How does Estonia's Riigikogu electoral system work?

With Estonia going to the polls to elect a new Riigikogu next month, it might be timely to look at how parties win seats.
Estonia uses a proportional representative (PR) system, as opposed to the first-past-the-post method used in, for instance, the U.K. and, again unlike Britain, multiple candidates from multiple parties per constituency, or electoral district, are elected, not just one.
What elections are taking place on March 5?
Estonia goes to the polls on March 5, 2023, to elect the 101 members of the XV composition of the country's unicameral legislature, the Riigikogu.
Riigikogu elections are held every four years, in early March. For more information on this, visit ERR News' 2023 elections overview FAQs here.
How many candidates can a voter select?
One. Voters are presented with a list of candidates running in the electoral district where they are registered to vote, and must pick one of these to successfully cast a vote.
Estonia does not use the single transferable system, whereby voters rank their favorite candidates in order of preference (as used in the U.K. for European elections, pre-Brexit), nor is there an option to vote against any candidate.
How is Estonia divided up electorally?
In the case of Riigikogu elections, Estonia is split into 12 numbered electoral districts (see map below) reflecting population distribution, in turn subdivided into voting sub-districts, or wards.
Tallinn has three electoral districts; Tartu is the only other city with its own electoral district.
Each electoral district carries a set number of mandates, ie. seats, which combined equate to 101 seats at the Riigikogu.

Online votes do not relate any electoral district, but are counted separately and added to the final tally.
How many seats are there per electoral district?
Between five and 13, depending on the population size of the district.
The chart below shows the distribution of mandates for each district, at the 2023 Riigikogu elections, which may differ from those of previous elections.

How many candidates can a party run in any district?
The number of mandates on offer, plus two. So for instance, in Pärnu County, since there are seven mandates awarded (see chart above), a party could run a maximum of nine candidates.
Parties are limited to 125 candidates nationwide, and most of the major parties meet this total, though for budget and other reasons, smaller parties may not do.
How many parties are running overall?
Nine parties had registered candidates as of the deadline January 19. These are (in English alphabetical order): Center Party (Keskerakond), Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), Eesti 200, Estonian Greens (Rohelised), Isamaa, Parempoolsed, Reform Party (Reformierakond), Social Democratic Party (SDE), United Left Party (EÜVP).
Add to this the 11 independent candidates.
How are results calculated?
Once the total vote has been counted, the votes are distributed across three categories, under the d'Hondt system of proportional representation (see below).
How many votes does a party or candidate require to win a seat or seats?
A minimum of 5 percent of the vote in an electoral district is needed to get ANY seats in that district. Poll below the 5 percent threshold, and the party goes home from that district empty-handed.
For this reason, party ratings surveys often mention which parties are close to or below the threshold level.
At the 2019 Rigiikogu elections, the Eesti 200 party narrowly missed out on seats by polling at 4.7 percent on average.
What is the d'Hondt system?
As applied to a Riigikogu election, the d'Hondt system involves the 101 mandates being divided into three categories.
The distribution of these three categories is not set in stone in advance, and depends on the number of votes cast and the number of eligible voters registered in that district, as well as the number of mandates the district carries. A rough guideline based on recent years' elections could be: Two-thirds District Mandates and the remainder split between Compensation Mandates and Personal Mandates, with somewhat more of the former than the latter.
For instance, at the 2019 Riigikogu election, the division was:
68 District Mandates,
20 Compensation Mandates,
13 Personal Mandates.
The Compensation Mandates are doled out based on the d'Hondt system of dividing votes up, of which more later.
What is a Personal Mandate?
A personal mandate is awarded to any candidate, including independents, who meets or exceeds a set quota of votes. This quota depends on the number of voters (not votes), and is decided by number of voters/number of mandates.
So for instance if a district has 10,000 eligible voters across five mandates, the quota will be 2000 votes (ie. 10,000/5). Every candidate who received at least 2000 votes in that district gets a personal mandate. Naturally, no candidate in a given district could obtain enough votes for a Personal Mandate, which brings us to the District Mandates...

