Municipal elections were held across

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

7 June Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire). * 879 – Pope John VIII recognises the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state. *1002 – Henry ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

. 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 Rēzekne Municipality () is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Audriņi parish, Bērzgale parish, Čornaja parish, Dricāni parish, Feimaņi parish, Gaigalava parish, Griškāni par ...

was unconstitutional. In response, the Saeima decided to preserve the existence of Varakļāni Municipality as a 43rd local government unit until 2025. In June 2024 the Saeima decreed that Varakļāni Municipality will be merged into

Madona Municipality Madona Municipality () is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The administrative center is Madona. The total area of the municipality is , and the population in January 2013 was 26,953.Madona municipality Population Register Of these, economically ...

and 2025 Madona municipal election will be held within the new borders.

Electoral system

All 731 councilors will be elected using open-list

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

with a 5%

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

. 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. In order 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. Voters who have the right to vote in municipal elections, but who will be abroad during the election, can vote by mail from abroad.

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.

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, Jorenu Liopu, responsible for the electoral system, from his duties. On June 11, taking responsibility for problems with information technology solutions supporting the election process, Minister I. Bērziņa herself resigned from her position. On same day, the head of the Central Election Commission (CVK), Kristīne Saulīte, has nevertheless decided to resign from her position, in following day.

References

{{Latvian elections

June 2025 in Latvia 2025 elections in Europe