Latvian citizens from the age of 18 may vote in parliamentary elections.

Parliamentary elections take place every four years on the first Saturday of October. The next Saeima elections will take place on 1 October 2022.

Saeima elections can be voted at any polling station in Latvia and abroad. There are five constituencies:

• Riga;
• Vidzeme;
• Latgale;
• Zemgale;
• Kurzeme.

There are different lists of party candidates in each county. Foreign voters vote on the list of Riga County candidates. The number of Members to be elected in each constituency shall be determined in proportion to the number of voters recorded in the Register of Natural Persons four months before the election day. To find out your constituency, you can use the OCMA e-service Clearing up or changing the constituency .

It is possible to vote:

• face-to-face on the election day;
• placing a vote in storage at specified polling stations prior to the election day in Latvia;
• by post from abroad;
• it is also possible to vote at the location if it is not possible, due to health or other circumstances, to enter the polling station. You need to write to vote in a location application the Local Government Election Commission.

At the moment, the legislature has not authorised the possibility of an electronic vote. Registration is required to vote by mail from abroad. This can be done by using the OCMA e-service Registration for voting by post for voters staying abroad.

The right to stand as a candidate in Saeima elections is for any citizen of Latvia who is older than 21 years on election day, if he or she is not covered by one of the following Saeima Election Law limits. Parties or party associations have the right to nominate candidates for Saeima deputies. The party must be established not later than one year before the Saeima elections and the party must be not less than 500 members. If the list of candidates is submitted by a party association, each of the parties belonging to the party association must be established not later than one year before the elections and the association must have a total of not less than 500 members.

Three-level election commissions are involved in the holding of Saeima elections in Latvia:

• Central Election Commission;
• local government election commissions;
• polling stations' commissions.

The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs shall establish and maintain a voter register in Latvia. The pre-election campaign shall be supervised by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau and the National Electronic Media Council. Saeima elections shall be financed from State budget resources. Cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for voting abroad and the Ministry of Defence for voting in places of international military operations.

Citizens of Latvia and other Member States of the European Union, starting at the age of 18, have the right to participate in local government elections. All voters must be registered in the voter register. Citizens of the European Union must be registered in the Latvian Register of Natural Persons in order to participate in local government elections in Latvia 90 days before the elections. Voters have the right to vote in the constituency where:

• have their registered place of residence 90 days before the election day;
• or in the municipality where they own real estate.

Only one municipality can vote.

Municipal elections take place every four years on the first Saturday of June.

The voter can vote:

• at the polling station in its local government on the election day;
• three days before the elections at statutory times, by voting in advance;
• by applying for a vote at their location, where the state of health cannot reach the station. You need to write to vote in a location application the Local Government Election Commission;
• by post when staying abroad. Apply for a vote by post may take place from 70 days prior to the election date, but not later than 42 days before the election, via e-service Register for voting by post to voters residing abroad.

The right to stand as a candidate in municipal elections shall be those Latvian citizens and European Union citizens who:

• are registered in the Register of Natural Persons;
• reached the age of 18 on the electoral day;
• are registered in the voter register;
• not covered by municipal election law the restrictions imposed;
• and who, on the date of submission of the list of candidates, satisfy at least one of the following conditions:
  • has been registered without interruption in the administrative territory of the relevant local government for at least the last 10 months;
  • have worked in the administrative territory of the relevant local government (as a worker or self-employed in conformity with the Law "On the state social insurance") at least for the last four months;
  • it shall own real estate registered in accordance with the procedures specified by law in the administrative territory of the relevant local government.

Lists of candidates may be submitted by registered political parties, party associations or two or more registered political parties which have not joined a registered association of registered political parties.

The right to participate in the elections of the European Parliament shall be the citizens of Latvia, as well as citizens of other Member States of the European Union who have reached the age of 18 on the election day. In order to exercise voting rights in Latvia, citizens of other European Union Member States must be included in the Latvian Register of Natural Persons and register for voting in the Central Election Commission not later than 30 days before the elections.

Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years in the spring. The election period shall be determined by the Council of the EU after consultation of the European Parliament. The next European Parliament elections are expected in 2024.

