2021 Latvian municipal elections explained

Municipal elections were held across Latvia on 5 June 2021.^[1] This was the first election after the Saeima passed a municipal reform in 2020 that reduced the 110 municipalities and 9 cities to 43 municipalities, including 11 state cities and added 5 new Latvian towns: Ādaži, Iecava, Ķekava, Koknese, and Mārupe.^[2] In total, 645 councilors were elected to 40 municipal councils across the country.^[3] The 60 seats in the Riga City Council is not up for election until 2025, as snap elections were held in August 2020.

On 28 May, following the decision of the Constitutional Court of Latvia that declared a part of the municipal reform about the inclusion of Varakļāni Municipality into the new Rēzekne Municipality unconstitutional, the Central Election Commission (CEC) cancelled elections in the municipalities of both Rēzekne and Madona.^[4] The Saeima decided on 1 June to reverse the decision of the CEC and to move forward with the elections in Madona Municipality on 5 June as initially scheduled.^[5]

Electoral system

All 645 councilors were elected using open-list proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold. Seats are allocated using the Webster/Sainte-Laguë method. The number of councilors a given municipality were to elect was determined by the Central Election Commission based on the number of residents in that municipality.

Seat allocation for the 2021 local elections^[6] ! 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

Participating parties

Party			Main ideology	Political position	Lists	Municipalities
	New Conservative Party	JKP	Conservatism	Centre-right
	National Alliance	NA	Nationalism	Right-wing
	Harmony	S	Social democracy	Centre-left
	New Unity	JV	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right
	Association of Regions	LRA	Regionalism	Centre
	Regional parties		Regionalism	Big tent
	Who Owns the State?	KPV LV	Right-wing populism	Right-wing
	For Latvia's Development	LA	Classical liberalism	Centre-right
	Latvian Farmers' Union	LZS	Agrarianism	Centre-right
	Union of Greens and Farmers	ZZS	Agrarianism, Green conservatism	Centre-right
	Latvian Green Party	LZP	Green conservatism	Centre-right
	Latvian Russian Union	LKS	Russian minority politics	Centre-left
	The Progressives	P	Social democracy	Centre-left
	Movement For!	Par!	Social liberalism	Centre-left
	Social Democratic Workers' Party	LSDSP	Social democracy	Centre-left
	Alternative	A
	New Harmony	JS	Left-wing populism	Left-wing
	For Stability!	S!	Populism	Centre
	United for Latvia	VL	Populism	Centre
	National Alliance "Justice"	NST	Ultranationalism	Far-right
	For Latvia and Ventspils		Ventspils regionalism	Centre-right
	Latvian Revival		National conservatism	Far-right
	Liepāja Party		Liepāja regionalism	Centre-right
	Christian Democratic Union	KDS	Christian democracy	Centre-right
	Cooperation
	Socialist Party	LSP	Socialism	Far-left
	Growth	I	Centrism	Centre

Results

Daugavpils

External links

• 2021 election hub on the Central Election Commission website (in English)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Local Elections 2021. en. Central Election Commission of Latvia. November 15, 2020.
2. Web site: Saeima finally approves major regional reforms. January 30, 2021. eng.lsm.lv. en.
3. Web site: CEC determines the number of councilors to be elected to the municipal councils.. CVK nosaka pašvaldību vēlēšanās domēs ievēlējamo deputātu skaitu. lv. Central Election Commission of Latvia. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210126110727/https://www.cvk.lv/lv/jaunumi/cvk-nosaka-pasvaldibu-velesanas-domes-ievelejamo-deputatu-skaitu-774. January 26, 2021. January 26, 2021. January 31, 2021.
4. Web site: Pēc ST sprieduma CVK aptur 5.jūnijā plānotās vēlēšanas Rēzeknes un Madonas novadā. After the decision of the Constitutional Court, the CEC cancels elections in Rēzekne and Madona municipalities. live. 2021-05-29. www.lsm.lv. lv. https://web.archive.org/web/20210528184859/https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas/latvija/pec-st-sprieduma-cvk-aptur-5junija-planotas-velesanas-rezeknes-un-madonas-novada.a406672/ . 2021-05-28 .
5. Web site: Upleja. Sanita. 2021-06-01. Varakļāni paliek kā atsevišķs novads, lemj Saeima. Varakļāni will remain a separate municipality, decided Saeima. 2021-06-01. delfi.lv. lv.
6. Web site: January 20, 2021. Pašvaldības domes vēlēšanu likums. lv. Municipal councils election law. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20041024043415/http://www.likumi.lv:80/doc.php?id=57839 . 2004-10-24 . January 30, 2021. likumi.lv.