Discrimination means that you are being treated differently from someone else in an analogous situation, simply because of who you are, without objective and reasonable justification.
Discrimination is prohibited. You can be discriminated against on a variety of grounds. Some of the most common with respect to civic participation include gender, nationality, ethnicity or race, disability, and status as a prisoner. If the State fails to eliminate or encourages discrimination with respect to civic participation, it can be held liable for a violation of the prohibition of discrimination in conjunction with any of the aforementioned human rights, or independently.
Read more about the prohibition of discrimination in this Guide.
Women are particularly disadvantaged compared to men when standing for elections, with the number of female candidates on a list and the elected representatives often trailing in number behind male candidates. Electoral gender quotas and other special measures have been encouraged to rectify this. Under Latvian law, no such quotas exist for either local or parliamentary elections. However, the Constitution and the Labour Law guarantee equality, including gender equality, before the law. These guarantees of non-discrimination also translate to civic participation, ensuring that women are in an equal position to participate in civic processes.
The civic participation of minorities, be it based on national, ethnic, or racial grounds, can be disadvantaged on several levels. Citizenship in particular is a precondition for the realisation of many political rights, such as taking part in elections and referendums, although this is a justifiable restriction.
In Latvia, there are no legal or practical restrictions prohibiting the membership of non-citizens, EU citizens, or third country citizens in trade unions, professional associations, civil society organisations, or other non-governmental organisations. Moreover, all minorities have a State-supported right to maintain and develop their language and cultural and ethnic identity, including within the civic space. The Latvian State has an obligation to form a dialogue and co-operate with all residents regardless of their identity.
According to human rights law, only an established mental incapacity may be a ground for denying a person the right to vote or to hold office. Moreover, the blanket removal of voting rights on the basis of a mental disability, without an individualised judicial assessment, constitutes a violation of the right to vote.
Physical disability may not be a legitimate ground for restricting the right to vote. However, the accessibility of polling stations and the right to vote by secret ballot may be hindered by it. Accessibility and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities should be ensured at all stages of the electoral cycle, enabling a person to exercise their right to vote in private or via an assistant of their choice.
According to human rights, the right of prisoners to vote may be restricted subject to certain circumstances. Prisoners, therefore, may not be automatically disenfranchised from their right to vote solely on the basis of their prisoner status. In order for their right to vote to be restricted, such a prohibition must have a legitimate aim, such as preventing crime by means of sanctioning the conduct of prisoners and enhancing civic responsibility and the rule of law, and be proportionate.
In Latvia, pursuant to a Constitutional Court ruling, prisoners serving a sentence are now allowed to vote in local elections. Pursuant to another earlier Constitutional Court ruling, a restriction prohibiting persons detained on remand from voting in local elections if they are detained outside of the constituency in which they are registered to vote, is also no longer in force as of 4 April 2022. This means that if a person is serving a sentence in prison or is detained on remand, they will be eligible to vote in local elections in any case.