2025 Latvian municipal elections

Municipal elections are to be held across Latvia on June 7, 2025.[1]

The elections will be held in 42 municipalities. On 1 June 2021, the Constitutional Court of Latvia ruled that the annexation of Varakļāni Municipality to Rēzekne Municipality was unconstitutional. In response, the Saeima decided to preserve the existence of Varakļāni Municipality as a 43rd local government unit until 2025.[2][3] In June 2024 the Saeima decreed that Varakļāni Municipality will be merged into Madona Municipality and 2025 Madona municipal election will be voted in the new borders.[4]

Electoral system

All councilors will be elected using open-list proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold. Seats are allocated using the Saint-Laguë method. The number of councilors is determined by the Central Election Committee based on the number of residents in a given municipality.

Seat allocation for the 2025 local elections[5]

Councilors	State Cities	Municipalities
13	50 000 residents or less
15	more than 50 000 residents	30 000 residents or less
19		more than 30 000 residents
23		more than 60 000 residents

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.[6]

Voters who have the right to vote in municipal elections, but who will be abroad during the election, can vote by mail from abroad.[7]

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.[8]

References

1. "Local Elections 2025" (in Latvian). Central Election Commission. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
2. Upleja, Sanita (1 June 2021). "Varakļāni paliek kā atsevišķs novads; Rēzeknes un Varakļānu novadā vēlēšanas pārceltas (plkst. 16.15)". Delfi (in Latvian). Retrieved 23 December 2024.
3. "Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, 2021 version". Likumi. Latvijas Vēstnesis. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
4. "Varakļāni, Madona municipalities merge". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 2024-07-14. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
5. "Municipal councils election law". 2021-01-20.
6. "Local Elections 2025" (in Latvian). Central Election Commission. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
7. "Local Elections 2025" (in Latvian). Central Election Commission. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
8. "Elections will see new-design ballot papers in Latvia". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 23 December 2024.