On April 3, President of Latvia Egils Levits met with the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Kristīne Saulīte at the Riga Castle to discuss the future activities of the CEC and the upcoming European Parliament (EP) elections next year.
Taking into account the need to strengthen the institutional capacity of the CEC and cooperation with various state administration institutions, the President of Latvia and K. Saulīte discussed the future institutional management of the CEC. President Levits emphasized that the possible location of the CEC under the supervision of the State Chancellery would be in line with the modern model of European and Scandinavian countries.
The President of Latvia also stressed that he has repeatedly expressed his strong position on the need for a well-thought-out and targeted national digital policy, including the management of digital infrastructure. President Levits noted that this also applies to the online voters' register. Such a register enables people to vote at any polling station of their choice in Latvia, as was the case in the 14th Saeima elections. This issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible, said E. Levits.
The Chair of the CEC said that a political decision is needed on which state institution maintains the national IT systems, including the online voters' register. If the state is unable to provide an online voters' register for the EP elections, it will have to return to the practice of linking the voter to a specific polling station by receiving a paper notification in the mailbox, explained K. Saulīte.
At the same time, K. Saulīte confirmed that the CEC is doing everything possible to ensure that the EP election process in Latvia runs smoothly and in a way that is convenient for the citizens.
