As in the 2017 local elections, the ongoing adoption of candidate lists Riga City Council Juris Kokins, the chairman of the Riga City Election Commission, said that he had raised problems with the verification of certain documents, such as electronically signed documents.
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One problem is to open all electronically signed attachments that contain information about the candidate. Currently, the candidate can submit the relevant information by bringing it to the data carrier, but sometimes there are problems with opening the information attachments in it, the head of the election commission pointed out.
Kokin explained that one of the reasons is the very different electronic signature systems in public institutions, which are not uniform.
Another problem is making sure that the relevant information is true regarding the fact that the person is self-employed, the head of the election commission explained. At the moment, it turns out that a self-employed person can write the relevant statement for himself, but the election commission cannot check whether it is true, Kokins explained. He pointed out that it would be necessary for self-employed persons to be able to check the statutory period of employment in an official system, for example, from the data of the State Revenue Service.
One of the things that needs to be verified in some cases is the ownership of the real estate, which should be confirmed by a transcript or a certificate from the land register. However, these references also come from other systems, such as the court administration system. The election commission accepts them because the information received is evaluated on the merits, Kokins explained.
These are examples that characterize the fact that Latvia has a very, perhaps even too tolerant, procedure for registering elections, said the head of the Election Commission. He explained that this should be seen in the context of the quality of the work of the Members concerned after the election, Kokin said.
The head of the election commission explained that some of the problems were raised in the 2017 local elections and some of them have already been resolved.
By noon, no party had applied to submit a list today. On July 16, three parties have currently applied to submit the list – at 12 noon Action Party, at 13 “The New Unity“and at 3 p.m. Greens and Farmers Union. The party that applied for the list on July 17 at 2 pm “Alternative“.
In total, 13 parties have expressed interest in the possibility of submitting a list, but it is not known whether they will all make use of this possibility.
Currently, the lists have been submitted by five parties. The submission of party lists will end on July 20, in turn Riga City Council extraordinary elections scheduled for the end of August.
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