was 4,000 characters.
In future, candidate lists for Saeima elections may be submitted over a longer period—from the 105th day before election day until no later than the 90th day. This change is intended to facilitate a more efficient election preparation process, including procurement procedures. Previously, submissions could begin only 80 days before election day.
Given this extended submission period, the amendments also require the Central Election Commission to determine the number of Members of Parliament to be elected in each constituency five months before election day, rather than the current four months. The number will be based on the number of voters in each constituency, as recorded in the Population Register.
The security deposit required for submitting a candidate list has also been revised. Instead of the current EUR 1,400, the deposit will be set at 11 times the minimum monthly wage (currently EUR 8,140). To prevent a sharp increase in the amount required, the deposit for the next Saeima elections has been set at six minimum monthly wages.
To harmonise voting procedures across different elections, polling stations in Saeima elections will also be open from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. Previously, voting began at 7.00 a.m.
The amendments further provide that during advance voting—similarly to local elections—voters will be able to cast their vote for safekeeping at any polling station in Latvia from Monday to Friday before election day. Previously, this was only possible at designated polling stations within the electoral district.
As vote counting is expected to include ballot scanning, the amendments introduce a unified marking system on ballot papers: instead of using pluses and minuses, voters will mark candidates “for” or “against”.
The amendments also introduce the possibility for electoral commissions at polling stations to organise mobile voting, and simplify the procedure for postal voting applications, which may now be submitted via the state public administration services portal www.latvija.gov.lv.
Saeima Press Service