Party catering to Russian minority comes 1st in Latvian vote

HELSINKI (AP) — An opposition party catering to the Latvia's large ethnic Russian minority is poised to win the Baltic nation's parliamentary election but it's expected to face difficulties in forming a coalition government.

Voters in Latvia, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, chose Saturday from more than 1,400 candidates and 16 parties to fill the country's 100-seat parliament.

With over 95 percent of votes counted, preliminary results Sunday from Latvia's electoral committee showed the left-wing Harmony party was leading with 20 percent support.

The populist KPV party and the anti-corruption New Conservative Party were in second and third place with 14.1 percent and 13.6 percent of the votes respectively.