“Russian speakers talk about their own, Latvians about theirs”: how elections are held in the border areas 0 64

In the Kraslava, Balvi, Aluksne, Ludza, and Rezekne regions, the elections for the 15th Saeima are proceeding calmly and without incidents, representatives of the regional electoral commissions told the LETA agency.

The chairperson of the Kraslava regional electoral commission, Zane Lochmele, reported that voter turnout is quite high. By 12:00, more than 2,700 people had voted in the region. Long queues formed at major polling stations, with waiting times sometimes reaching 20 minutes.

According to her, special attention should be paid to the close cooperation with the State and municipal police, as well as other law enforcement agencies that ensure safety at polling stations.

"In the border areas, it is noticeable that Russian-speaking residents talk about their own, Latvians about theirs, but there is no aggression," Lochmele said.

The chairperson of the Balvi regional electoral commission, Ilona Lochmele, also reported high voter activity. According to her, no serious incidents have been recorded, and the questions that arose mainly concerned the voting procedure and the use of registration envelopes for early voting.

At the polling stations in the Balvi region, officers from the State police, municipal police, and other security services were on duty.

The chairperson of the Aluksne regional commission, Ilze Rubene, reported that voting is going well, and queues are also forming at major polling stations in the city. According to her, the electronic system is functioning stably, and minor delays do not affect the voting process.

She added that commission members were well-prepared and promptly clarified any questions that voters had.

The chairperson of the Ludza regional commission, Ieva Gaievska, reported that voting is proceeding calmly, and high activity is observed even at small polling stations. She also noted that the system is working without failures, which is especially important after the technical problems that occurred during the previous municipal elections.

In the Rezekne region, according to the chairperson of the commission, Juris Dombrovskis, voting is also proceeding calmly. He explained that the relatively low turnout may be due to some residents voting in Rezekne or at other polling stations in the country, as legislation allows voting regardless of the place of registration.

Dombrovskis reported that officers from the State police, municipal police, and the Security Police are on duty at the polling stations, but no incidents have occurred.

In the elections for the 15th Saeima, 1,428 candidates from 14 political parties and associations are competing for 100 parliamentary mandates. Voters can vote at any polling station regardless of their place of residence.