Three-level election commissions are involved in the holding of elections to the European Parliament in Latvia:

• Central Election Commission;
• local government election commissions;
• polling stations' commissions.

The voter register in Latvia shall be established and maintained by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, which shall also be the main responsible authority for drawing up voter lists for polling stations and the e-service of changing the station. The pre-election campaign shall be supervised by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, the National Electronic Media Council, as well as during the elections - the State Police and the local government police. The EP elections are funded by State budget resources.

EP election law there are a number of opportunities for voters to participate in the EP elections:

• to vote at his polling station on the election day from 7.00 to 20.00;
• to vote in advance when precincts work a few hours a day;
• to vote in his or her seat if it is impossible to vote in a station because of the state of health, the voter shall be a caregiver of the sick or be in custody at a detention site or a temporary detention site. You need to write to vote in a location application the Local Government Election Commission;
• at a polling station abroad;
• vote abroad by post. Registration is required to vote by post from abroad. This can be done by using the OCMA e-service Registration for voting by post for voters staying abroad.

No electronic vote is scheduled.

On the other hand, Latvian citizens with voting rights who live in one of the EU Member States have the option to choose:

• vote on the lists of candidates for Latvian MEPs;
• or register for voting in the home country and vote for candidates for members of that country.

In choosing to vote in the country of residence, the voter loses the right to vote on the lists and candidates of the candidates of the Latvian EP in the relevant elections.

Latvian citizens, as well as citizens of other EU Member States staying in Latvia, have the right to stand in EP elections. All candidates must have reached the age of at least 21 on the electoral day and should not be subject to the restrictions on standing as a candidate under the EP electoral law. The list of candidates for EP elections may be submitted by parties and party associations registered in Latvia with a minimum of 500 members.

Video translocations of Saeima seats

Everyone can follow the decision-making of the Latvian legislature – Saeima. Regular Saeima meetings usually take place once a week – on Thursdays 9.00 and can be watched live on the Saeima website www.saeima.lv and listen to Latvijas Radio. Saeima seats are also available on the Saeima website video archive.

Video translators of Cabinet seats

Everyone can also watch Cabinet (Government) meetings live which allows you to find out what decisions the government has taken and why the decision is exactly the following. Government meetings are held every Tuesday.

Previous Cabinet meetings can be watched in the archive. For a better understanding of what matters the government is deciding at the meeting, you can get acquainted with the meetings agenda.

In order to extend the participation of citizens in legislation, the Saeima has estimated that not less than 10 000 citizens can turn to parliament with Collective application.

From 16 years of age on the portal ManaBalss.lv you have the right to sign company initiatives that are directed to the Saeima. Look at the initiatives for which citizens' signatures are collected, and you can sign up for the idea you like on the portal ManaBalss.lv.

• Only your name will be available to the public to view and sign an initiative by connecting with the internet banking (portkeepers receive information about the person's name, surname and personal code).
• If the initiative results in the collection of the required 10,000 signatures and the initiative will be directed for consideration by the Saeima, at the request of the Saeima, the database of all signatories of the initiative will be compared with the Register of Natural Persons in order to verify the authenticity of all signatories.
• Portal ManaBalss.lv the proposed initiatives are not legislative proposals. A detailed proposal, based on the initiative, is subsequently developed by the Saeima itself, if it supports the idea of the initiative. You can only vote for each initiative once!

Each initiative, signed by at least 10 000 citizens and meeting the legal criteria of the Saeima, shall enter the Saeima. Citizens can also collect signatures for submitting initiatives to one of the municipalities. In this case, there is no specific number of signatures required and this is decided by the authors of the initiative themselves.

If you're 16 and have an idea:

• the lives of others and of the country could be better improved;
• and which you want to direct for consideration in the Saeima;

exercise the right to submit an initiative to the ManaBalss.lv platform.

To create a new initiative on the portal ManaBalss.lv, choose “Create a new initiative” and have authored online banking. Once authorized, you will be familiar with all the steps that need to be taken to submit an initiative.

Let your initiative be published on the portal ManaBalss.lv, it must comply quality criteria.

Your initiative will be evaluated within 3 working days. You'll get a message about whether the initiative needs fixes or supplements. If your initiative meets all the requirements, it will be approved for publication and collection of signatures. ManaBalss.lv the team will give recommendations and tips on how to better implement the signature-collection campaign.

