At Stake in this Election:        

• 100 members of the Parliament (Saeima) of the Republic of Latvia 

Government Structure: 

• Chief of State: President Egils LEVITS (since 2019) 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Krišjānis KARIŅŠ (since 2019) 

• Assembly: Unicameral Parliament (Saeima) with 100 members 

Electoral System: 

• The President is elected by open ballot with a majority of the votes (at least 51) from members of the Saeima. The President is elected to a four-year term. There is no term limit; however, a President cannot hold office for more than two terms consecutively.   

• The Prime Minister is nominated by the President and confirmed by a majority of the Saima. 

• The 100 members of the Saima are elected by proportional representation with 5% of the vote necessary for representation. While voters vote for a party list, they can also express support or opposition to specific candidates. Votes for a candidate, which decides who will fill the party’s seat are equal to the votes for the party list, plus or minus the specific votes that they received. Members are elected to four-year terms.  

Main Parties in this Election:  

• Harmony / Saskaņa 

• Leader: Jānis URBANOVIČS 

• Seats won in last election: 23 

• The Conservatives / Konservatīvie 

• Leader: Jānis BORDĀNS 

• Seats won in last election: 16 

• Development/For! / Attīstībai/Par! 

• Leaders: Daniels PAVĻUTS / Artūrs TOMS PLEŠS 

• Seats won in last election: 13 

• National Alliance / Nacionālā apvienība 

• Leader: Raivis DZINTARS 

• Seats won in last election: 13 

• New Unity / Jaunā Vienotība 

• Leader: Krišjānis KARIŅŠ 

• Seats won in last election: 8 

• Union of Greens and Farmers / Zaļo un zemnieku savienība 

• Leader: Armands KRAUZE 

• Seats won in last election: 11 

• United List / Apvienotais saraksts 

• Leaders: Edgars TAVARS / Edvards SMILTĒNS 

• Seats won in last election: N/A 

• Republic / Republika 

• Leader: Sandis ĢIRĢENS 

• Seats won in last election: N/A 

• For Each and Every One / Katram un katrai 

• Leader: Aldis GOBZEMS 

• Seats won in last election: N/A 

• Latvia First / Latvija pirmajā vietā 

• Leader: Ainārs ŠLESERS 

• Seats won in last election: N/A 

• Sovereign Power / Suverēnā vara 

• Leader: Jūlija STEPAŅENKO 

• Seats won in last election: N/A 

• For a Humane Latvia / Par cilvēcīgu Latviju 

• Leader: Jurģis MIEZAINIS 

• Seats won in last election: 16 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 1,842,226 (2022 est.)¹ 

• Registered Voters: 1,541,279 (as of May 2022)² 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 1,014,633 (2021 est.)³ 

• Is Latvia a signatory to CEDAW: No 

• Has Latvia ratified CEDAW: Yes (Accession) (14 Apr 1992)⁴ 

• Gender Quota: None 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 27 out of 100 (27%)⁵ 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: Rank 39 at 0.863⁶ 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low at 0.0511 (2014)⁷ 

Disability Data: 

• Is Latvia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (18 Jul 2008)⁸ 

• Has Latvia ratified CRPD: Yes (01 Mar 2010)⁹ 

• Population with a disability: 298,006 (2022 est.)¹⁰ 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Latvia: No 

 

1. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/latvia/

2. https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/3/7/523473.pdf

3. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL.FE.IN?locations=LV%29-LV 

4. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en 

5. https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=6&year=2022 

6. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/LVA

7. https://www.genderindex.org/country/latvia-2014-results/

8. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

9. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

10. http://electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/?q=latvia#tab