Although there are currently no signs that the voter register will be unusable, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has developed several action plans for such a case, CEC chairman Maris Zvidris told the LETA agency.
Speaking about preparations for the Saeima elections, Zvidris noted that the locations of polling stations are already known, and voters will be able to vote in advance at these locations starting from September 28.
The formation of polling station commissions is also nearing completion. Although regulations stipulated that the process should be completed by the end of May, a significant number of municipalities have already finished it. Zvidris noted that applications for work in the polling commissions are accepted even after the formal deadline, and interested individuals are invited to contact one of the 42 municipal electoral commissions across Latvia.
The chairman of the CEC also reported that all 16 instructions of the CEC have been approved, which are updated and clarified before each election in accordance with current regulations.
On Thursday, the CEC meeting approved the budget allocation for all municipal electoral commissions. The total funding amounts to about seven million euros and is intended for both the salaries of polling station staff, including vote counting, and for expenses on goods, services, materials, and transport. The conclusion of contracts with municipal commissions is planned to be completed by the end of April, possibly even earlier.
Speaking about election security, Zvidris emphasized that the CEC is working with various risk scenarios, considering the concerns expressed in the public space regarding the operation of information technologies. For most systems, failures will not have a significant impact on the course of the elections; however, the electronic online voter register is an exception.
If the electronic voter register cannot be used, it will significantly affect the organization of the elections, and in that case, alternative, more inconvenient solutions for the public will have to be applied, the head of the CEC noted.
He pointed out that currently, security services have not identified grounds for a scenario in which the electronic register would be unavailable, and the CEC maintains close cooperation with both the system developers and the State Agency for Digital Development. The development and improvement of the register are currently proceeding as planned.
At the same time, the CEC has prepared at least five basic action options in case the electronic register turns out to be unavailable. Among them are returning to assigning voters to specific polling stations, using voter identification cards, or voting only with registration envelopes.
Zvidris explained that a complete transition to registration envelopes would allow voting at any polling station; however, it would have a significant drawback — the counting of votes could take more than a week, as all data would have to be checked manually to eliminate the risk of double voting or unauthorized participation.
"The loss of the electronic voter register would be the most painful scenario from a political and organizational point of view, but even in such a case, the elections will take place," emphasized the chairman of the CEC.
As previously reported, elections to the Saeima will take place in the fall, during which votes will be counted manually. The proposal to ensure manual vote counting was made by the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, citing concerns about the risks of influence on information technologies. According to current regulations, the decision on the method of counting votes must be made by the CEC; however, it decided to pass this decision to the Saeima.
Rinkēvičs made this call after reviewing information from the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) about possible violations in the field of information technology procurement and their potential impact on the Saeima elections in 2026.
As part of the criminal proceedings initiated by the EPPO, the State Police detained 21 people, including public officials, on suspicion of fraud in information technology procurement amounting to 1.5 million euros.
As a preventive measure, detention has been applied to public procurement specialist Ainārs Biders, former director of the State Agency for Digital Development Jorens Liopes, and owner and head of the Corporate Solutions group of companies Aigars Ceruss.
The criminal proceedings were initiated at the end of last year and are classified under the articles of the Criminal Law on large-scale fraud committed by an organized group, as well as on the legalization of criminally obtained funds in large amounts committed by an organized group.
According to the investigation, an organized group of individuals entered into an illegal secret agreement to pre-determine the winners in public procurements for at least six projects funded by the European Regional Development Fund, amounting to up to 1.5 million euros. There are suspicions that the contracts were illegally secured with the assistance of public officials, and the profits obtained were distributed among the participants.
The EPPO press release noted that the implementation of some projects may pose potential risks to national security, as they may affect elections and democratic processes.