Once 10 000 signatures have been collected, you can proceed with this and submit the initiative to the Saeima. The period within which these signatures are to be collected is not specified. You can contact the portal before submitting an initiative to the Saeima ManaBalss.lv, which will help both prepare the submission and explain how the transfer of the collected signatures to the Saeima takes place.

If you are a citizen of Latvia, from the age of 18, you have the right to participate in the collection of signatures also regarding a draft law registered in the Central Election Commission (CEC), draft amendments to the Constitution or to sign a proposal for the revocation of the Saeima. It is possible to sign up for initiatives registered by the CEC both in the municipalities (seeking detailed information on the website of the Central Election Commission) in and electronically via the portal Latvija.lv via the e-service Subscription on voter initiatives.

In order to sign up for the selected initiative, you must identify with one of the tools provided by the Latvija.lv portal: Internet bank access, eID or e-signature smart card. This e-service is free of charge.

In autumn 2021, work started TAP Portal, which is the platform used by national regulatory authorities for the development and harmonisation of national development planning documents and draft legislation, as well as for government decision-making. Representatives of the public shall be given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with development planning and legislative projects in the development process.

The possibility of public participation shall be ensured until the project is subject to the process of co-ordination (the participants are other public authorities, non-governmental organisations and other legally registered entities).

If you care about the environment – nature protection and pollution reduction, you can download the “Environmental SOS” (for iOS users, and for Android users). The app will allow you to quickly and easily report noticed environmental violations. Register with your app before using your app Apple ID, Google Account, Facebook.com or Draugiem.lv account. It is desirable to indicate your phone number so that, if necessary, environmental inspectors can contact you and clarify your observations. If you don't want to use your social network accounts for registration anyway, you can use the option to connect to the app without registration.

How do I report a violation? For example, if you see a tyre dump in the forest – photograph it, descriptions of what has happened and send to the SES. If you want to draw other people's attention to protecting the environment, you can share your report with Facebook.com or Twitter.com.

The SES debutant will evaluate your report and send the SES to the inspectors of the Regional Environmental Administrations, the area under whose supervision the violation was observed. In e-mail, you'll be informed that your message was approved and to which authority you were transferred.

Messages come to the SES and websites are available videssos.lv interactive map.

If you don't have a smartphone available to use the Environmental SOS app, but you've seen a potential environmental violation, call the SES debutant on the daily phone 26338800.

Share what you've seen in nature!

On the Natural Observation Portal dabasdati.lv you can share your observations in nature – report wild plants, animals and other organisms. It is the largest public science project in Latvia, in which any lead, when providing information, can become an assistant to scientists and provide important data for research.

When reporting what you have seen in nature, you:

• contribute to the identification and preservation of the natural values of Latvia;
• find out the name of the observed and photographed bird, insect or plant;
• constitute a journal and photographic gallery of their nature observations;
• get to know other people with a similar passion and be able to communicate with natural researchers.

Inform those responsible for killed and fallen animals in the Mednis application.

The State Forest Service has created an “Mednis” app that can report dead and fallen animals. At the same time, directly observed animals and signs of presence, animal damage to farmland, forest and infrastructure can also be reported in the application. The information received is essential not only for the determination of the animal population but also for the planning of a traffic organisation on the national road network, when taking decisions on the installation of road signs and other infrastructure changes.

“Mednis” app (for iOS users and for Android users) is connected to the information system of the State Forest Service (SFS) State register of forests. The Service shall evaluate, process and register the information received through an application regarding the killed animal, as well as take a decision regarding further action with the killed animal.

The Mednis application is available for free both Android and for iOS devices. In order to notify a crashed or fallen animal, the “Watchs” section should be opened in the application, the “Boyes walked” type should be selected further, the animal species and other information given. It is also necessary to upload a photo of the killed animal. It should be noted that the animal died should be reported directly at the site of the event, as the application automatically reads the coordinates of the location of the phone. Consequently, the location detection function must be enabled on your mobile phone.

