Rinkēvičs said the move is needed to ensure a fair, transparent and secure process after technical failures disrupted last June’s municipal vote, when a new automatic counting system broke down and officials reverted to counting ballots by hand. The 2025 breakdown of Latvia’s electronic counting system delayed results and contributed to high-level resignations and suspensions in the bodies responsible for digital infrastructure and election management. Rinkēvičs warned that elections should not be treated as an experiment at a time of growing hybrid threats aimed at undermining confidence in democratic institutions. The debate comes as concerns over election security remain high across the region, following cyber-related incidents tied to recent votes in neighboring states, as Latvia prepares to elect its 15th Saeima, the national parliament, this autumn. According to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Latvia has just over 1.5 million registered voters in a country of about 1.88 million people.