Legislation / Voters Register Law
Voters’ Register Law
Article 1. The purpose of this Law is to provide within the territory of the Republic of Latvia the establishment of a unified system of electorate registration, a voters’ register (hereinafter referred to as “the Register”), and to regulate the compilation of voters’ lists.
Article 2. The Register shall provide the registration of persons who are entitled to elect in the Republic of Latvia pursuant to the Saeima Election Law, the European Parliament Election Law, the law on election of a town council, a county council or a parish council, and who have the right to vote pursuant to the Law “On Nation-wide Referendum and Initiation of Laws” (hereinafter referred to as “the voters”).
Article 3. (1) Methodical management and supervision of the Register’s activity shall be carried out by the Central Election Commission.
(2) Processing of data included on the Register and maintenance of the Register shall be carried out by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (hereinafter referred to as “the Office”).
Article 4. Costs associated with establishment and maintenance of the Register shall be covered from the state budget.
Article 5. (1) The Register shall include, update and store data on competent citizens of Latvia who have reached the age of 18 on the day of elections to the Saeima, the European Parliament, a town council, a county council or a parish council, or on the day of nation-wide referendum (hereinafter also referred to as “the elections), and who are filed with the Register of Residents.
(2) The Register shall include, update and store data on competent citizens of the European Union who are not citizens of Latvia and have reached the age of 18 on the day of elections to the European Parliament, and who are filed with the Register of Residents or have applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in relation to whom the Central Election Commission has made a decision on their inclusion on the Register in accordance with the law.
Article 6. (1) The following data on a voter shall be included on the Register:
1) Identity No.;
2) voter code;
3) given name(s);
4) surname;
5) citizenship;
6) data on document identifying the person:
a) type of document,
b) series and number,
c) date of issue,
d) expiry date,
e) issuing country and issuing authority;
7) residential address;
8) address in foreign country, at which documents for voting by mail should be sent if the voter has applied for voting by mail;
9) data on voting station:
a) number,
b) address;
10) ordinal number in voters’ list of the voting station;
11) data on inclusion into or exclusion from the Register.
(2) When entering data onto the Register or actualizing such data, the date of and the reason for entry or update of the data shall be additionally indicated.
Article 7. The Central Election Commission shall submit to the Office, 120 days prior to the elections, the data on all voting stations that have been established, indicating the number and address of each voting station, as well as notifying of any changes in such data within three days.
Article 8. (1) The Office shall, 120 days prior to elections, electronically process and deliver to local governments the data of the Register of Residents on the number of voters registered at residential addresses (buildings) in the administrative territory of each local government.
(2) Within three weeks of receipt of data mentioned in Paragraph (1) of this Article, a town council, a county council or a parish council shall supplement data delivered by the Office with the number of a voting station within its administrative territory, corresponding to the residential address (building) of a voter, and shall submit the supplemented data in electronic form to the Office which shall update data included in the Register.
Article 9. Based on data of the Register of Residents, the Office shall enter into the Register, 90 days prior to elections, data on competent citizens of Latvia who will reach the age of 18 on the day of the next elections.
Article 10. Not later than 20 days prior to elections to the European Parliament the Central Election Commission shall enter into the Register the data on citizens of the European Union, who are not citizens of Latvia but are filed with the Register of Residents and in relation to whom the Central Election Commission has made a decision on their inclusion on the Register pursuant to the law.
Article 11. Not later than 20 days prior to elections to the European Parliament the Central Election Commission shall enter into the Register the data on citizens of the European Union, who in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of April 24, 1963 are relieved from filing with the Register of Residents and who not later than 30 days prior to elections have applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to vote in elections to the European Parliament within the Republic of Latvia.
Article 12. (1) Not later than 75 days prior to elections the Office shall prepare an initial voters’ list for each voting station.
(2) The voters’ list of a voting station shall include all voters, who have declared their residence at addresses belonging to the corresponding voting station or whose last registered residential address was at addresses belonging to this voting station.
(3) Voters, who have registered their residence in foreign countries, shall be included on a list of voters residing in foreign countries.
Article 13. (1) Not later than 70 days prior to elections, the Office shall mail to a voter at his/her residential address in Latvia information on a voting station voters’ list on which he/she is included.
(2) Information mentioned in Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not be sent to voters, who have no declared residence or who are included into the list of voters residing in foreign countries.
Article 14. (1) A voter shall vote at a voting station, on the voters’listlist of which he/she is included in accordance with data contained in the Register.
