European Parliament election, 2004 (Latvia)
Encyclopedia
The European Parliament election of 2004 in Latvia was the election of MEP representing Latvia constituency
for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament
. It was part of the wider 2004 European election
. The vote took place on June 12.
There were lists of candidates from 16 political parties. with a total of 1019 candidates. The voter turnout was 41.20%, with 574,674 voters casting votes. It was significantly lower than the usual turnout for Latvian parliamentary elections (which has been between 71% and 73% for previous three elections) but higher than the turnout in most of other countries which joined EU together with Latvia in 2004.
The election was conducted according to party-list proportional representation
system, with at least 5% of votes necessary to gain seats in the parliament. Out of 16 parties, five won seats in the European parliament
. Several parties narrowly missed the 5% threshold.
The preliminary results are: http://www.cvk.lv/cgi-bin/wdbcgiw/base/eiro.veles_rez04a.sak
The elections were a major loss for the coalition government in power, as the three coalition parties together won only 14.2% of popular vote. Tautas Partija was the only coalition party to win a seat.
The winning party Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK had most votes in 22 of 26 counties and 5 of 7 cities. The exception was Southeast Latvia (Daugavpils, Krāslava and Rezekne districts and cities of Daugavpils
and Rēzekne
) which were won by the Par Cilvēka Tiesībām Vienotā Latvijā party and Ludza district won by Socialist Party of Latvia, due to large percentage of ethnically Russian
voters in this area.
Latvia (European Parliament constituency)
In European elections, Latvia is a constituency of the European Parliament, currently represented by nine MEPs. It covers the member state of Latvia. The electoral system used is party-list proportional representation.-Current MEPs:As of October 2007...
for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. It was part of the wider 2004 European election
European Parliament election, 2004
Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
. The vote took place on June 12.
There were lists of candidates from 16 political parties. with a total of 1019 candidates. The voter turnout was 41.20%, with 574,674 voters casting votes. It was significantly lower than the usual turnout for Latvian parliamentary elections (which has been between 71% and 73% for previous three elections) but higher than the turnout in most of other countries which joined EU together with Latvia in 2004.
The election was conducted according to party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...
system, with at least 5% of votes necessary to gain seats in the parliament. Out of 16 parties, five won seats in the European parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. Several parties narrowly missed the 5% threshold.
The preliminary results are: http://www.cvk.lv/cgi-bin/wdbcgiw/base/eiro.veles_rez04a.sak
The elections were a major loss for the coalition government in power, as the three coalition parties together won only 14.2% of popular vote. Tautas Partija was the only coalition party to win a seat.
The winning party Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK had most votes in 22 of 26 counties and 5 of 7 cities. The exception was Southeast Latvia (Daugavpils, Krāslava and Rezekne districts and cities of Daugavpils
Daugavpils
Daugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...
and Rēzekne
Rezekne
In the 19th century, the population of Rēzekne was 2/3 Jewish. As a result of the Pale of Settlement many Jews settled in Latgalia and were confined to the cities. The remainder of the population included Poles, Germans, Russians, and an extreme minority of native Latgalians...
) which were won by the Par Cilvēka Tiesībām Vienotā Latvijā party and Ludza district won by Socialist Party of Latvia, due to large percentage of ethnically Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
voters in this area.