Europe's youngest and one of its poorest nations aspires to join the European Union, but has lacked a fully functioning government for much of the past year.
Deep divisions in parliament have blocked the election of a Speaker and a new head of state.
Kurti's Vetevendosje party was leading with 43 per cent of the vote, with 99.4 per cent of the ballots counted, official results showed on Sunday.
The party would still need coalition partners to form a new government, and would need to compromise with rivals to secure the two-thirds majority required to elect a new president.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo was polling at 21 per cent, while the Democratic League of Kosovo stood at 18 per cent.
Vetevendosje won 51 per cent in the last election in December, up from 42 per cent in February 2025, but failed to agree with other parties on a candidate for the largely ceremonial presidency.
That deadlock led to parliament's dissolution in April and another snap election.
Turnout was less than 37 per cent, down from 45 per cent in December, the election commission said.
Voters interviewed at polling centres said they have grown weary of repeated elections and want an end to the political stalemate, as well as higher living standards in line with economic growth.
The EU has urged politicians in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, to create strong institutions capable of delivering reforms needed for membership.
The successive elections have delayed those reforms and the flow of EU funds.
Kurti's party first came to power in 2021 with a more nationalist, welfare-focused agenda.
Like all major parties in Kosovo, it is pro-Western. It opposes further concessions to Serbia, with which relations remain strained.
Kosovo's election commission has said more than 900 candidates from 17 parties and three coalition groups were competing for seats in the 120-seat parliament.
About 2.1 million voters are registered, exceeding Kosovo's 1.6 million resident population, reflecting a large diaspora that is mostly based in western Europe and tends to favour Kurti's party.
