Persons in custody active in using right to vote in local govt elections
As of Monday, there were 441 persons held in custody in Estonian prisons and police houses of detention, many of whom used the right to vote in the local government council elections, the daily Postimees wrote.
As of the beginning of the week, there were 238 detained persons and persons held in custody in Tallinn Prison, 102 in Tartu Prison, 81 in Viru Prison and 20 in police detention centers all over Estonia.
In Tallinn Prison and detention center, located in the rural municipality of Rae, altogether 136 people or over half of the persons held in custody cast their votes. Voting activity was quite high also in Tartu Prison, where 52 persons in custody voted. "The list of those wishing to vote in Tartu Prison was initially significantly longer, but many prisoners abandoned their wish to vote," Jüri Mölder, chairman of the electoral committee of the city of Tartu, said.
No applications to vote were received from the Narva detention center. No applications were submitted also by persons in custody in Viljandi and Rakvere. One person in the Pärnu police detention center expressed a wish to vote, but it was determined that the person was not on the list of voters and therefore could not vote.
In prisons, arrested persons under pre-trial investigation as well as detained persons who have reached the age of 16 by election day and whose residence is entered in the population register can vote. Once the conviction and imprisonment have taken effect, the person can no longer vote.
According to the National Electoral Committee, no complaints have been received from prisoners this year about their right to vote.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski