Gallery: Presidential election 2021 second round of voting
The second round of voting in the Estonian presidential election is underway and should end at 1 p.m. Riigikogu members are voting for or against the only candidate director of the Estonian National Museum Alar Karis.
Karis did not get the required 68 votes in the first round on Monday, missing the target by five ballots.
Karis was nominated by the Center and Reform parties who have 59 votes between them. Today Isamaa and the Social Democratic Parties, with 12 and 11 votes respectively, have said they will vote for Karis today. EKRE members will not vote as they want to elect their own candidate.
If Karis has not been elected a third round will take place at 4 p.m.
You can watch ERR's voting and results show here from 12 noon (in Estonian).
Protest by EKRE MP delays vote count in presidential election
The counting of the votes was delayed after MP Kalle Grünthal, a member of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE), lodged a protest.
Grünthal argued that when Center Party MP Marika Tuus-Laul took part in the vote while seated in a car outside the Riigikogu building, the member of the electoral committee was too close to her and could therefore influence Tuus-Laul's decision.
The Center Party MP is allowed to vote from a car in an outdoor area of the parliament's compound for health reasons. She also voted the same way yesterday.
The speaker of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas (Center) asked the EKRE MP to submit the protest in writing and announced a 30-minute break.
Proceedings will restart at 2 p.m. The National Electoral Committee rejected the protest.
Editor's note: This article was updated to add information about the delay to vote counting.
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Editor: Helen Wright
