(1) A voter may cast a vote for the depositing thereof before the election day. Polling stations where votes can be cast for the depositing thereof shall be established in all local governments. In local governments where there are more than 20 000 citizens with the voting right, polling stations where it is possible to cast a vote for depositing thereof shall be set up in a way to ensure that there is one such polling station per whole number of 20 000 citizens with the voting right. The working hours of the polling stations on the relevant days shall be as follows: on Monday from 17.00 to 20.00; on Thursday from 9.00 to 12.00; on Friday from 10.00 to 16.00.
During this time the polling station commission shall work in a composition of not less than four persons.
(2) Inside the polling premises, a member of the polling station commission who has previously ascertained online that information on the person has been included in the electoral register and that there is no notation therein on the participation of this person in the relevant election of the Saeima, shall make a notation in the electoral register online on the participation of the voter in the election and enter the given name, surname, and personal identity number of the voter in the list of participating voters. The voter shall sign the list of participating voters.
(21) If there is a notation in the electoral register on the participation of the voter in the election, the polling station commission shall contact the polling station commission in which the voter has voted according to the information in the electoral register. The polling station commission in which the voter has voted previously shall annul the entry made in the list of participating voters on the fact of casting the vote for the depositing thereof.
(3) The voter shall receive from the polling station commission the ballot papers of all the lists of candidates nominated in the constituency, a registration envelope bearing the voter’s given name, surname, and sequence number in the list of participating voters, and a ballot envelope which is sealed with a seal of the relevant polling station commission.
(4) The voter shall, on his or her own, perform the activities specified in Section 23 of this Law, place the sealed ballot envelope in the registration envelope, seal it and give it to the polling station commission which shall, in the presence of the voter, stamp the registration envelope with the seal of the relevant polling station commission and throw it in a sealed ballot box.
(5) A voter who has cast a vote for the depositing thereof may vote on the election day. The polling station commission to which he or she has deposited a vote for the depositing thereof shall annul the entry made in the list of participating voters on the fact of casting the vote for the depositing thereof and the voter shall vote in accordance with the procedures laid down in Chapter III of this Law.
(6) When a polling station commission opens ballot boxes once the elections are over (Section 31, Paragraph three), it shall sort the registration envelopes into two groups – valid and invalid envelopes. The registration envelope is invalid if the relevant voter has voted again later, if it has not been stamped with the seal of the relevant polling station commission, or if it does not bear the voter’s given name, surname, and sequence number in the list of participating voters. The invalid registration envelopes shall be counted and packaged unopened. The polling station commission shall open the valid registration envelopes and count the votes as specified in Chapter IV (Section 31, Paragraph four) of this Law.
[8 April 2021; 23 September 2021]
