Central Election Commission confirms 15th Saeima results: United List wins

Latvia's Central Election Commission (CEC), the body that organises and oversees elections, officially confirmed the results of the 15th Saeima (parliament) election on Friday, 16 October. The United List (AS) won decisively and will hold 41 seats in the 100-seat parliament. The Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) did not clear the 5% threshold and will not enter the Saeima.

Seat distribution

Under the confirmed results, Latvia First (LPV) gets 17 seats, Stability!/Alliance Young Latvians (SV/AJ) 15, the National Alliance (NA) 10, the Progressives nine and New Unity (JV) seven.

Vote shares: AS 35.3%, LPV 13.1%, SV/AJ 11.71%, NA 8.9%, the Progressives 7.88% and JV 6.36%. ZZS received 4.4%.

Records

The seat total won by AS is the best result any political force has achieved in Saeima elections since independence was restored. For comparison, Latvian Way won 36 seats in 1993, Unity 33 in 2010, and Harmony 31 in the 2011 snap election. At the same time, turnout was the lowest since independence was regained, at 51.8% of voters.

Seats by constituency

In the Riga constituency, which allocates the most seats – 38 – and also counts postal votes cast abroad, AS won 13 seats, SV/AJ seven, LPV and the Progressives six each, and JV and NA three each.

In Vidzeme, AS took 13 of 26 seats. In Zemgale it won six of 13, and in Kurzeme six of 11. In Latgale, LPV won five of 12 seats, AS and SV/AJ three each, and NA one.

What happens next

No challenges were received by the CEC within the three working days set by law. One candidate submitted a complaint after the deadline, so it was left without action. Party list submitters and candidates now have three working days to appeal the results in court.