In order to ensure that decisions taken by State and local authorities are in the public interest, citizens are guaranteed the right to participate in the decision-making process. Both national authorities and planning regions and local governments shall draw up and adopt different types of planning documents setting out a specific area or industry development strategy, site use, construction conditions, nature conservation measures or other types of planning activities.

Time limits shall be fixed for the taking of decisions involving the public. The authors of the document must prepare and make public relevant information, viewing materials, enable public participation, including public consultations.

During the public consultation of the spatial development planning document, citizens shall express their views, while planning specialists and representatives of the State or local government shall hear this opinion, but its incorporation into the planning document shall be subject to the concept of development of the common territory and coordination with the views of other interest groups.

Citizens are most interested in the planned development of their local government, and therefore to familiarise themselves with the spatial development planning documents (sustainable development strategy, spatial planning, planning, detailed planning, thematic planning, etc.), and to see whether a public consultation of a planning document has been launched in the local government of interest, you may be able to the country's unified geospatial information portal GeoLatvija.lv.

If you want to submit a proposal, you can submit a proposal electronically on a planning document in public consultation, located on the portal GeoLatvija.lv.

Your proposal will be examined and you will receive an answer.

If you want to be in the course of planning spotlights in the area of your interest and receive e-mail messages about the commencement of the planning document, public consultation or entry into force of the document, after being identified on the portal GeoLatvija.lv an application for these notifications shall be submitted under the heading “Application for notifications”. Specify the e-mail address you want to receive notifications to. On the map, indicate the size of the area you're interested in and note the level of area planning you want to receive information and press the “Submit” button. If you want information about other areas, including other municipalities, you can do this by re-applying.

It is in the interest of each local government to identify the needs of residents and business operators living in its territory. You can find out about specific opportunities and activities in your city or county council, and the departments created by it on site, as well as by searching for information on the relevant local government's website.

It is in the interest of each municipality to bring young people active around them, so they generally provide different opportunities for youth participation at the scale of their city or municipality. You can find out about specific opportunities and activities in your city or county council, and the established departments on site, as well as searching for information on websites.

For example, you can find information about youth participation opportunities on the Riga City Council Education, Culture and Sport Department's website, in the “Important” section, selecting the current programme of activities and projects.

The Education, Culture and Sports Department of the Riga City Council organizes competitions providing for participation opportunities for young people. For example, it is possible to prepare project applications in the fields of sport, youth work, public integration and other areas. You can get acquainted with the invitations to tender and find the most suitable for yourself on the department's website, section Financing contests.

If you notice a possible violation of the official language and want to report it or, on the contrary, like to praise the Latvian-friendly company, press release or website, you can use the free mobile app “Language Friend” created by the State Language Centre (SLC) (for iOS users and for Android users).

Before you use an app, you must connect to it with one of the three types of connection that you offer, a Google, Facebook.com, or Draugiem.lv account.

To submit a message, in the “New Message” section of the app, choose the message type: “Praise” or “Violence.” In the app, add a photo (up to 10 MB) or video (up to 15 seconds) from the mobile device gallery or with a mobile device camera, taking a picture/filming of a potential violation or object to be praised.

In order for SLC employees to receive information where the object in the message is located, the positioning methods selected on your smartphone (GPS satellite, mobile Internet network, Wi-Fi, or any other method) are activated by obtaining device location data. The GPS coordinates can also be unlocked if they are not required or if the location of the object is different (tick “Don't use GPS” at the bottom of the message window).

In the text of the report, you have the opportunity to provide additional relevant information to help SLC employees understand the situation. If you want to send the message later, you can save it as a draft (search for “Drafts”). First of all, reports of alleged irregularities are being examined, so that whistleblowers can respond as soon as possible to the progress of the case.

After sending a message, you can see the current messages under My Messages. As soon as the employees of the SLC take any action in the process of reviewing the report, you will be informed about them. If the message is reviewed and the case is resolved, the correspondence on the message will be closed and the status of the message will be changed to Resolved.

SLC does not share your personal information with third parties!

Reaching the age of 21 you can become SLC Public Assistant and advise people in the region of their residence on the use of the official language in the public environment.

In order to welcome the appropriate use of the official language, the VVC organises annual shares: “Latvian-friendly environment” and “Latvian-language quality in the periodic press”. Read more about shares on the website www.vvc.gov.lv.