Latvia experienced technical issues during its municipal elections when the automatic vote-counting system malfunctioned after polling stations closed on Saturday.
Due to the failure, several polling stations were forced to delay counting for hours before authorities decided to proceed with manual vote counting.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs criticized the handling of the situation, stating that the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the State Agency for Digital Affairs (VDAA) had failed in organizing the electoral process. He stressed that the Saeima and the government must evaluate the actions and accountability of these institutions and their leadership.
Rinkēvičs also announced that the incident would be addressed in the upcoming meeting of the National Security Council next week. He emphasized the need for concrete solutions to prevent similar disruptions during next year’s parliamentary elections.
