The Saeima¹ has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following law:

Electoral Register Law

Section 1. The purpose of this Law is to ensure the establishment of a uniform voter registration system in the territory of the Republic of Latvia - an electoral register (hereinafter - the Register) - and to regulate the drawing up of electoral rolls.

Section 2. The Register shall ensure records of the persons who, in accordance with the Elections to the European Parliament Law or the Law on Elections of the Republic City Council and Municipality Council, have the right to vote in the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter - the voters).

[11 May 2006; 17 July 2008]

Section 3. (1) The Central Electoral Commission shall perform methodological management and supervision of the operation of the Register.

(2) The information included in the Register shall be processed and the Register shall be maintained by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (hereinafter - the Office).

Section 4. Expenditures related to the establishment and maintenance of the Register shall be covered from the State budget.

Section 5. (1) The Register shall include, update, and store information on Latvian citizens who on the day of the European Parliament, republic city council and municipality council elections (hereinafter - the elections) have attained 18 years of age and are registered in the Population Register.

(1¹) The Register shall include, update, and store information on such citizens of the European Union who are not Latvian citizens but are registered in the Population Register and who on the day of the republic city council and municipality council elections have attained 18 years of age.

(2) The Register shall include, update, and store information on citizens of the European Union who are not Latvian citizens and on the day of the European Parliament elections have attained 18 years of age, who are registered in the Population Register or have applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerning whom the Central Electoral Commission has taken a decision to include them in the Register in accordance with the law.

[30 September 2004; 11 May 2006; 17 July 2008; 20 December 2018]

Section 6. (1) The Register shall contain the following information on the voter:

1) personal identity number;

2) voter code;

2¹) date of birth;

3) given name (names);

4) surname;

5) citizenship;

6) information on his or her personal identification document:

a) type of the document;

b) series and number;

c) date of issue;

d) expiry date;

e) issuing country and issuing authority;

7) address of the place of residence;

8) address in a foreign state to which documents for postal voting shall be sent if the voter has applied to vote by post;

8¹) address in a place of imprisonment to which documents for postal voting shall be sent if the voter has applied to vote by post;

9) information on the polling station:

a) number;

b) address;

c) name;

10) sequential number in the electoral roll of the polling station;

11) information on inclusion in the Register and exclusion therefrom;

12) information on standing as a candidate to the republic city council and municipality council elections:

a) the date of applying of a candidate;

b) the submitter of the list - a registered political party or a registered association of registered political parties, or two or several registered political parties which have not joined into a registered association of political parties, or unions of voters;

c) the name of the list;

d) the administrative territory of the local government in which standing as a candidate occurs;

13) information on standing as a candidate in the European Parliament elections:

a) the date of applying of a candidate;

b) the submitter of the list - a registered political organisation (party) or a registered association of political organisations (parties).

(2) Upon entering information in the Register or the updating thereof, the date and reason of the entry and update shall be specified.

[30 September 2004; 17 July 2008; 26 February 2009; 20 December 2018]

Section 7. The Central Electoral Commission shall, 120 days before the elections, submit to the Office information on all polling stations established, specifying the number and address of each polling station, and also within three days inform it of any changes to this information.

Section 8. (1) The Office shall, 120 days before the elections, electronically compile and issue to local governments the data of the Population Register on the number of registered voters living at residential addresses (buildings) within the administrative territory of each local government and the polling station registered in the previous elections.

(2) The republic city council or municipality council shall check and supplement or change the information provided by the Office with the number of the polling station corresponding to the residential address (building) of the voter in the administrative territory thereof and shall, in the electronic form laid down by the Office and within three weeks from the day of receipt of the abovementioned information, submit it to the Office which shall update the information included in the Register.

[30 September 2004; 17 July 2008]

Section 9. (1) The Office shall, 90 days before the elections, enter into the Register information, on the basis of the information in the Population Register on Latvian citizens, who on the day of the regular elections will attain 18 years of age.

(2) The Office shall, 90 days before the republic city council or municipality council elections on the basis of the information in the Population Register, enter into the Register the information on such citizens of the European Union who are not Latvian citizens but are registered in the Population Register and who on the day of the regular elections will attain 18 years of age.

[30 September 2004; 17 July 2008; 20 December 2018]

Section 10. The Central Electoral Commission shall, not later than 20 days before the European Parliament elections, enter into the Register the information on the citizens of the European Union who are not Latvian citizens but who are registered in the Population Register and concerning whom the Central Electoral Commission has taken a decision in accordance with the procedures laid down in law to include them in the Register.

Section 11. The Central Electoral Commission shall, not later than 20 days before the European Parliament elections, enter into the Register the information on the citizens of the European Union who, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963, are exempt from registration in the Population Register and who have applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to vote in the European Parliament elections in the Republic of Latvia not later than 30 days before the elections.

Section 11.¹ (1) The electoral commission shall enter the information on the candidates applied for the republic city council and municipality council elections in the Register according to the procedures laid down by the Central Electoral Commission.

(2) Information on the candidates applied for the European Parliament elections shall be entered in the Register by the Central Electoral Commission.

[30 September 2004; 17 July 2008; 26 February 2009]

Section 12. (1) The Office shall, not later than 75 days before the elections, prepare the initial electoral roll for each polling station.

(2) The electoral roll of a polling station shall include all the voters who have declared their place of residence at the addresses belonging to the relevant polling station or whose last registered residential address was at the addresses belonging to the polling station.

(3) Voters who have registered their place of residence in foreign states shall be included in an electoral roll of voters living abroad.

(4) Only such voters who are registered at the place of residence at the addresses belonging to the relevant polling station shall be included in an electoral roll of the republic city council and municipality council elections.

