For example, even the Central Election Commission (CVK) has misleading information on its main English-language page for the European Parliamentary Elections, stating that Latvia will send 8 MEPs to Brussels (it will actually send 9) and that election day will be on the last Saturday of May (it will be on June 8).
Setting aside such concerns, foreign voters might also be surprised by the actual process of voting in Latvia which is in some respects different from the practice in many other countries – a fact that becomes apparent when the prospective voter is handed a small bundle of papers at the voting station.
Again, there appears to be no information in English on the website of the CVK about the mechanics of voting, and there will be no foreign-language explanations available at voting stations, so below you'll find our own explanation of how to actually cast your vote.
Please note that EU citizens need to be registered in Latvia to vote here. You can't just show up at a voting station while on holiday in Latvia, for example, and expect to get a vote. If you're not registered – sorry, but the deadline has already passed on May 9, as we previously reported.
How to vote in Latvia
1) Go to a voting station on June 8. You can vote at any voting station, it does not have to be the one closest to you. They will be open 08:00 until 20:00. [It is also possible to vote at certain voting stations during certain hours before June 8, but we'll keep it simple here]. Make sure you take a valid ID document – a passport or identity card. You'll find a map with all the voting stations here: https://iecirkni.cvk.lv/.
2) Present yourself and your ID to the voting officer who wil register you. Once registered, you will not be able to vote anywhere else.
3) You will be handed a complete set of ballot papers – one for every one of the 16 political parties contesting the election. Yes, this is quite a stack of paper. You will also be given a single ballot envelope bearing the stamp of the relevant polling station.
4) Go to one of the voting booths. Find the ballot paper of the party for which you want to vote.
5) Now comes one of the most unusual and intriguing features of Latvian democracy. A voter does not necessarily have to mark a ballot paper at all – the party list can be put in a sealed envelope and deposited in the ballot box and a vote will be recorded for that party when the count takes place.
6) However, the options to express one's political will do not end there. The voter may also choose to put a “+” mark opposite the name of a candidate or candidates they particularly like on the party list and/or cross out the names of any candidates they don't like. This process effectively moves candidates "up" or "down" the party list, though it still only counts as one vote for one party.
In this election, most parties are fielding the maximum 18 candidates, though some are fielding fewer. Regardless, there is no limit to the number of plusses or strikethroughs you can do, but of course you cannot do both for any single candidate. When you have finished, put the single ballot paper into the envelope and seal it.
7) Walk across to the main ballot box and deposit your envelope through the slot as if you were posting a letter. A single vote for the selected party will be recorded, with the additional 'fine tuning' of the candidates you like/don't like also taken into account.
8) Congratulations, you just voted!
9) It's probably time to go and buy some drinks and snacks.
10) Watch the results come in at the CVK website here to see how your party did.
If you are still unsure what to expect, it might help to watch the video below which briefly shows the procedure, though sadly it comes without English subtitles. Still, you'll probably get the idea.