What is a District Mandate?
District mandates are settled by dividing the total amount of votes a party has received, by that same quota, minus those who already won a personal mandate. These make up 66, or two-thirds, of the total 101 as noted.
What is a Compensation Mandate?
Compensation mandates are distributed based on votes received by a party nationwide rather than in that district, and are distributed to candidates who have not already won a seat.
Since excess votes for one candidate who has already won a seat are distributed to candidates in order, lower down a party list, who have not yet won a seat, many seats are won in this way, rather than by a candidate winning in their own right.
Simplified case study
Here is a very simplified version of how the system works:
Party A runs 14 candidates in District X, which has 12 mandates up for grabs (ie. 12+2).
Six of these 12 are District Mandates, four are Compensation Mandates and two are Personal Mandates.
Party A surpasses the 5 percent threshold, and receives 10,000 votes in the process.
The vote quota to gain a Personal Mandate in District X is set at 3,000 votes.
Of the 10,000 votes cast for Party A:
Candidate 1 wins 5,000 votes (as they exceed the 3,000 quota) and wins a personal mandate in their own right.
The bottom two candidates, 13 and 14, by votes on Party A's list, are eliminated.
The vote quota to gain a Personal Mandate in District X is set at 3,000 votes.
Situation with Party A after Personal Mandates distributed:
Candidate 1 – 5,000 votes. Clinches Personal Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 2 – 2,000 votes.
Candidate 3 – 1,000 votes.
Candidate 4 – 600 votes
Candidate 5 – 350 votes
Candidate 6 – 250 votes
Candidate 7 – 200 votes
Candidate 8 – 150 votes
Candidate 9 – 130 votes
Candidate 10 – 100 votes
Candidate 11 – 100 votes
Candidate 12 – 70 votes
Candidate 13 – 50 votes. Eliminated.
Candidate 14 – 0 votes. Eliminated.
So, Candidate 1 has won a seat, Candidates 13 and 14 are out.
Next come the District Mandates, which we achieve by dividing the total number of votes received (10,000) for party A by the quota (of 3,000) which gives us 3.3.
This is rounded down to 3, then the 1 mandate already won above is subtracted, giving 2 district mandates for party A.
The list now looks like this:
Candidate 1 – 5,000 votes. Clinches Personal Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 2 – 2,000 votes. Clinches District Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 3 – 1,000 votes. Clinches District Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 4 – 600 votes
Candidate 5 – 350 votes
Candidate 6 – 250 votes
Candidate 7 – 200 votes
Candidate 8 – 150 votes
Candidate 9 – 130 votes
Candidate 10 – 100 votes
Candidate 11 – 100 votes
Candidate 12 – 70 votes
Candidate 13 – 50 votes. Eliminated.
Candidate 14 – 0 votes. Eliminated.
Now come the Compensation Mandates. As noted above, these are distributed nationally.
While our simplified version only used one party, of course in reality there are multiple parties running in an election, and now we must bring a second party for comparison's sake and to demonstrate how the d'Hondt system works here.
There are four Compensation Mandates up for grabs for those running in District X.
Let's say our Party A won 300,000 votes nationally (including the 10,000 in District X), while Party B won 180,000 votes.
Under the d'Hondt system, these seats are distributed by being divided in turn by the number of mandates up for grabs, starting with 1, then 2, then 3 (in reality this divisor starts at 0.9 or thereabouts, we'll use a whole 1 for simplicity's sake.)
The seats are divided up in order of the ensuing quotient so:
Party A 300,000 / 1 = 300,000
Party B 180,000 / 1 = 180,000
Then divide (the same totals) by 2:
Party A 300,000 / 2 = 150,000
Party B 180,000 / 2 = 90,000
Then divide by 3
Party A 300,000 / 3 = 100,000
Party B 180,000 / 3 = 60,000
Finally, divide by 4
Party A 300,000 / 4 = 75,000
Party B 180,000 / 4 = 45,000.
Now rank these resulting quotients in order and give one seat to the party they relate to, until all four Compensation Mandates are doled out:
Quotient 300,000 - Party A: One seat
Quotient 180,000 – Party B: One seat
Quotient 150,000 – Party A: One seat
Quotient 100,000 – Party A: One seat
Quotient 90,000 Party B: -
Quotient 75,000 Party A: -
Quotient 60,000 Party B: -
Quotient 45,000 Party B: -
So, three Compensation Mandates, ie. seats, go to Party A, and one Compensation Mandate goes to Party B.
Now, Party A's list in District X looks like this:
Candidate 1 – 5,000 votes. Clinches Personal Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 2 – 2,000 votes. Clinches District Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 3 – 1,000 votes. Clinches District Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 4 – 600 votes. Clinches Compensation Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 5 – 350 votes. Clinches Compensation Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 6 – 250 votes. Clinches Compensation Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 7 – 200 votes
Candidate 8 – 150 votes
Candidate 9 – 130 votes
Candidate 10 – 100 votes
Candidate 11 – 100 votes
Candidate 12 – 70 votes
Candidate 13 – 50 votes. Eliminated.
Candidate 14 – 0 votes. Eliminated.
And that's how Party A wins six seats in District X!
How do parties run lists?
A political party is a registered legal entity, which requires a minimum of 500 members nationwide.
Most of the parties running filed their electoral lists during the week commencing January 16, the deadline was January 19 and the lists were confirmed by the State Electoral Office (RVT) a few days later.
Parties run their list in order, which works both to serve the party's strategy, and in terms of electoral regulations.
On the first point, parties will run what they perceive to be their most popular candidates at or near the top of a list, as a "vote magnet".
In the second, if a Riigikogu member vacates their seat (for instance due to being made a government minister), this seat is taken by the next candidate in order who had not yet won a seat.
Should the vacated MP return, that alternate candidate must then make way for them.

