The largest number of candidates per seat in this summer’s municipal elections will be in Jēkabpils municipality, while the lowest number of people have chosen to run in Ventspils municipality, according to information available on the website of the Central Election Commission (CVK).
A total of 5,975 candidates are running for the 731 seats in the upcoming summer elections, or an average of 8.2 candidates per seat. 340 lists of candidates have been submitted for the municipal elections, or an average of eight lists per municipality.
The most intensive competition for one seat is registered in Jēkabpils municipality. There, 260 candidates are running for 19 seats, which means that almost 14 people are running for one seat.
In Riga, 743 people are standing for 60 seats, which means that more than 12 people are standing for one seat. Jūrmala has the third highest number of candidates per seat. There, 172 people are running for 15 seats, which means that more than 11 people are running for one seat.
The least competitive regions are Smiltene, Valka and Ventspils. In Smiltene, fewer than five people are standing for one seat, while in Ventspils, 56 people are standing for 15 seats, or fewer than four people for one seat.
The largest number of lists of candidates has been submitted in Riga – 16, in Jēkabpils – 13 and in Jelgava – 12.
The lists and election programmes can be found on the CVK’s dedicated website . Kristīne Saulīte, the head of the CVK, in an interview on Latvian Radio’s “Pusdiena” programme, called for early familiarisation with the candidates and programmes.
“It is our right and also our duty [to participate in the elections]. Every vote is extremely important, given the geopolitical situation,” Saulīte stressed.
3,671 candidates, or 61.4% of the total number of candidates, are men, and 2,304, or 38.6%, are women. The average age of the candidates is 47.4 years.
Six of the candidates have German citizenship, three have British citizenship in addition to Latvian citizenship and two have US citizenship. Other candidates for the municipal elections have Finnish, Irish and Australian citizenship.
4832 candidates (about 81%) indicate that they are Latvian, 302 or about 5% are Russian, 56 indicate that they are Polish, 38 are Ukrainian and 22 are Belarusian. Five people indicated that they are German by nationality. 682 of the candidates chose not to indicate their nationality.
Local elections will be held on 7 June in 42 electoral districts .
There will be 974 polling stations for the local elections. The stations will be available to voters starting Monday, 2 June, when the election week begins, and they will be open at various times each working day of the election week. On election day, 7 June, the stations will be open from 08:00 to 20:00.
This election will be notable for featuring a new look for ballot papers.
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