How Latvian citizens abroad voted for the country’s European Parliament representatives may never be known, because their ballots were mixed in with those of prisoners who also voted by mail, according to the Central Election Commission in Rīga.

Before the June 6 election, a total of 1,532 requests for absentee ballots were received from abroad, according to the election commission. By 10 p.m. June 6, when polls closed in Latvia, just 1,096 completed ballots from abroad had been received in Rīga. However, the total number of mail ballots counted in the election is much greater: 4,079.

“In this election incarcerated voters could also participate in the European Parliament election by mail,” election commission spokeswoman Kristīne Bērziņa told Latvians Online in an e-mail. The mailed ballots from prisoners were put in the same box with mailed ballots from citizens abroad. Ballots within in a specific precinct are not allowed to be divided into separate groups.

All mail ballots were processed in Precinct 999 in Rīga, which was set up just for that purpose.

“As a result, it is not possible to determine how exactly voters abroad voted,” Bērziņa said.

What the results do show is that among all mail ballots in the European Parliament election, 19.29 percent of the vote went for the socialdemocratic Harmony Centre (Saskaņas Centrs). The pro-Russian For Human Rights in United Latvia (Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā) came in second with 17.48 percent. Third was the reformist Civil Union (Pilsoniskā savienība) with 16.52 percent of the vote.

Overall provisional results for the Europarliament vote showed that Civil Union came out on top, earning two seats plus one “phantom” seat, while Harmony Centre came in second and earned two seats, according to the election commission. In all, Latvian voters elected eight members of the European Parliament plus one “phantom” representative.

Other results for the mailed ballots showed New Era (Jaunais laiks) with 9.63 percent; the First Party of Latvia (Latvijas Pirmā partija / Latvijas ceļš), 5.66 percent; For Fatherland and Freedom (Tēvzemei un Brīvībai / LNNK), 4.49 percent; the Union of Greens and Farmers (Zaļo un Zemnieku apvienība), 4.36 percent; the People’s Party (Tautas partija), 3.46 percent; the Latvian Socialdemocratic Workers’ Party (Latvijas Sociāldemokrātiskā strādnieku partija), 3.36 percent); Visu Latvijai! (All for Latvia), 3.04 percent; For the Motherland (Par Dzimteni), 2.89 percent; the Society for a Different Politics (Sabiedrība citai politikai), 2.43 percent; Libertas.lv, 1.89 percent; the Osipov Party (Osipova partija), 1.67 percent; the Renaissance Party of Latvia (Latvijas Atdzimšanas partija), 0.98 percent; the Christian Democratic Union (Kristīgi demokrātiskā savienība), 0.91 percent; and the Action Party (Rīcības partija), 0.66 percent.

(Updated with explanatory text in second paragraph and with total number of completed ballots received from abroad.)

Sandra Kalniete, a former foreign minister and now a member of the Latvian parliament, appears to be heading to the European Parliament as one of the country’s newest representatives, according to provisional voting results announced June 7 by the Central Election Commission in Rīga.

Latvian voters went to the polls June 6 to elect eight members of the Europarliament as well as to decide who will represent them on local government councils. All but one precinct out of 950 had reported results by 11 p.m. Latvian time June 7.

Kalniete’s relatively new party, Civil Union (Pilsoniskā savienība, or PS), has earned 24.32 percent of the ballots cast by 789,539 voters in the European Parliament vote, according to the election commission. That’s enough to give PS two seats in the European Parliament. No. 2 on the PS ticket was incumbent MEP Inese Vaidere.

The socialdemocratic Harmony Centre (Saskaņas centrs, or SC) also has earned two seats, thanks to the 19.53 percent of voters who cast ballots for the party favored by many among Latvia’s Russian speakers. Topping the ticket for SC was Alfreds Rubiks, a former Communist Party leader who spent six years in prison for crimes against the Latvian state. No. 2 on SC’s European Parliament ticket was Saeima member Boriss Cilevičš.

Four other parties have earned one seat each.

The pro-Moscow party For Human Rights in United Latvia (Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā) earned 9.62 percent of the vote, in all likelihood returning incumbent MEP Tatjana Ždanoka.

The conservative First Party of Latvia (Latvijas Pirmā partija / Latvijas ceļš) got 7.5 percent of the vote. No. 1 on the party’s ticket was former Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis.

The conservative For Fatherland and Freedom (Tēvzemei un brīvībai / LNNK) garnered 7.46 percent of ballots. No. 1 on its ticket was incumbent MEP Roberts Zīle.

And the conservative party New Era (Jaunais laiks) took 6.66 percent of the vote. No. 1 on New Era’s ticket for the European Parliament election was Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, a U.S.-born dual citizen and member of the Saeima who was one of a handful of Latvian candidates with ties to the diaspora.

Final results will not be known for three weeks, according to the election commission. Internal party politics also may yet determine which candidates in fact land the European Parliament positions.

Latvian voters actually elected nine MEPs, although only eight will initially take office. The ninth representative will be one of 18 so-called “phantom” MEPs who may not take office for up to two years but will in the meantime receive full pay and benefits from the European Parliament. The current size of the parliament is limited to 736 representatives, but if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified the body will increase to 754 members. Under a May 6 decision by the European Parliament, the 18 extra MEPs will be allowed observer status until the treaty is ratified.

Based on the Europarliament balloting in Latvia, according to a Twitter post by Civil Union candidate Pēteris Vinķelis, his party gets the “phantom” post, too.

Latvia’s turnout in the European Parliament election, according to Central Election Commission, stood at 53.06 percent—the highest in the Baltics. Across the 27 countries in which Europarliament elections were held from June 4-6, turnout averaged 43.39 percent, according to European Union data. Lithuania recorded just 20.54 percent participation, while Estonia had a turnout of 43.2 percent.