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1. Young people as voters

2. Young people as political representatives

Young people as voters

According to the “Survey of Voter Attitudes” of the Central Statistical Bureau of 2014, voter turnout of young people aged 18–24 in 11th Saeima elections remains consistently lower than that of older age groups. According to Central Election Commission data, overall voter turnout was 56.5% in the 12^th Saeima elections (2014), 54.6% in the 13^th Saeima elections (2018), and 59.4% in the 14^th Saeima elections (2022). Youth voter turnout in the 18–24 age group has been lower than the national average across all recent elections, reflecting a broader trend of declining youth political engagement.

Young people as political representatives

Paragraph 9 of Chapter II of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia establishes that “any citizen of Latvia, who enjoys full rights of citizenship and who is more than twenty-one years of age on the first day of elections may be elected to the Saeima”.  In the 12^th Saeima (the last elections of the Saeima took place in October 2022), the proportion of young candidates (aged 21–30) stood at 9.8% of the total, according to Central Election Commission data. There is a consistent tendency in Latvia that most members of the Saeima are older than 25.

In the elections of local governments, every citizen of Latvia who has reached the age of 18 may be elected.

Youth political representation is implemented through the Youth Parliament in the Saeima (see Chapter 5.3).