CVK Wants to Delegate Responsibility to Saeima — Less Speculation, More Peace

Central Election Commission chairman Zviedris has announced that the CVK wants to hand over the decision-making on manual vote counting to the Saeima. This approach would supposedly be best because it would reduce speculation about CVK's motivation. It's roughly the same as saying you don't want to decide whether to take a walk to the North Pier today — better let the neighbor decide about your romantic life.

Zviedris explained that the CVK is not one person, but a collegial institution where opinions may differ. Just like at Liepāja city council meetings, only with less dramatic outbursts and without public scandals. "If the decision is made by the legislator, it significantly reduces the possibility of various speculations," explained the CVK head, apparently not remembering that the Saeima is the place where speculations are like storms at the North Pier — constant and predictable.

Interestingly, the CVK chairman emphasized that the commission is ready to provide manual vote counting without additional funding. This means they have long been planning such a scenario, only now they're calling it a "rational and quick decision." As one Liepāja voter said: "Well, if they can count without extra money, why were there those IT systems in the first place?"

Now we just have to wait and see whether the Saeima will take on this responsibility, or pass it on to some other institution. Maybe in the end, voters themselves will have to count their own votes — democracy in its purest form.