RIGA, June 12 (NNN-XINHUA) — Latvian Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Affairs Inga Berzina resigned on Wednesday, taking responsibility for the confusion caused by technical issues during the vote-counting process in the municipal elections held over the weekend.
Prime Minister Evika Silina announced Berzina’s resignation following a meeting with President Edgars Rinkevics. Silina said that the government’s top priority is now to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and to implement measures to prevent similar disruptions during the parliamentary elections scheduled for the fall of 2026.
During a meeting of the Saeima’s State Administration and Local Government Committee on Wednesday, Kristine Saulite, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, initially declared her intention to resign. However, she reversed her decision after the meeting, stating that she had not yet made a final decision.
The complications arose due to the failure of the technical system intended to count votes electronically. As a result, election officials were forced to count ballots manually, leading to significant delays in announcing the final results.
President Rinkevics, who on Sunday criticized the organization of the local elections as a failure, reaffirmed on Wednesday that there was no reason to doubt the legality or legitimacy of the election results. — NNN-XINHUA
