ODIHR publishes final report on parliamentary elections in Estonia

According to the final assessment report published by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 16 May, Estonia’s 6 March parliamentary elections were “conducted in an environment characterized by respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and a high degree of trust in the impartiality of the election administration. Election stakeholders expressed confidence in the overall process, including the Internet voting. Voters had an opportunity to make an informed choice among a field of candidates representing a variety of political alternatives.”

The report also highlighted areas of concern, including the fact that aspects of Internet voting remain unregulated and that about 7 per cent of the total population – made up of long-term residents with undetermined citizenship – do not have the right to vote or stand as candidates in national elections.

Among the many recommendations contained in the report, ODIHR made a dozen proposals aimed at improving all aspects of Internet voting, including oversight, certification, and accountability of the system, as well as voting itself, counting the vote, and destroying data.

The report also recommended that legislation be amended to allow long-term residents with undetermined citizenship to join political parties, and that consideration be given to providing the application for Internet voting in Russian and increasing the amount of information on voting procedures available in Russian.