Latvians against Russian becoming second official language

More than 77% of the Latvian electors voted against making Russian the second official language, as against slightly over 22% in favor. The referendum held on February 18 was aimed at amending Latvia’s Constitution so as to include Russian as the second official language. The preliminary data were published on the official website of the Latvian Central Election Commission, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Commission said that 69.23% of the eligible voters took part in the plebiscite, which is about 1.07 million people. For Russian to become an official language in Latvia, at least half of those who cast ballots must vote in favor. According to the census taken in 2011, Latvia has a population of 2.07 million. The main ethnic groups there are: the Latvians who represent 62% of the country’s population, but only 42% in the capital city, and the Russians who constitute 27% of the population. Among the ethnic minorities are the Byelorussians, Polish people, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians. Latvia is home to about 320,000 non-citizens – persons who did not receive Latvian nationality after the country withdrew from the USSR and do not have the right to vote.