10,000 signatures gathered in support of online voting

RIGA - Already 10,000 signatures have been gathered for online voting in Latvia, therefore the initiative can now be submitted to Saeima.

Baiba Ermane, the initiator, says that online voting in Saeima and local government elections, referendums, as well as online signature drives would save taxpayers' money, besides, Latvians all over the world could then easily participate in the elections.

"I offer to change the laws on elections and referendums so people could also vote on the Internet, which means that more election commission officials could visit citizens, who are unable to go to the polls due to health condition or and cannot vote on the Internet due to limited means, at their homes," says Ermane. Every vote is important, including those that cannot make it to the polling stations, she believes.

Transport Ministry previously informed the government that the development, introduction and maintenance of an online voting system in Latvia could cost around 1.78 million lats in 2013-2015.

The Transport Ministry said in the report that the work on the development of the online voting system could conclude on December 31, 2014. This means that local government elections in 2017 could be the first elections with the online voting option.