Counting votes manually could slightly increase the cost of the 15th Saeima elections in October this year, Māris Zviedris, chairman of the Central Election Commission (CVK), said in interviews with Latvian Television and Latvian Radio on Tuesday morning.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs’ call on Monday to act swiftly in deciding to count votes manually in this fall’s upcoming election came as a surprise to Zviedris. It was the right move on the president’s part to emphasise the need to prevent potential external threats to the election process, he said: “Right now, there is nothing more secure than paper ballots and manual counting.”
Manual vote counting will cost slightly more in terms of staff wages. The CVK will therefore not request additional funds from the state budget. At the same time, it is clear that counting votes this way, without using ballot scanners, will take a little more time, Zviedris noted.
The search for and recruitment of polling station staff began in March. It is planned to be completed on time by the end of May.
There will be 933 polling stations in this year’s election.
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