(5) If the republic city council and municipality council elections are taking place concurrently with the European Parliament elections, the voters who have the right to participate in both elections shall be included in such electoral roll at the addresses belonging to which the voters are registered in accordance with the conditions of the Law on City Council, Municipality Council and Parish Council Elections.

[30 September 2004; 17 July 2008; 26 February 2009]

Section 13. (1) The Office shall, not later than 70 days before the elections, send to the voter by post to his or her residential address in Latvia, information on the polling station in the electoral roll of which he or she has been included.

(2) The information referred to in Paragraph one of this Section shall not be sent to voters without a declared place of residence or to voters who have been included in the electoral roll of voters living abroad.

(3) The Office shall, not later than 70 days before the elections, ensure the voter with the possibility to receive information on the Internet free of charge on the polling station in the electoral roll of which he or she has been included.

[26 February 2009]

Section 14. (1) The voter shall vote at the polling station in the electoral roll of which he or she has been included in accordance with the information contained in the Register.

(2) In the republic city council and municipality council elections, the voter has the right to change the polling station by choosing any other polling station within the administrative territory of the local government in which he or she has declared the place of residence or in which his or her immovable property registered in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law is located.

(3) In the European Parliament elections, the voter has the right to change the polling station by choosing any other polling station.

(4) In respect of his or her wish to change the polling station in the cases referred to in Paragraphs two and three of this Section, the voter shall, not later than 18 days before the elections, personally submit a submission to any local government or its institution for the declaration of a place of residence, in the European Parliament elections - also to the diplomatic or consular mission of the Republic of Latvia. Suspects and accused persons to whom detention has been applied as a safety measure shall submit a submission on change of the polling station to the administration of the place of imprisonment.

(4¹) The voter may also change his or her polling station free of charge electronically not earlier than 70 days and not later than 18 days before the elections by using the service available on the website of the Office.

(5) If in the republic city council and municipality council elections the voter chooses a polling station within the administrative territory of the local government in which his or her immovable property registered in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law is located, he or she shall in addition present to the local government or its institution for the declaration of a place of residence a document certifying his or her property rights.

(6) A local government or its institution for the declaration of a place of residence, or the administration of the place of imprisonment shall, using online data transmission, update the information included in the Register on change of the polling station on the day of receipt of the submission.

(7) [30 September 2004]

[30 September 2004; 11 May 2006; 17 July 2008; 26 February 2009; 9 February 2017; 20 December 2018]

Section 15. (1) If a submission of a citizen of the European Union has been received in which it is requested to cancel the Register entry in respect of him or her or if the citizen of the European Union has lost the right to vote in the Member State of the European Union of which he or she is a citizen, the Central Electoral Commission shall exclude the relevant information from the Register.

(2) The Office in accordance with the information included in the Population Register shall enter information into the Register and update it if:

1) a voter has died;

2) [20 December 2018];

3) a voter has acquired or lost Latvian citizenship;

4) a voter has changed his or her given name (names) or surname;

5) a voter has changed the personal identification document;

6) a voter has lost citizenship of the European Union;

7) the legal ground for the registration of a voter in the Population Register has been lost.

(3) The Information Centre of the Ministry of the Interior shall, according to the information included in the Punishment Register in conformity with the relevant law on elections, update the information included in the Register if a voter is serving a sentence at a place of imprisonment.

(4) The information entered into the Register in accordance with Paragraphs one, two, and three of this Section shall be updated by 18.00 on the fifth day before the elections.

[30 September 2004; 26 February 2009; 9 February 2017; 20 December 2018]

Section 16. (1) The Office shall, 15 days before the elections, prepare electoral rolls of polling stations according to the information present in the Register and ensure their availability to the Central Electoral Commission. Electoral commissions and polling station commissions shall receive the relevant electoral rolls in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Central Electoral Commission.

(2) The content and form of an electoral roll shall be approved by the Central Electoral Commission.

(3) [20 December 2018]

[17 July 2008; 20 December 2018]

Section 17. The Office shall, 10 days before the elections, send to the voter by post to his or her residential address in Latvia information on the polling station in the electoral roll of which he or she has been included if:

1) the voter has notified of a change of the polling station in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Law;

2) in the period from the day of drawing up of the initial electoral rolls the voter has acquired the right to vote in the relevant elections.

Section 18. Having received a submission regarding postal voting, the polling station commission for postal voting shall, under the online data transmission regime, make a note in the Register regarding the application of a voter to participate in the relevant elections by postal vote, and specify the address of the voter in the foreign state to which documents for postal voting shall be sent.

Section 19. (1) The Office shall, by 19.00 on the fifth day before the elections, send to the Central Electoral Commission information on those persons who have been included in the rolls sent to electoral commissions but who subsequent to sending of the rolls have lost or obtained the right to vote in the relevant elections.

(2) The Central Electoral Commission shall inform polling stations of changes in the electoral rolls.

(3) Electoral commissions shall make notes in the electoral rolls in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the Central Electoral Commission.

[30 September 2004]

Section 20. The information included in the Register is accumulated, deposited to the State archives, or destroyed in information systems in accordance with the procedures laid down in the laws and regulations regarding the archiving of documented data.

Section 21. A person may appeal decisions on the inclusion, refusal to include, or exclusion of a person from the Register in a court in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Administrative Procedure Law. The court shall examine an application not later than within three working days from the initiation of the case. The court judgment shall be enforced without delay.

[11 May 2006]

Informative Reference to European Union Directive

[11 May 2006]

The Law contains legal norms arising from Council Directive 93/109/EC of 6 December 1993 laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament for citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals.

The Law shall come into force on 5 February 2004.

The Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 22 January 2004.

President V. Vīķe-Freiberga

Rīga, 29 January 2004

¹ The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia

Translation © 2020 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)