The number of Latvian citizens requesting absentee ballots for the Oct. 7 parliamentary election more than doubled in the last 11 days before the application deadline, according to the Central Election Commission in Rīga.

A total of 557 applications were received by embassies and consulates around the world by the Sept. 15 deadline, according to commission data.

In the United States, the number of applications almost tripled in the last 11 days. Only 80 applications had been received by Sept. 4 in the Embassy of Latvia in Washington, D.C. By deadline, the number stood at 230.

Citizens abroad will still be able to vote in person at 53 polling stations that will operate in many countries on Oct. 7.

The election commission and Latvian community leaders abroad earlier acknowledged that the absentee ballot process, which required submitting one’s passport to an embassy or consulate, may have deterred some potential voters. In the United States, the American Latvian Association campaigned during the last two weeks to get more citizens to apply for absentee ballots.

Applications for absentee ballots were accepted in 38 embassies or consulates.

No applications were received in Argentina, Austria, China, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey or Venezuela. One application was received in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Portugal. Two applications were received in Belarus, Israel and Ukraine. Four applications were received in Finland, Norway and Switzerland.

Eight applications were received by the Embassy of Latvia in Denmark. Belgium and Brazil each recorded nine applications. France had 12, as did Ireland, but community leaders there anticipate that many of the 20,000-plus Latvian citizens will vote on election day in either Dublin or Cork.

The highest numbers of applications were received in countries, like the United States, that for years have had the largest and most active Latvian communities. The second highest total was in Germany, where 111 applications were received in the embassy in Berlin and the consulate in Bonn. The number of applications reaching Berlin by the deadline more than quadrupled between Sept. 4 and 15, growing from 18 to 81, according to election commission data.

Sweden accounted for 43 applications, just ahead of Australia, which recorded 42. Great Britain had 30 applications. Canada had 29.

Various observers have talked for months about the possibility, but now it’s official: Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga has announced she will be a candidate to replace outgoing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The president was expected to elaborate on her decision during a press conference scheduled Sept. 16 in Rīga, but in an announcement posted Sept. 15 on the president’s chancery Web site, she said she was urged on by a joint statement from the governments of the three Baltic governments supporting her candidacy.

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga noted that in the orgnization’s 60-year history,  a woman has never been head of the United Nations. She called on the United Nations to observe the principle of equality in appointing the next secretary general.

“Half of humankind has never been represented at the helm of the U.N.,” Vīke-Freiberga said in the statement. “It is time to change this practice, which fails to reflect the structure of the world population. At the same time I wish to emphasize that the world cannot be divided into female and male, and we all must join together to defend human values and make the world a better place.”

Vīķe-Freiberga, 68, is serving her second term as president. The term would expire next year, but the job of secretary general will become available at the end of this year, when Annan’s tenure ends.

Although Vīķe-Freiberga does have some U.N. experience, having served as one of five special envoys touting Annan’s reforms of the world body, she does face at least one major hurdle. The new secretary general will have to be approved by the U.N. Security Council. One permanent member of the council is Russia, which could be expected to use its veto against the Latvian president, who has not always been viewed favorably by officials in Moscow.

Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga will visit Québec and Ontario on a weeklong tour of Canada, during which she also will meet with the Latvian community in Ottawa, the president’s press secretary has announced.

The president’s trip begins Sept. 20 in Québec City where she will meet with Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean and Québec Prime Minister Jean Charest. The president also is to be awarded Québec’s highest civilian honor.

On Sept. 21, Vīķe-Freiberga will visit Toronto, where she will speak at noon to the Empire Club of Canada in the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. W., Toronto. The title of the address will be “Multilateralism as the Response to the Contempory Challenges.” To reserve tickets, visit www.empireclub.org or telephone +1 (416) 364-2878.

In Toronto, the president also will participate in a business forum and meet with Ontario Gov. James K. Bartleman.

On Sept. 22 it’s back to the province of Québec on a visit to Montréal where the president will participate in another business forum, meet with Mayor Gérard Tremblay and attend a dinner hosted by University of Montréal Rector Luc Vinet.

In Ottawa on Sept. 24, Vīke-Freiberga is scheduled to attend a service in the Peace Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church, 83 Main St., and at noon meet with members of the Latvian community.

The following day she is scheduled to present flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, meet with Speaker of the Senate Noël A. Kinsella and Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken, and meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The president also will be presented an honorary doctorate at the University of Ottawa in a ceremony scheduled at 2:30 p.m., Tabaret Hall, Room 112, 550 Cumberland St., Ottawa. During the same ceremony, Professor Jérôme Doutriaux of the university’s School of Management will be awarded the Order of the Three Stars, Latvia’s highest civilian honor. A reception hosted by the Baltic Federation of Canada will follow the ceremony.

On the last day of her Canadian visit, Sept. 26, Vīķe-Freiberga is scheduled to attend a tree-planting ceremony at Government House in Ottawa.

Born in Latvia in 1937, Vīķe-Freiberga spent much of her adult life in Canada, arriving in the country in 1954. From 1965 to 1988, she was a professor of psychology at the University of Montréal. She returned to Latvia in 1998 to become head of the Latvian Institute, but in 1999 was elected to her first term as president.