The election of the 11th Saeima—replacing the parliament that voters in Latvia and abroad fired in the recent referendum—will take place Saturday, Sept. 17, the Central Election Commission in Rīga has announced.

Political parties may begin submitting their candidate list on July 29, but the last day to file will be Aug. 18, the commission decided.

In all, the Saeima is composed of 100 members. Of those, 30 will be elected from the Rīga district, 27 from Vidzeme, 15 from Latgale, 15 from Zemgale and 13 from Kurzeme. Compared to October’s election of the 10th Saeima, Rīga has gained one deputy while Latgale has lost one, a commission spokeswoman said in a press release.

The September election is a result of the July 23 referendum in which almost 95 percent of more than 689,000 citizens voted for dissolving the current parliament. The referendum was brought about by then-President Valdis Zatlers’ call on May 28 to send the Saeima packing in answer to concerns about corruption and the political power of a handful of oligarchs.

Until the new parliament is elected, new President Andris Bērziņš may still call on the 10th Saeima to meet, the president’s press office announced July 26. However, sessions will be delierate and item will only appear on the lawmakers’ agenda if the Saeima and the coalition government have fully evaluated questions.

Irish police say a body found July 23 is that of 30-year-old Latvian national Juris Buls, who had been missing for more than two weeks.

Another Latvian national has been charged with withholding information from investigators who had been looking into the disappearance.

Buls’ body was found about 10 kilometers from Glenamaddy, the town in western Ireland where he lived, according to the Garda Press Office. Police said the body was discovered at about 6:20 p.m. July 23 in a wooded area.

Police on July 20 arrested a man and a woman in connection to the disappearance. The man, 35-year-old Sergejs Krauze of Glenamaddy, appeared in Tuam District Court on July 24. The judge denied Krauze bail because of police concerns that he might try to flee the country, Irish media reported. Krauze’s next appearance in court is scheduled July 27.

Buls went missing the night of July 7, having last been seen at his home. He failed to show up for work at a plastics manufacturer in Glenamaddy. His car also was missing.

Police on July 19 renewed an appeal for information about Buls’ whereabouts, noting they had “serious concerns” about his welfare.

Less than 15 percent of all potential voters abroad participated in the July 23 Latvian referendum on dissolving the Saeima, according to data compiled by the Central Election Commission in Rīga.

However, like voters in the homeland, they overwhelmingly supported former President Valdis Zatlers’ call to send lawmakers home. They cast 94.9 percent of their ballots in favor of dissolving the parliament and 4.9 percent against.

A record number of 78 polling stations operated in 41 countries outside Latvia. As in the homeland, they were open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. The increased number of polling stations was in answer to concerns by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that there was little time for citizens abroad to apply to vote by mail.

Just 10 of the total 7,547 ballots cast outside Latvia were spoiled. In all, 7,554 voters abroad participated in the referendum, suggesting that a handful never turned in a ballot.

Voters at the six polling stations in the United Kingdom led the way in country totals, handing in an even 1,500 ballots. They were followed by voters in the United States (1,238), Ireland (593), Germany (506) and Sweden (485). Surprisingly, Australian voters, who in past parliamentary elections have been rather active, recorded just 480 ballots. Voters in Canada handed in 455 ballots.

By individual polling station London was the most active, with 523 ballots cast, followed by Stockholm (395), Dublin (387), Oslo (339) and Toronto (336). The least amount of ballots cast was in Ankara, Turkey, where just three voters participated.

The polling station at the Latvian Center Gaŗezers near Three Rivers, Mich., recorded 241 ballots—nearly 20 percent of the U.S. total. In addition to the usual summer campers, the center was the site during the weekend of Culture Days (Kultūras dienas), an event featuring art, music and theatre.

The polling station in Vitebsk, Belarus, was the only one abroad in which the number of votes against dissolving the Saeima exceeded the number of votes for: 5-3. The four voters in Santiago, Chile, were evenly split on the issue. In Brussels, Belgium, where many Latvian citizens work for European Union institutions, more than 12 percent of voters were against letting the Saeima go home.

By contrast, balloters at eight polling stations abroad were convinced enough that everyone voted for dissolving the Saeima: Sao Paulo, Brazil; Cairo, Egypt; Athens, Greece; Astana, Kazakhstan; Ljublana, Slovakia; Ankara, Turkey; and St. Petersburg, Fla., and Milwaukee, Wis., in the United States. Voters at those polling stations also were careful, as no spoiled ballots were reported.

In countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States, local Latvian organizations could take credit for doing much of the work of organizing voting, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ballots such as this were used by voters in the July 23 national referendum to signal whether they were for (par) or against (pret) dissolving the Saeima. (Image from Central Election Commission)