IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Estonia

Republic of Estonia

1,211,524
Population (as of Feb. 10, 2023)

966,129
Registered Voters (as of March 7, 2023)

62.75%
Average Turnout

9
Elections in our database

V-Dem* Score: 0.895
Regimes of the World Classification: Liberal Democracy
*Varieties of Democracy Electoral Democracy Index (2024)

CEDAW Status: Ratified
Ratified Date: Oct. 21, 1991

SIGI* Score: 13.1
Level of Discrimination: Very Low
*Social Institutions and Gender Index (2023)

CRPD Status: Signed and Ratified
Signed Date: Sept. 25, 2007
Ratified Date: May 30, 2012

HDI* Score: 0.905
Category: Very High
*UNDP Human Development Index (2023)

Name	Official Name	Type
Estonian Parliament	Riigikogu	Assembly

Government Structure:

Chief of State: President Alar KARIS
Head of Government: Prime Minister Kaja KALLAS
Assembly: Estonia has a unicameral Parliament (Riigikogu) with 101 seats.

Electoral System:

The President is indirectly elected by Parliament in up to four rounds of voting. The President may serve up to two 5-year terms.
The Prime Minister is nominated by the president and confirmed by the parliament.
In the Parliament (Riigikogu), 101 members are directly elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms. *

* = There are 12 multi-member constituencies, each represented by 5 to 15 seats. Seats are allocated in three rounds. In the first round, seats are awarded to candidates who garner the same or more votes than the simple quota in their electoral districts. In the second round, seats are allocated using a traditional PR method. Party lists are awarded seats based on their share of the vote in the district, and candidates within the list receive seats in the order of how many votes they received. In the third round of counting, all remaining mandates are distributed between the national candidate lists with at least 5% of the national vote.

Elections

2023-03-05
Estonian Parliament
Votes 613,801
Registered 966,129
Turnout 63.53

2019-03-03
Estonian Parliament
Votes 565,045
Registered 887,420
Turnout 63.67

2015-03-01
Estonian Parliament
Votes 577,929
Registered 899,793
Turnout 64.23

2011-03-06
Estonian Parliament
Votes 580,264
Registered 913,346
Turnout 63.53

2007-03-04
Estonian Parliament
Votes 550,213
Registered 901,988
Turnout 61.0

2003-09-14
Referendum
Votes 555,835
Registered 867,714
Turnout 64.06

2003-03-02
Estonian Parliament
Votes 500,686
Registered 859,714
Turnout 58.24

1999-03-07
Estonian Parliament
Votes 492,356
Registered 857,270
Turnout 57.43

1995-03-05
Estonian Parliament
Votes 545,825
Registered 790,392
Turnout 69.06

Election For	Date	Votes	Registered Voters	Turnout
Estonian Parliament	2023-03-05	613,801	966,129	63.53
Estonian Parliament	2019-03-03	565,045	887,420	63.67
Estonian Parliament	2015-03-01	577,929	899,793	64.23
Estonian Parliament	2011-03-06	580,264	913,346	63.53
Estonian Parliament	2007-03-04	550,213	901,988	61.0
Referendum	2003-09-14	555,835	867,714	64.06
Estonian Parliament	2003-03-02	500,686	859,714	58.24
Estonian Parliament	1999-03-07	492,356	857,270	57.43
Estonian Parliament	1995-03-05	545,825	790,392	69.06

Voter Turnout

Hover to view election details.