Latvia's election commission may limit repeated vote changes after some voters cast ballots over three times

The chairman of Latvia's Central Election Commission (CVK), Māris Zviedris, said at a press conference called to explain delays in opening ballot boxes that the commission may in the future consider limiting how many times a voter is allowed to change a ballot submitted for safekeeping.

Zviedris explained that the most time-consuming part of the process was verifying that each voter had cast a ballot only once. This verification step caused the delays in counting votes, which is why limiting the number of times a voter can revise their ballot is being considered as a potential solution.

Some voters voted more than three times

The commission chairman noted that CVK has information about voters who submitted a ballot for safekeeping more than three times. He suggested that such behavior might have been an attempt to test the system rather than a genuine change of mind about the vote.

Zviedris stressed that current regulations do not prohibit a voter from repeatedly changing a ballot held in safekeeping. This means that, formally, these voters did not break any law, though the practice created extra strain on the commission's work.

Interest from authorities and the commission's assessment

The CVK chairman mentioned that relevant government services had shown interest in voters who attempted to vote multiple times. At the same time, he did not characterize this as a violation, but rather as a procedural challenge that complicated the vote-counting process.

Zviedris expressed confidence that CVK had responded promptly to the situation, noting that a commission meeting had been convened to decide on further steps regarding the safekeeping voting procedure and possible improvements to the process going forward.