The aim of the present article is to study the factors influencing electoral choice. The analysis was made within the framework of institutional approach, making use of the theories explaining electoral behaviour which are considered to be classical in political sociology, as well as conclusions drawn in empirical research. It was concluded that electoral choice is a complex process, and it cannot be explained with the help of only one theory. It was stressed that as opposed to other factors influencing the electoral choice,e.g., the ideological position of the voters, an increasingly important has become politicans’ ability to debate problems and offer solutions to them. Particular attention has been paid to Latvia’s political reality. It was concluded that according to the Cleavage theory advanced by S.M.Lipset and S.Rokkan,they were ethnic contradictions that had a decisive influence on the electoral choice of late.The ethnic factor in Latvian politics has been so significant that politicians have been able to manipulate in all the parliamentary elections after regaining independence. Although social stratification continues and inequality between different strata can be observed, it is not reflected in the electoral choice. Social democrats still do not have a due place in the political spectrum of Latvia. A hypothesis has been advanced that inequal distribution of income (which in Latvia is the highest among EU memeber states) could lessen the break between the voters according to their ethnic affiliation and strengthen the influence of the classic „right-wing-left wing” scale on the electoral choice.”Will crisis and poverty gain a victory over ethnicity in Latvia?” asks the author of the present article.