United List leads in Latvian parliamentary election: preliminary results

RIGA - The United List, led by Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, took a large lead in the country's parliamentary election, preliminary results released Sunday morning showed.

According to the Central Election Commission, with about 93 percent of the votes counted as of 6:35 am local time (0335 GMT), the United List had secured 35.44 percent of the vote, followed by Latvia First with 13.22 percent and Sovereign Power/Alliance of Young Latvians with 11.73 percent.

The National Alliance, the Progressives and New Unity had received 9.09 percent, 7.24 percent and 6.18 percent, respectively. The Union of Greens and Farmers had garnered 4.62 percent, slightly below the 5-percent threshold required to win seats in parliament.

The vote count was still underway, and the rankings and distribution of seats could change. The commission said the official results would be confirmed by Oct 19.

Voting in the Latvian parliamentary election began on Saturday morning, with 1,428 candidates vying for 100 seats in the 15th Saeima, or parliament. A total of 14 political parties and party alliances took part in the election.

About 807,000 of the country's approximately 1.558 million registered voters cast ballots, putting voter turnout at about 51.81 percent, according to the commission.

Under Latvia's electoral system, 100 seats in the parliament are allocated through proportional representation. Each political party or political alliance must obtain at least 5 percent of the vote to enter parliament.

According to the country's constitution, after the new parliament is formed, the president will consult with the political forces entering the parliament and invite the candidate for prime minister to form a new government. The new government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the parliament before it can assume its duties.