Can independents run?
Yes. There are 11 of these registered at the time of writing, for the March 5 Riigikogu election. Since they are not members of any party, the only way for an independent to clinch a seat is by winning a personal mandate (see above).
How does the system affect Estonian politics?
The consensus nature of Estonian politics as a whole is in part the result of the system generally leading to coalitions – that has been the case so far in an independent Estonia.
In more recent years, coalitions have been tripartite, though a bipartite coalition consisting of Reform and Center was in office January 2021-June 2022.
That brings us to another norm in the Estonian political cycle – coalitions do not survive through to the next general election four years later, and usually there will be one change of coalition, around mid-way through that point in time.
Since 2019 there have in fact been three coalitions in the one cycle, hence when the current Reform/Isamaa/SDE coalition entered office in July 2022, it was seen as a stop-gap to March 2023 even by its own participants (which does not necessarily mean the same lineup cannot return after the election, of course).
The coalition system means parties' pre-election promises and ideals are often smoothed off at the edges as they make compromises, while parties get stronger (or weaker) mandates than they had prior to an election, depending on how they fare at that election.
No party has ever won an outright majority (ie. 51 seats or more), and the number of seats has not exceeded the mid-30s for any party, in the past 20 years.
There were six parties in the XIII Rigiikogu (2015-2019), down to five at the XIV Riigikogu. Some pollsters are forecasting a return to six parties after March 5.
At the same time, the party which won the most seats is often declared to have "won" the election, though even this does not guarantee entry into office.
In 2019, while the Reform Party won the most seats at 36, it was unable to strike a deal with enough parties to get a majority of 51 or more, and remained in opposition for the meantime.

