Voters in Latvia have resoundingly rejected a proposal that Russian be made the country's second language and given equal status with Latvian.

Near-complete official results showed that just over 75 percent felt Russian should not be made official.

Almost 70 percent of eligible Latvians voted - the highest turnout for any ballot in Latvia since it regained its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.

The motion had been put forward by Latvia's Russian-speaker's movement "Native Tongue," which had collected signatures from 10 percent of Latvian voters supporting the measure. Their appeal came just two months after parliament rejected a bill that would have given Russian equal status with Latvian.

People of Russian origin make up just over a quarter of Latvia's population, with a particularly high concentration of them living in the capital Riga.

Had the vote passed, the constitution would have been changed to incorporate Russian as a second official Latvian language. The Baltic country and EU member state has a population of about 2.1 million and shares a border with Russia.

msh/mz (AFP, AP)