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.