The Electoral Reform Society (Download Brochure)

Founded: May, 2007 to address those, who care for what is happening in Latvian politics.
Purpose: To analyse the parliamentary and municipal election systems and prepare proposals for their improvement

The Society:
· Organises forums, seminars and presentations about electoral systems.
· Facilitates the exchange of ideas on current political issues in open discussion meetings.
· Distributes a monthly newsletter on topics related to elections.
· Cooperates with other NGO's, the government and political parties to promote discussion about the need for electoral reform.
· Is independent financially and politically.

The Society's first task was to assess what a good parliamentary election system should strive to accomplish and then to evaluate the current parliamentary election system against this background. The results were not favourable to the current system. The main problem is that it distances the elected from the electors, which is confirmed by political opinion surveys.

On the basis of the Board's and the Council's analyses, as well as the conclusions of the forum "A Good Parliamentary System - What Is It?", organised by the Society in December, 2007, the Society prepared recommendations for reform, that require changes only to the Parliamentary Election Law and not the Constitution. The principal recommendation was the banning of candidates simultaneously standing for election in more than one electoral district. This recommendation passed into law on February 26th, 2009.

  "Since it will no longer be possible to rely on "locomotives", party leaders, by favouring those obedient to them, risk presenting candidates, who are noxious to voters or simply unknown to them"
/Aivars Ozoliņš, the newspaper "Diena", 06.03.2009/

The elimination of multi district candidacies presents electors, civic society and politicians with new possibilities and challenges. The Electoral Reform Society considers that parliament must implement further reforms in order to narrow the divide between the elected and the electors. These are:
• Introduction of smaller electoral districts, more familiar to electors, while preserving party proportionality in parliament.
• Basing elections on the electoral roll such that electors vote in the district where they are registered.
• Providing electors ready and easy access to the voting history of each Member of Parliament.
• Fostering direct dialogue between the electors and the elected through public pre- and post-election meetings.
These amendments are necessary to enhance contact between electors and elected and the accountability of Members of Parliament to their electors.