Political parties and electoral alliances are fielding a total of 1,470 candidates in Latvia's forthcoming parliamentary election this year, the Baltic country's election authority informed on Wednesday.

The registration of candidates for the 2018 parliamentary election ended on Aug. 7.

According to the Central Election Commission, the number of candidates registered for this year's election is the highest since the restoration of Latvia's independence in 1991. There are approximately 15 candidates contesting each of the 100 seats in the Latvian parliament, with experts predicting a fierce battle for each mandate.

Commenting on the record-high number of candidates, Central Election Commission head Arnis Cimdars said that this means "not only more people participating in the race but also more people explaining their position to the public. We will probably have a more active political environment."

Two years ago, Latvia adopted tougher rules regulating political parties' participation in elections. Under the new rules, only those parties that have been founded at least a year prior to the election and that have at least 500 members are eligible to take part in elections.

These rules, however, have not deterred politicians from engaging in the competition for legislative mandates as the number of parties and electoral alliances registered by the Commission has grown from 13 in the last parliamentary elections to 16 this year.

To verify the candidates' eligibility, the Commission on Wednesday sent the registered list of candidates to Latvia's law enforcement authorities for vetting.