Jānis Ritenis, who spent much of his life in exile in Australia only to become Latvia’s first ambassador to Denmark and subsequently the Minister of Welfare, has died in Latvia. He was 82.

Ritenis was born in 1925 in Dobele, Latvia.

From 1989 to 1990 he led the information bureau of the World Federation of Free Latvians. In 1990, as Latvia was increasingly pushing for independence from the Soviet Union, he established a representative office for his homeland in Denmark.

In November 1992, Ritenis became Latvia’s first ambassador to Denmark.

Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks, in a statement issued July 13, lauded the work Ritenis did in the area of foreign affairs.

“Latvia has lost a bright man of state,” he said. “The Latvian exile J. Ritenis’ investment is among those that in a very short time allowed the renewal of a fully functioning, professional foreign service.”

Ritenis was elected in 1993 to the 5th Saeima as a candidate of the Latvian Farmers’ Union (Latvijas Zemnieku savienība), but from 1994 until his term expired in 1995 was an independent deputy. While in the parliament, he served on the Justice Commission and the National Security Commission.

He served as Minister of Welfare from July 1993 to September 1994 in the government of Prime Minister Valdis Birkavs. In a 2005 study of Latvia’s welfare policy, Feliciana Rajevska noted that Ritenis attempted to introduce a pension plan in Latvia based on the Australian model. His attempts met with resistance within the ministry and in the parliament. As a result, Ritenis grew unpopular as a minister.

Subsequently, Ritenis became a state secretary in the Foreign Ministry and later became chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials for the Council of Baltic Sea States..

A Florida newspaper is conducting an online poll to choose the seven wonders of the state, and one of the nominees is the famed Coral Castle created by Latvian immigrant Edward Leedskalnin.

The last day to vote is July 13.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, based in Fort Lauderdale, asked for nominations from readers and narrowed the list to 14, according to its Web site.

Among the nominees is Leedskalnin’s castle-like garden made of coral. It took Leedskalnin 28 years, from 1923-1951, to complete the structure, which legend says is an homage to an unrequited love in his Latvian homeland. Her name was Agnes Scuffs, according to the official Web site of Coral Castle. Scuffs, who at the time was 16 years old, is said to have cancelled her pending marriage to Leedskalnin just one day before the wedding.

The property, in the south Florida community of Homestead, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Rock star Billy Idol’s song “Sweet Sixteen” is based on Leedskalnin’s story. Idol’s music video for the song was filmed at Coral Castle.

Further information about the poll is available from the Sun-Sentinel.

Citizens voting during the 12th National Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Indianapolis made theirs the most active polling station abroad in the July 7 referendum and helped push the United States to the No. 1 spot in terms of ballots cast outside the homeland.

Provisional results from the Central Election Commission in Rīga show 414 citizens cast ballots at polling stations in Indianapolis, New York and Washington, D.C. With an additional 85 absentee ballots, the United States accounted for 499 votes.

In Indianapolis, a total of 308 citizens voted. Many were brought to the polling station from downtown Indianapolis by a minibus provided by the American Latvian Association.

In all, 2,298 ballots were cast abroad on July 7. With an additional 153 absentee ballots, the total number of voters abroad was 2,451. Voters in the United States accounted for 20.3 percent of the total.

The referendum, on whether to annul changes to two national security laws, failed. While 338,765 voters in Latvia and abroad cast ballots, the total fell short of the 453,730 required to make the referendum count. At least half the number of voters in the last parliamentary election had to cast ballots.

The vast majority of those who did vote, however, were in favor of striking the amendments to the National Security Law and the State Law on Security Institutions. In all, 95.95 percent were in favor of striking amendments to the National Security Law, while 96.03 percent were in favor of doing the same for the State Law on Security Institutions.

The amendments, pushed through by the Cabinet of Ministers in an emergency decree in January, would have allowed for greater oversight of security operations in Latvia. Critics of the amendments—including the NATO defense alliance—said the changes allowed politicians access to potentially sensitive information.

The Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, approved the amendments in March, but the action was vetoed by President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga. The Saeima overrode her veto, so the president took the unusual step of freezing implementation of the amendments. That gave time to gather signatures in favor of a referendum. Just days before the petition drive was to start on April 3, the parliament rescinded the amendments, but the referendum process moved on.

The July 7 referendum was seen by critics as a symbolic test in the confidence voters have in the parliament and in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis. Its failure has bolstered coalition parties.

In addition to the United States, the greatest voting activity abroad was in Australia (a total of 297 in-person and absentee ballots cast), Canada (285) and the United Kingdom (260).

The election commission originally announced 48 polling stations would be open abroad, but closed those in Argentina and Kazakhstan because their operation could not be guaranteed. The polling station in Indianapolis was added because it was expected many Latvian citizens would be attending the song festival, which ran from July 4-8.

On July 7, several polling stations abroad reported voter activity only in the single digits. The station in Kaliningrad reported no voters.