Latvian Official Language Amendment, 2012
A Latvian Official Language Amendment measure was voted on in the country of Latvia in 2012.
This measure was defeated with 75% of votes against.[1]
This amendment would have added Russian as an official state language in the country of Latvia.[2]
Election results
| Latvian Official Language Amendment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No | 821,722 | 74.80% | ||
| Yes | 273,347 | 24.88% | ||
Text of measure
The ballot question was as follows:[2]
| “ | Are you for adopting the proposed legislation ‘Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia’ that would grant Russian the status of the second state language?[3] | ” |
Path to the ballot
The ethnic Russian group Dzimtā valoda (Native Language), petitioned for this measure in November and were able to garner 187,378 valid signatures. This forced the issue to the Latvian parliament which rejected the bill, sending it to a referendum vote by the people.[4]
In order for the vote to be valid, 771,893 votes needed to be cast by residents.[5] The language for the proposed referendum was changed on January 10 because officials thought the language would confuse voters. The new language asked those to vote in favor or against adopting legislation to add Russian as an official language.[2]
The National Alliance, a group opposed to the measure, had attempted to block the referendum by starting another petition to block the vote. They said that they were opposed to Russian as an official language because it took long enough for Latvia to gain independence and adding Russian would be unconstitutional and be against Latvian independence.[6] Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis had also noted his opposition to this referendum and asked citizens to vote against it.[7]
Additional reading
- RT, "Too Russian to have rights? Latvia to vote on 'alien' language," February 6, 2012
- Gulf Times, "February vote on Russian language," January 7, 2012
- Latvians Online, "Vote on language issue set Feb. 18," January 3, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ The Moscow Times, "Latvians Reject Russian as Co-Official Language," February 20, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Latvians Online, "Commission clarifies referendum question; absentee ballot requests due Feb. 4," January 11, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Latvians Online, "Saeima stops bill to make Russian official; issue heads to referendum," December 22, 2011
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Latvians to Vote on Russian as Second Language, Leta Reports," January 3, 2012
- ↑ Euro News, "Latvian Nationalists try to block referendum," January 12, 2012
- ↑ Ria Novosti News, "Latvian PM calls for ‘No’ Vote in Russian Language Referendum," January 21, 2012
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