Kulbergs, Stepaņenko and Šlesers draw the strongest voter support in Saeima election
Preference-vote data from Latvia's 15th Saeima election show Apvienotais saraksts candidate Kulbergs receiving the most personal backing, while members of the same list also rank among the most frequently crossed out.
Most-backed candidates
Figures compiled after the vote count in Latvia's 15th Saeima election reveal which candidates voters most often marked with a plus. The strongest personal support went to Kulbergs of Apvienotais saraksts (AS), favored by more than 58,000 voters. He is followed by Stepaņenko of the Sovereign Power/Latvian New Union alliance (SV/AJ) with nearly 30,000 supportive marks, while third place belongs to Šlesers of the Latvia First (LPV) list with roughly 25,000 pluses.
Within the AS list itself, several other candidates also drew strong backing - Edvards Smiltēns and Raimonds Bergmanis each received more than 17,000 positive marks.
Where the crossing-out was heaviest
Yet the AS list is also home to the candidates with the most negative marks. Ingmārs Līdaka was crossed out over 17,000 times, Aivis Ceriņš nearly 14,000 times, and Smiltēns more than 12,000 times.
On the LPV list, behind Šlesers, Olga Petkeviča and Aleksandrs Bartaševičs drew the most support, though Bartaševičs was also the most frequently crossed-out candidate on that list. Mairis Briedis and a separate candidate named Ričards Šlesers likewise received many negative marks.
On the SV/AJ list, Stepaņenko is followed by Rūdolfs Brēmanis and Ļubova Švecova, with Brēmanis also topping that list's negative marks. The National Alliance's most popular candidates were Jānis Dombrava, Ināra Mūrniece and Ilze Indriksone, while Mūrniece, Imants Parādnieks and Liāna Langa received the most crossing-out. On the New Unity list, Baiba Braže, Evika Siliņa and Arvils Ašeradens led in support, while Hosams Abu Meri was crossed out most often. On the Progressives' list, Andris Šuvajevs was the clear favorite, while Kaspars Briškens received the most negative marks.
Election outcome
With counting nearly complete, AS won the election with 35.3% of the vote and 42 seats. It is followed by LPV (13.1%, 17 seats), SV/AJ (11.74%, 15 seats), the National Alliance (8.91%, 10 seats), the Progressives (7.81%, 9 seats) and New Unity (6.34%, 7 seats). Only six parties will enter the new Saeima, as the Greens and Farmers' Union also failed to clear the 5% threshold, securing 4.41%.
