The Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Maris Zviiedris, assessed the course of the elections to the 15th Saeima as calm. According to him, there were no serious incidents recorded before the voting was completed, and the electronic systems and equipment operated without failures. Commenting on voter turnout, the head of the CEC noted that he expected somewhat greater activity from voters. However, in his assessment, the final turnout is likely to be close to the figures from the previous parliamentary elections. After the polling stations close, the work of the commissions only begins. Before opening the ballot boxes, a number of mandatory procedures outlined in the instructions must be completed. This stage takes about an hour. One of the last checks will be the reconciliation of voter lists with the electronic register. This is necessary to ensure that no one was able to vote multiple times. If such a case is identified, the commission must prepare additional documents and correct the data before the counting begins. That is why the ballot boxes are not opened immediately after the voting ends. According to Zviiedris, the first ballot box will be opened only after the verification of the electronic register is completed across the country and it is clear that there has been no repeat voting. This stage is expected to be completed around 10:00 PM. This means that the first official figures will not appear immediately after the polling stations close. According to the CEC head's forecast, preliminary results for party lists may be known around two to three o'clock in the morning, while the distribution of votes among individual candidates will be available in the first half of Sunday. Separately, the head of the CEC commented on the situation at the Riga Central Prison, where one of the inmates voted with an expired document. He explained that voting in correctional institutions is organized according to a special procedure, and the documents of the inmates are held by the administration. After it became clear that the identification document had been invalid for several months, the CEC convened an extraordinary meeting and decided to annul the voting results at this polling station and conduct it again. According to Zviiedris, this was possible because it is a closed institution with a known number of voters. The head of the commission also answered a question about the possibility of dropping two envelopes into the ballot box at once. He noted that a commission member is always present near the ballot box to monitor the process. Theoretically, such a situation is possible; however, in practice, he said, it is extremely difficult to implement. Overall, the chairman of the CEC positively assessed the organization of the elections, emphasizing that the main procedures went smoothly, and the main work of the commissions will begin after the polling stations close when the counting of votes starts.
