Elections in Estonia
Encyclopedia
Estonia
elects
a legislature
on the national level. The Riigikogu
has 101 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation
. A head of state
- the president
- is elected for a five year term by parliament (1st-3rd round) or an electoral college (4th and subsequent rounds). Locally, Estonia elects local government councils, which vary in size, but by the election law there are minimum size of councils depending on the size of municipality. Local government councils are elected by proportional representation too.
Estonia has a multi-party system, with numerous parties
in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition government
s.
Elections have taken place in the following years:
Past elections:
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
elects
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
a legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
on the national level. The Riigikogu
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...
has 101 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
. A head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
- the president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
- is elected for a five year term by parliament (1st-3rd round) or an electoral college (4th and subsequent rounds). Locally, Estonia elects local government councils, which vary in size, but by the election law there are minimum size of councils depending on the size of municipality. Local government councils are elected by proportional representation too.
- The minimum number of council members is prescribed to be at least 7 seats
- Over 2,000 inhabitants: at least 13 seats
- Over 5,000 inhabitants: at least 17 seats
- Over 10,000 inhabitants: at least 21 seats
- Over 50,000 inhabitants: at least 31 seats
- Over 300,000 inhabitants: at least 63 seats
Estonia has a multi-party system, with numerous parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
s.
Elections have taken place in the following years:
Past elections:
- Riigikogu (parliament): 1992Estonian parliamentary election, 1992Estonian parliamentary election of 1992 was held on 20th September, 1992. This term of parliament was elected according constitution application law for 3 years. The threshold was 5% of the national vote or 3 personal mandates. To get a personal mandate candidate must collect at least a quota votes...
, 1995Estonian parliamentary election, 1995Estonian parliamentary election of 1995 was held on 5 March 1995. Threshold was 5% of the national vote, seven lists passed threshold. In brackets are the names of the parties/cartels in Estonian....
, 1999Estonian parliamentary election, 1999Estonian parliamentary election of 1999 was held on 7 March 1999. The threshold was 5% of the national vote, and seven lists passed the threshold...
, 2003Estonian parliamentary election, 2003The 2003 Estonian parliamentary election was held in Estonia on 2 March 2003 to elect the members of the Riigikogu . Two opposing parties won the most seats, with both the Centre Party and Res Publica Party winning 28 seats...
, 2007Estonian parliamentary election, 2007Parliamentary elections took place in Estonia on Sunday, March 4, 2007 to elect members of the Riigikogu. The electoral system was a two-tier semi-open list proportional representation system with a 5% election threshold...
, 2011Estonian parliamentary election, 2011A parliamentary election was held in Estonia on 6 March 2011, with e-voting between 24 February and 2 March 2011.The 101 members of the Riigikogu were elected using a form of proportional representation for a four-year term. The seats were allocated using a modified D'Hondt method. The country is... - Local/municipal: 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2009
- Europarliament: 2004European Parliament election, 2004 (Estonia)The European Parliament election of 2004 in Estonia was the election of MEP representing Estonia constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. The vote took place on June 13....
, 2009European Parliament election, 2009 (Estonia)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Estonia was the election of the delegation from Estonia to the European Parliament in 2009.The election day was 7 June 2009. Turnout was 43.9% – about 17.1% higher than during the previous election five years before... - Referendums: 2003Estonian European Union membership referendum, 2003The 2003 Estonian European Union membership referendum took place on 14 September 2003 to decide whether Estonia should join the European Union . Just over two-thirds of voters voted Yes and Estonia joined the EU on 1 May 2004.-Background:...
(EU) - President: 1992 (Lennart Meri), 1996 (Lennart Meri), 2001 (Arnold Rüütel), 2006 (Toomas Ilves)
Latest national election
European elections
- European Parliament election, 2004European Parliament election, 2004 (Estonia)The European Parliament election of 2004 in Estonia was the election of MEP representing Estonia constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. The vote took place on June 13....
- European Parliament election, 2009European Parliament election, 2009 (Estonia)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Estonia was the election of the delegation from Estonia to the European Parliament in 2009.The election day was 7 June 2009. Turnout was 43.9% – about 17.1% higher than during the previous election five years before...
External links
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
- Parties and elections
- National Electoral Committee of Estonia
- NSD: European Election Database - Estonia publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1992-2007