Home > 2.1 The competent bodies and their tasks > LATVIA - The Saeima Election Law
 
 
 
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Article 38
 

(1) The Central Election Commission shall determine which candidates have been elected in each constituency. Lists of candidates with the same name that have received less than five per cent of the total number of votes cast in all constituencies, regardless of the number of constituencies where these lists of candidates have been submitted, shall be excluded from the allocation of seats. The number of valid ballot envelopes shall be regarded as the total number of votes cast (the total number of voters taking part in the election).

(2) The procedure to be applied in allocating the seats in the Saeima among the winning lists of candidates shall be the following:

1) the valid ballot papers cast for each list of candidates in each constituency shall be counted;

2) the number of ballot papers cast for each list of candidates shall be divided by odd numbers — 1, 3, 5, 7 and so forth –– until the number of the divisions equals the number of candidates nominated on the list;

3) all the division results concerning all the lists of candidates in a constituency shall be numbered in descending order;

4) within a constituency the lists of candidates that have the highest division results shall win seats. If the division result, the order number of which is equal to the number of seats assigned to the constituency, coincides with one or several consecutive division results, the list of candidates that has received the largest number of votes in all constituencies wins one more seat. If lists of candidates have been registered in only one constituency, the seat is won by the list of candidates which was registered first.