Voting procedures
Voters can obtain a ballot paper from the polling station committee at the polling station of their place of residence and at home. At the polling station outside the place of residence and in a place of detention, hospital, residence or day-care centre, the voter also receives an inner and an outer envelope and a list of candidates for the constituency of the place of residence. Both the ballot paper, the envelopes and the list are issued on the basis of an identity document.
An identity document is a document issued by a public authority that bears the name, date of birth or personal identification number of the user, a photograph or a facial image and a signature or a facsimile of a signature. Traditionally, an identity card or ID-card and an Estonian citizen's passport, but also, for example, a diplomatic passport, a seaman's service record book or a navigation certificate are suitable means of identification. The voter may also prove his identity by any other document, provided that it is established by law or legislation adopted on the basis of law, bears the name and date of birth or personal identification number of the user, a photograph or facial image and a signature or a specimen of a signature and is valid. Pension certificates are no longer considered as identity documents.
The ballot paper shall be filled in by the voter alone and independently at the voting booth. If this is not possible because of a physical disability, he or she may be assisted by another voter, at his or her request and in his or her presence, but not by a candidate from the constituency in which he or she resides. On the ballot paper, the voter writes the registration number of the candidate for whom he or she is voting in the space provided.
If the voter spoils the ballot paper or discovers that it is defective, he or she has the option of replacing it with a new one. The voter must return the spoilt ballot paper to the precinct committee. If the voter has already marked his/her voting decision on the ballot paper, he/she shall cross it out so that the decision is not legible before returning it to the precinct committee. A spoilt ballot paper returned by a voter shall be marked 'spoilt' in the presence of the voter and shall not be counted for the purpose of determining the result of the vote.
At the polling station of the voter's place of residence, after filling in the ballot paper, the voter folds it up and takes it to a member of the precinct committee, who stamps it. The voter places the ballot paper in the ballot box himself. If this is not possible because of a physical handicap, he may be assisted by another voter.
Voting at home is carried out in the same way as at the polling station of the voter's place of residence, except that the ballot paper is not stamped before being placed in the ballot box.
At polling stations away from the place of residence and in places of detention, hospitals, voters' residences or day-care centres, the voter folds up the ballot paper after completing it and puts it in an inner (smaller) envelope. In this way, the secrecy of the ballot is ensured, as the inner (smaller) envelope does not contain any voter information. To ensure that the voter's vote reaches the correct vote counting committee, the smaller envelope must in turn be placed in the larger envelope, which is printed with the voter's address If it is not possible to print the envelope, a member of the voting district committee or the voter themselves fills in the envelope in their own hand. The voter drops the enveloped ballot paper into the ballot box himself. If this is not possible because of a physical disability, another voter can help. The envelope is not stamped.
An identity document is a document issued by a public authority that bears the name, date of birth or personal identification number of the user, a photograph or a facial image and a signature or a facsimile of a signature. Traditionally, an identity card or ID-card and an Estonian citizen's passport, but also, for example, a diplomatic passport, a seaman's service record book or a navigation certificate are suitable means of identification. The voter may also prove his identity by any other document, provided that it is established by law or legislation adopted on the basis of law, bears the name and date of birth or personal identification number of the user, a photograph or facial image and a signature or a specimen of a signature and is valid. Pension certificates are no longer considered as identity documents.
The ballot paper shall be filled in by the voter alone and independently at the voting booth. If this is not possible because of a physical disability, he or she may be assisted by another voter, at his or her request and in his or her presence, but not by a candidate from the constituency in which he or she resides. On the ballot paper, the voter writes the registration number of the candidate for whom he or she is voting in the space provided.
If the voter spoils the ballot paper or discovers that it is defective, he or she has the option of replacing it with a new one. The voter must return the spoilt ballot paper to the precinct committee. If the voter has already marked his/her voting decision on the ballot paper, he/she shall cross it out so that the decision is not legible before returning it to the precinct committee. A spoilt ballot paper returned by a voter shall be marked 'spoilt' in the presence of the voter and shall not be counted for the purpose of determining the result of the vote.
At the polling station of the voter's place of residence, after filling in the ballot paper, the voter folds it up and takes it to a member of the precinct committee, who stamps it. The voter places the ballot paper in the ballot box himself. If this is not possible because of a physical handicap, he may be assisted by another voter.
Voting at home is carried out in the same way as at the polling station of the voter's place of residence, except that the ballot paper is not stamped before being placed in the ballot box.
At polling stations away from the place of residence and in places of detention, hospitals, voters' residences or day-care centres, the voter folds up the ballot paper after completing it and puts it in an inner (smaller) envelope. In this way, the secrecy of the ballot is ensured, as the inner (smaller) envelope does not contain any voter information. To ensure that the voter's vote reaches the correct vote counting committee, the smaller envelope must in turn be placed in the larger envelope, which is printed with the voter's address If it is not possible to print the envelope, a member of the voting district committee or the voter themselves fills in the envelope in their own hand. The voter drops the enveloped ballot paper into the ballot box himself. If this is not possible because of a physical disability, another voter can help. The envelope is not stamped.