Visitors to this summer’s Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Indianapolis now have more thing they can do: vote on the national referendum concerning changes to Latvia’s national security laws.

The Central Election Commission in Rīga announced May 24 that 33 polling stations—including one in Indianapolis, Ind.—have been added for the July 7 referendum. Latvian citizens who live or will be abroad on that date now will be able to cast ballots at one of a total of 48 polling stations. The other 15 stations are those announced last week where citizens may apply for absentee ballots.

Polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. To vote, citizens must have a valid Latvian passport.

The sites for polling stations were recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The referendum will ask voters if they favor rescinding amendments made to the National Security Law and the State Law on Security Institutions. Both laws were amended by emergency decree in January by the Cabinet of Ministers while the Saeima was in recess. The Saeima subsequently approved the amendments, but then President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga vetoed the changes. She and other critics cited concerns about how the amendments could allow politicians access to sensitive information and threaten the country’s national security.

However, the parliament on March 1 overrode the president’s veto, so the president in a rare move invoked her constitutional right to suspend implementation of the amended laws. That forced a call for a national referendum, which now must go ahead despite the Saeima’s about-face in late March, when it rescinded the changes it had approved.

Critics of the the parliament and of the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis have suggested approval of the referendum would be a vote of no confidence in the politicians.

Absentee ballots

Citizens who live or will be abroad on the day of the referendum and who wish to vote by mail must apply from June 1-16 for an absentee ballot. The request should include the voter’s name, personal identification number (personas kods) and address where the absentee ballot should be sent. The voter also must submit their Latvian passport.

After June 16, the passport will be returned along with absentee ballot materials.

Absentee ballot requests may be sent to one of 15 diplomatic representatives:

• Australia (Adelaide): Honorary Consulate of Latvia, 648 South Road, Glandore 5037, South Australia, Australia.
• Australia (Melbourne): Honorary Consulate of Latvia, 2 Mackennel Street, East Ivanhoe VIC 3079, Australia.
• Belgium: Embassy of Latvia, 158 av. Molière, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
• Brazil: Honorary Consulate of Latvia, Rua Jacques Felix 586, Ap.12, 04509-002 San Paulo, Brazil.
• Canada: Embassy of Latvia, 350 Sparks St., Suite 1200, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 7S8, Canada.
• Denmark: Embassy of Latvia, 17 Rosbaeksvej, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
• France: Embassy of Latvia, 6 Villa Said, 75116 Paris, France.
• Georgia: Embassy of Latvia, Rezo Tabukashvili ielā 17, 380008, Tbilisi, Georgia.
• Germany: Embassy of Latvia, Reinerzstr. 40-41, 14193 Berlin, Germany.
• Ireland: Embassy of Latvia, 92 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
• Norway: Embassy of Latvia, Bygdoy Allé 76, Post Box 3163 Elisenberg, 0208 Oslo, Norway.
• Russia: Embassy of Latvia, ul. Chapligina 3, 105062 Moscow, Russia.
• Sweden: Embassy of Latvia, Odengatan 5, Box 19167, 104 32 Stockholm, Sweden.
• United Kingdom: Embassy of Latvia, 45 Nottingham Place, London W1U 5LY, United Kingdom.
• United States: Embassy of Latvia, 2306 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, United States.

Voting in person

In addition to the 15 embassies and consulates above, which also will be open July 7 for voting, the Central Election Commission has announced polling stations will be established in San Miguel, Argentina; Vienna, Austria; Baku, Azerbaidjan; Minsk and Vitebsk, Belarus; Toronto, Canada; Beijing, China; Prague, Czech Republic; Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Bonn, Germany; Athens, Greece; Tel Aviv, Israel; Rome, Italy; Tokyo, Japan; Astana, Kazakhstan; Vilnius, Lithuania; The Hague, Netherlands; Warsaw, Poland; Lisbon, Portugal; Kaliningrad, Pskov and St. Petersburg, Russia; Madrid, Spain; Geneva, Switzerland; Ankara, Turkey; Kiev, Ukraine; Bradford and the Latvian rest home Straumēni at Catthorpe in the United Kingdom; Indianapolis and New York in the United States; Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Caracas, Venezuela.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Latvia continue to face discrimination and more than 400,000 people continue to live in the country without citizenship, the human rights organization Amnesty International says in its annual report issued May 23 in London.

While the Amnesty International Report 2007 took special aim at countries often condemned for human rights violations, the Baltic countries did not escape criticism. The report examines human rights violations worldwide during 2006.

Latvia was slammed for the July 19 decision by the Rīga City Council to ban the Rīga Pride 2006 parade for security reasons and for the lack of police protection during a press conference in support of gay rights activists. The report also notes that only after international pressure did the Latvian parliament pass a law banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Latvia also was criticized for the fact that more than 400,000 people, most former citizens of the Soviet Union, remain without citizenship.

“Statelessness implies, among other things, restrictions to trans-border movement and restrictions on political rights,” the report states.

Amnesty International’s report also notes that in November the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe invited Latvia to ease restrictions on the rights of minorities and to allow the use of minority languages in dealings with authorities in areas where minorities live in substantial numbers. The proposal from the assembly was similar to legislation put forward in late 2005 by the heavily Russian party For Human Rights in United Latvia (Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā) that would have made Russian an official language on the local government level. Latvian remains the official language at the national and local government level.

Estonia and Lithuania also were criticized in the annual report. As in Latvia, Amnesty International questioned Estonia’s respect for the rights of ethnic minorities and also noted violence against protesters during a gay pride march in Tallinn.

In Lithuania, it is sex trafficking of women and girls that remains a concern.

“In addition to being a country of origin for trafficking victims, Lithuania remained a country of transit and destination, primarily for women and girls from Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Kaliningrad region,” the report said.

Lithuania also was criticized for poor treatment of detainees in the country’s jails.

The Latvian cello rock trio Melo-M is scheduled to play six concerts from May 22-29 in a variety of Los Angeles area clubs, the group’s recording company has announced. This will the trio’s second visit to the United States.

During last year’s tour of the United States, Melo-M played for the Latvian community in California. It was during the visit that the band was invited to return to play more clubs.

The concerts will be for the general public and will offer a broader repertoire than during last year’s tour, according to a press release from Rīga-based Platforma Records.

Concerts are scheduled:

• May 22 at 8 p.m. in Bordello, 901 E. First St., Los Angeles. Also performing are Acute, Emma Burgess and the Ghost Kings. For more information on the venue, visit www.bordellobar.com.
• May 23 at 9 p.m. in Skinny’s, 4923 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. For further information on the venue, telephone +1 (818) 763-6581.
• May 24 at 8 p.m in Bordello, 901 E. First St., Los Angeles. Also on the program is Peculiar Pretzelman. For more information on the venue, visit www.bordellobar.com.
• May 27 at 8 p.m. in Tangier Restaurant, 2138 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles.
• May 28 at 8 p.m. in The Mint, 6010 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. For further information about the venue, visit www.themintla.com.
• May 29 at 8 p.m. in Temple Bar, 1026 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. For further information about the venue, visit www.templebarlive.com.

Melo-M includes classically trained cellists Kārlis Auzāns, Valters Pūce and Antons Trocjuks.

The trio was formed in 2005, the same year it released its debut album, the self-titled Melo-M.

The band is working on its second recording, scheduled to be released after the trip to California, Platforma Records said in a press release.

Further information about the group is available on its Web site, www.melo-m.lv.