Elections: Parliamentary elections in Estonia in the shadow of the Ukraine war

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Parliamentary elections in Estonia in the shadow of the Ukraine war

After counting the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections in Estonia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ Reform Party is ahead. After evaluating the votes cast electronically and the paper ballots in almost all constituencies, the economically liberal force came to 31.8 percent. Behind them are two opposition forces, according to data from the election commission in Tallinn on Sunday evening: the right-wing populist Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) with 15.8 percent, ahead of the left-wing Center Party with 14.5 percent.

The biggest winner is the liberal Estonia 200 party, which, according to the counting results so far, is moving into parliament in Tallinn for the first time with 13.6 percent. Kallas’ two smaller coalition partners follow in the other places: the Social Democrats (9.4 percent) and the conservative party Isamaa (8.3 percent). With the evaluation of the remaining votes, the balance of power should shift slightly.

The focus of the election campaign was Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its impact on national security and socio-political issues. A special feature of the election was the possibility of voting via the Internet, which Estonia was the first country in Europe to introduce. More than a third of all eligible voters took part in the so-called “e-voting”. Overall, more than half of all votes cast were made digitally – both a new record.

A good 966,000 eligible voters were called upon to determine the 101 seats in Parliament in Tallinn. Nine parties and ten independent candidates ran for the ninth election since Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Voter turnout was 63.7 percent, according to preliminary information.

dpa