Experts discuss election results: low turnout and what voters want

On the morning after the elections in Latvia, sociologist Arnis Kaktiņš and political scientist Andis Kudors took part in a television discussion on the news site nra.lv. They assessed what the voting results reveal about people's wishes, concerns and hopes. The conversation was led by journalist Kristīne Kravcova and Filips Rajevskis. Only an excerpt of the discussion has been published, as a video.

Low turnout

One of the main topics was voter participation: only about half of eligible voters went to the polls. The participants looked at what such turnout signals and how difficult it is for parties to hold on to their regular supporters. They also noted that the fewest votes were cast in Riga and Latgale, and asked whether this means Russian-speaking residents were the most passive. Another question was whether people stay away because they see no way for their vote to influence political and economic processes.

Change and the parties

The experts discussed how large a share of the population wants change and which parties promised it. They considered whether the “Apvienotais saraksts” (United List) would have won without Andris Kulbergs, and what result the party “Mēs mainām noteikumus” would have had in that case. They also debated why the United List should consider a coalition with “Latvija Pirmajā vietā”, how populists manage to draw out voters who usually stay at home, and what destroyed the New Conservative Party.

What people want solved

The discussion also covered which problems voters hope to see resolved and why security sits near the bottom of their list of wishes. It touched on the Russian propaganda narrative that everything is decided behind the scenes rather than at the ballot box.