Court upholds Central Election Commission's decision banning Zdanoka from running in Saeima elections

RIGA – The Administrative District Court has upheld the Central Election Commission’s decision to ban Tatjana Zdanoka, the leader of Latvia’s Russian Union, from running in the upcoming Saeima elections, LETA learned from the court.

The court ruled that the Central Election Commission, citing opinions of the national security services that have been based on facts and their assessment, has with good reason concluded that the candidate poses threat to Latvia’s independence and democracy principles.

The court’s ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

As reported, ten people in total have been found ineligible to run in the election due to various reasons.

The Central Election Commission’s decision on Zdanoka is based on an earlier court ruling stating that Zdanoka was an active member of the Communist Party after January 31, 1991, which under the Saeima Election Law makes her ineligible to run in Latvia’s parliamentary elections.

However, since the Constitution Court has ordered an individual assessment of each such case to make sure that the person in question indeed poses threats to Latvia’s independence, democracy and rule of law, the Central Election Commission had requested additional information from the Security Police and the Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB).

The 13th Saeima elections will take place on October 6.