Indirect presidential elections were held in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

on 29 May 2019.

Voting system

Before the first round of the presidential election, the political parties represented in the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the po ...

nominate their candidate. The president is elected in the first round if he receives the absolute majority of the deputies, i.e. 51 votes out of 100. In case of failure, a second round is organized with the same candidates and under the same conditions. If no one is elected, the two candidates who come first are qualified for a third round, and the one who receives 51 votes becomes

President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Valsts prezidents ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of office is four years. Before 1999, it w ...

. The president of the Saeima chairs the electoral college. In case of failure, the procedure is restarted.

Elections

Latvia's parliament elected former European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits as the Baltic country's next president on Wednesday, a largely ceremonial role that also brings with it limited political powers. The results of the vote were as follows: * Egils Levits – 61 votes *

Didzis Šmits Didzis is a Latvian masculine given name of Old High German origin. It is occasionally a diminutive of the names Dītrihs and Didrikis. It is a cognate to the German name Dietrich. The first recorded usage of the name in the areas of modern-day ...

– 24 votes *

Juris Jansons The Juris were a tribe of South American Indigenous people, formerly occupying the country between the rivers Içá (lower Putumayo) and Yapura, north-western Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Po ...

– 8 votes Having received 61 votes, Levits began serving a four-year term starting on July 8, when incumbent president Raimonds Vējonis' term came to an end.

References

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

May 2019 events in Europe Presidential elections in Latvia {{Latvia-election-stub