(2) At elections to a town council, a county council or a parish council, a voter shall have the right to change the voting station, choosing any other voting station within the administrative territory of local government in which he/she has declared his/her residence or in which he owns real estate registered pursuant to procedures prescribed by the law.
(3) At elections to the Saeima or the European Parliament or at a nation-wide referendum, a voter shall have the right to change the voting station, choosing any other voting station within the administrative territory of Latvia.
(4) A voter’s wish to change the voting station in cases mentioned in Paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Article shall be submitted personally by the voter him/herself, not later than 30 days prior to elections, to any local government or to its residence declaration department.
(5) If at elections to a town council, a county council or a parish council a voter chooses a voting station within the territory of local government where he/she owns a real estate registered pursuant to procedure prescribed by the law, then such voter shall additionally present to the local government or to its residence declaration department a document attesting the voter’s right of ownership.
(6) A local government or its residence declaration department shall update, using the online data transfer, data included into the Register on change of voting station.
(7) If a local government or its residence declaration department has no online data transfer with the Register, then information on a change of voting station shall be sent to the Central Election Commission by mail. The Central Election Commission shall provide updates of the data in the Register.
Article 15. (1) If an application has been received from a citizen of the European Union with a request to cancel an entry on him/her in the Register, or when a citizen of the European Union has lost the right to vote in a country of the European Union, citizen of which he/she is, the Central Election Commission shall make a decision on his/her exclusion from the Register and shall update the data accordingly.
(2) The Office shall, in accordance with information contained in the Register of Residents, enter data into the Register and update the data if:
1) the voter died;
2) the voter is found incompetent or competent;
3) the voter acquired or lost the citizenship of Latvia;
4) the voter has changed given name(s) or surname;
5) the voter has changed a personal identification document;
6) the voter has lost citizenship of the European Union;
7) a legal basis was lost for filing the voter with the Register of Residents.
(3) The Ministry of Interior Information Centre shall, in accordance with information included in the Register of Penalties and pursuant to relevant election law, update data included into the Register if the voter serves a sentence in a prison institution or when the voter is a suspect, a convict or an accused, in relation to whom imprisonment was chosen as a safety means.
(4) Data included in the Register pursuant to Paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of this Article shall be updated until 18:00 on the next to last day before elections.
Article 16. (1) In accordance with information contained in the Register, the Office shall prepare, 15 days prior to elections, the voters’ lists.
(2) The content and form of the voters’ lists shall be approved by the Central Election Commission.
(3) The lists of voters registered in Latvia shall be sent to election commissions of the country’s towns as well as to district election commissions, which shall deliver the lists to election commissions of towns, counties and parishes.
Article 17. The Office shall mail, 10 days prior to elections, to a voter at his/her residential address in Latvia information on the voting station list on which the voter is included if:
1) the voter has notified of a change of voting station pursuant to procedure prescribed by the law;
2) the voter acquired the right to vote at corresponding elections within the time period from the day when the initial voters’ list had been prepared.
Article 18. Upon receipt of mailed application for voting, a voting station commission shall make in the Register, in mail voting online data transfer mode, a mark about the voter’s application to take part in corresponding elections by voting via mail, and shall indicate the voter’s address in a foreign country, at which documents for voting by mail shall be sent.
Article 19. (1) Until 19:00 on the penultimate day before elections, the Office shall send to the Central Election Commission information on persons who are included in lists sent to the electoral commissions but who, however, lost the right to vote at corresponding elections after the lists had been sent.
(2) The Central Election Commission shall inform the voting stations on changes in the voters’ lists.
(3) The election commissions shall make marks in the voters’ lists pursuant to procedure prescribed by the Central Election Commission.
Article 20. Data included in the Register shall be accumulated, delivered to the state archives or destroyed in information systems pursuant to procedures prescribed by norm-setting acts regulating the archiving of documented data.
Article 21. Decision on inclusion of a person into the Register, refusal to include into the Register or exclusion therefrom may be appealed in the court pursuant to procedures prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Law. The court shall examine the application not later than three business days of proceedings being initiated.
Informative Reference to European Union Directive
The law incorporates legal norms following from Directive 93/109/EC.
The law shall come into force on February 5, 2004
The Law was adopted by the Saeima on January 22, 2004
The President V.Vīķe-Freiberga
Riga, January 29, 2004
Last modified July 29, 2010