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The Estonian presidential election is an indirect election in which the President of Estonia is elected. [1] The first round was held on August 26, 1996, the second and third round on August 27, 1996. As no one reached a sufficient majority in the closed ballot vote of the Riigikogu, the next stage was held on September 20 at the Constituent Assembly. Seated President Lennart Meri was elected for a further term. [2]
In August 1991, Estonia declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Lennart Meri was elected as the first President of Estonia after the restoration of Estonian sovereignty.
When the incumbent President Lennart Meri ran for re-election in 1996, his main challenger was Arnold Rüütel, the former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Estonia
According to Section 79 of the Estonian Constitution of 1992, the State Assembly ( Riigikogu ) was first called upon to elect the head of state. A candidate needs 68 yes votes from the 101 Assembly members to be elected. The three rounds of voting were held from August 26 to 27, with none of the candidates managed to secure the majority in State Assembly.
As a result, on September 20, 1996, a special electoral assembly (Valimiskogu) convened at the hall of Estonian National Opera in Tallinn. It consisted of the 101 members of Estonian State Assembly and 273 electors who were delegated by the local authorities (cities and municipalities)
In the electoral assembly, the person who receives more than half of the votes cast by the 374 members of the electoral assembly will be elected as President. Moreover, At least 21 members of the electoral council had the right to nominate a candidate. The registration of candidates started on September 16 and ended on September 18. In addition to the two candidates from the previous voting processes, three more candidates were registered: Tunne Kelam, the then Vice Speaker of the Riigikogu; Enn Tõugu, a computer scientist with no party affiliation; and Siiri Oviir, former Minister of Social Affairs.
The first voting process in Electoral Body had five candidates. None of them received the majority votes necessary for winning the election. Therefore the two front-runners of the first voting, Lennart Meri and Arnold Rüütel, faced off in a second voting process held on the same day. Lennart Meri was able to prevail against his challenger Arnold Rüütel with 196 yes votes. [3]
| Voting in the Riigikogu | Voting in Electoral Body | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | First round | Second round | Third round | First round | Second Round | |||||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |
| Lennart Meri | 45 | 47 | 49 | 51 | 52 | 54 | 139 | 37 | 196 | 53 |
| Arnold Rüütel | 34 | 36 | 34 | 35 | 32 | 33 | 85 | 23 | 126 | 34 |
| Tunne Kelam | - | - | - | - | - | - | 76 | 20 | - | - |
| Enn Tõugu | - | - | - | - | - | - | 47 | 13 | - | - |
| Siiri Oviir | - | - | - | - | - | - | 25 | 7 | - | - |
| Invalid/blank votes | 16 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 13 |
| Total | 95 | 96 | 96 | 372 | 372 | |||||
Politics in Estonia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Estonian parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government, which is led by the prime minister. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Estonia is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, and NATO.
Arnold Rüütel is an Estonian politician. He was the third President of Estonia from 8 October 2001 to 9 October 2006. Rüütel was the second president of the country after the end of the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation, and the restoration of the independent Republic of Estonia on 20 August 1991.
Lennart Georg Meri was an Estonian writer, film director and statesman. He was the country's foreign minister in 1990–1992 and President of Estonia in 1992–2001.
Rein Taagepera is an Estonian political scientist and former politician.
The Social Democratic Party is a centre-left political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Lauri Läänemets. The party was formerly known as the Moderate People's Party. The SDE has been a member of the Party of European Socialists since 16 May 2003 and was a member of the Socialist International from November 1990 to 2017. It is orientated towards the principles of social-democracy, and it supports Estonia's membership in the European Union. From April 2023, the party has been a junior coalition partner in the third Kallas government.
The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chief justice of the Supreme Court, and elects the president. Among its other tasks, the Riigikogu also ratifies significant foreign treaties that impose military and proprietary obligations and bring about changes in law, as well as approves the budget presented by the government as law, and monitors the executive power.
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 or an electoral college. Locally, Estonia elects local government councils, which vary in size. Election law states the minimum size of a council depending on the size of municipality. Local government councils are elected by proportional representation too.
The president of the Republic of Estonia is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid.
Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 2 March 2003. The newly elected 101 members of the 10th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. Two opposing parties won the most seats, with both the Centre Party and Res Publica Party winning 28 seats in the Riigikogu. Res Publica was able to gain enough support in negotiations after the elections to form a coalition government.
Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia alongside presidential elections on 20 September 1992, the first after regaining independence from the Soviet Union. The newly elected 101 members of the 7th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. Following the elections, the five-party Fatherland Bloc led by Mart Laar formed a government together with national-conservative Estonian National Independence Party and centrist Moderates alliance. Voter turnout was 68%.
Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 4 March 2007. The newly elected 101 members of the 11th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. It was the world's first nationwide vote where part of the voting was carried out in the form of remote electronic voting via the internet.
Estonian presidential elections, 2006 took place over four rounds, which were held on 28 and 29 August, and 23 September 2006. The first three rounds of the presidential election were held within the Riigikogu, which is Estonia's Parliament, as specified under electoral law. The two top candidates, Ene Ergma and Toomas Hendrik Ilves, were not elected because they did not obtain the required two-thirds of the votes in the Riigikogu.
An indirect election took place in Estonia in 2016 to elect the president of Estonia, who is the country's head of state. The Riigikogu — the Parliament of Estonia — elected Kersti Kaljulaid to be the next head of state of Estonia to succeed Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who had served his second and final term as president. Kaljulaid is the first female head of state of Estonia.
Allar Jõks is an Estonian lawyer and the former Chancellor of Justice. He was proposed to the office by President Lennart Meri and served between 2001 and 2008. He was proposed again by Toomas Hendrik Ilves in December 2007, but the Riigikogu voted against the appointment.
Electoral district no. 3 is one of the 12 multi-member electoral districts of the Riigikogu, the national legislature of Estonia. The electoral district was established in 1995 following the re-organisation of the electoral districts in Tallinn. It is conterminous with the districts of Mustamäe and Nõmme in Tallinn. The district currently elects eight of the 101 members of the Riigikogu using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2019 parliamentary election it had 71,882 registered electors.
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An indirect election took place in Estonia on 30 and 31 August 2021 to elect the president of Estonia, who is the country's head of state. The Riigikogu — the Parliament of Estonia — elected Alar Karis to serve in the office and he was sworn in as the 6th president on 11 October 2021. The incumbent, Kersti Kaljulaid, was eligible to seek reelection to a second, and final, term but failed to gain the endorsement of at least 21 MPs, which is required in order for a candidate to register, as she was outspoken against some of the policies of the government, who thus denied her support.
Electoral district no. 11 is one of the 12 multi-member electoral districts of the Riigikogu, the national legislature of Estonia. The district was established in 1992 when the Riigikogu was re-established following Estonia's independence from the Soviet Union. It was renamed electoral district no. 10 in 1995 following the re-organisation of electoral districts but reverted to electoral district no. 11 in 2003. It is conterminous with the counties of Põlva, Valga and Võru. The district currently elects eight of the 101 members of the Riigikogu using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2019 parliamentary election it had 70,706 registered electors.
Estonia's 2001 presidential election took place from August 27 to September 21, 2001. After three rounds of voting in the Riigikogu and two rounds of voting in the electoral college, Arnold Rüütel was elected President.
An indirect election is expected to take place in Estonia in 2026 to elect the president of Estonia, who will be the country's head of state.
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