Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, in an interview with Latvian State Radio, said citizens should be required to vote, according to the LETA news agency.

A number of countries have compulsory voting laws, including Belgium, which claims the world’s oldest such regulation.

The right to vote is a foundation of democracy, the president said, adding that the alternative is dictatorship and chaos. Latvian citizens should not say their vote does not count, the president said.

LETA noted a mid-August survey by the Rīga-based research company SKDS, which found that 12 percent of those surveyed said they did not plan to vote in the Oct. 7 parliamentary election. Another 24 percent said they were undecided for whom to vote.

The latest demographic update from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia holds out hope that the country’s population decline is slowing, while births may increase in the future.

The nation’s population stood at 2.288 million on July 1, the statistical bureau reported Aug. 28. That was 0.3 percent less than at the beginning of the year, but represented a smaller population decrease than last year.

Meanwhile, the bureau noted that the decrease in the number of women of child-bearing age (15-49) also has slowed, suggesting that the birth rate could stablize and even increase. A total of 10,680 births were recorded in Latvia during the first half of this year, a small decrease from the 10,719 births recorded for the same period last year. Last year’s total births of 21,500 was the highest number recorded in 10 years, the statistical bureau said.

The infant mortality rate—referring to deaths within the first year after birth—also continues to decline. During the first half of this year 69 deaths were recorded, down from the 81 during the first half of 2005. Last year also saw the lowest infant mortality rate—7.8 per 1,000 residents—in 60 years, the bureau said.

Deaths in the first half of this year totaled 17,380, an increase from the 16,895 recorded last year.

The number of marriages also continues to increase. During the first half of last year, 4,146 marriages were recorded in Latvia. In the first half of this year, Latvia recorded 4,765 marriages.

A new Web site based in Chicago, velesanas.com, has been established by supporters of the Jaunais laiks (New Era) party to raise awareness of the Oct. 7 parliamentary election in Latvia.

“Many Latvian citizens who live outside of Latvia have expressed that they lack enough information to make an informed choice regarding the 19 slates of candidates,” Editor Artis Inka said in an Aug. 27 press release.

The Latvian-language site offers information about the election process outside of Latvia, including how to vote by mail. The site also offers background on Jaunais laiks. The party is fielding a total of 86 candidates, according to the Central Election Commission in Rīga.

The site is run by Artis Inka and his brother, Aivars, but other members of the Chicago support group of Jaunais laiks offer material and advice, the editor said.

Jaunais laiks has support groups in three countries outside of Latvia—three in the United States and one each in Canada and Ireland.