Latvian CEC spent 481,894 euros on failed referendum

In Latvia, 481,894 euros were already allocated in 2020 as part of the legislative norm on popular referendums. This is written on May 19 by the portal LSM with reference to the data of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the country. According to the CEC, the collection of signatures was carried out between January 16 and February 14, 2020. It was about amendments to the Law On Elections to City and District Local Authorities, as well as to the Law On Self-Governments. Signature collection was organized in 358 locations across Latvia and 41 locations abroad. It is noted that the Government of Latvia has transferred 914,870 euros for these needs based on the calculations of 2011. The lion's share of the incurred expenses of 432,694 euros out of 481,894 euros went to salaries of election commissions. The initiators did not achieve their goal, the necessary number of signatures, namely 154,868, was not collected for the further organization of the referendum.