The d'Hondt system also lends itself to "vote magnets" being run at or near the top of lists, which tends to lead to a fairly "personality driven" look and feel, although the Rigiikogu elections tend to see less emphasis on this than the local or European elections.
What are the plusses and minuses of the current system?
The d'Hondt system is generally seen to favor smaller parties, at least in comparison with the first-past-the-post system used in, for example, the U.K.
The compensation mandates tend to work more towards the parties which garnered more votes.
While Riigikogu members are elected from nationwide districts, they do not represent their constituency in the way that MPs do, or are supposed to do, in the U.K. for instance.
At the same time, there is a complicated interlinking between national and local politics in Estonia; for instance, Riigikogu members are also permitted to hold local council seats.
Have there been any changes to the electoral system since 2019?
While some changes have been made to electoral regulations, including campaigning via outdoor advertising, and the relationship between the e-vote and paper vote, the d'Hondt system itself remains the same.
Changes have also been made to how voter turnout (which was around 63 percent in 2019) is calculated.
The last change to that system was made 20 years ago, relating to the number of votes required to get a district mandate.
Are the Riigikogu elections the only time the Estonian people get to cast a vote in Estonia?
No. In fact the Rigiikogu elections have the smallest franchise of any of Estonia's direct elections, being restricted to citizens only.
All EU citizens residing in Estonia can vote in the European elections held every five years, while all permanent residents of any nationality can vote at the local elections, making this the largest franchise.
The Constitution provides for extraordinary Riigikogu elections to be held aside from the regular four-year cycle, but this has not yet happened since Estonia won back its independence in 1991.
Estonia's presidents are not elected directly, but rather by Riigikogu ballot, in the first instance.
What happens after the Riigikogu election results are known?
Vote recounts are held, and appeals must be heard on electoral complaints. This process takes several days until the finalized result is formally confirmed.
The XV Riigikogu will in any case take up its seats. A date for this has not been formally announced yet, but in 2019 the Riigikogu convened for the first time about a month after the election. The preceding coalition remains provisionally in office during that time and is resolved when the Riigikogu takes up its seats.
The Riigikogu main hall seating plan is in alphabetical order by surname.
The process of coalition negotiations also begins right away (assuming it has not already begun behind closed doors prior to that), as parties try to agree on a lineup which has at least 51 seats, assuming all coalition MPs vote in favor of that agreement.
In 2019, nearly two months elapsed between polling day and the new coalition entering office. The changed security situation affecting the region may mean that the time-scale is shorter this time around.
Once a coalition deal has been signed and ministerial portfolios allocated, the government members take their oath before the head of state, at the Riigikogu.

Government ministers do not sit at the Riigikogu (though regularly appear there for question time, formal ceremony and other purposes), nor does the Riigikogu speaker (appointed later).
In this case, any MPs promoted to ministerial posts or to speaker vacate their seat, and the next MP on the ordered lists who had not won a seat, usually, but not always, from the same party, then takes their place.
For instance last year, after Jevgeni Ossinovski, a Social Democrat, left the Rigiikogu to take up his post as Tallinn City Council Chair, his seat was taken by Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart, who stated that she would sit with the Center Party's Riigikogu group.
Let's return to our Party A list (see above) and see how they could win some more seats as alternates.
Let's say the party then ends up in coalition, and Candidate 1 is made prime minister, Candidates 2-5 in the meantime are made ministers of, say, defense, environment, justice, culture and finance respectively.
This means they vacate their Riigikogu seats, which are then passed down to the next members on the list, which now looks like this:
Candidate 1 – Made prime minister, vacates seat.
Candidate 2 – Made defense minister, vacates seat.
Candidate 3 – Made environment minister, vacates seat.
Candidate 4 – Made culture minister, vacates seat.
Candidate 5 – Made justice minister, vacates seat.
Candidate 6 – 250 votes. Clinches Compensation Mandate, and wins a seat.
Candidate 7 – 200 votes. Takes Candidate 1's Riigikogu seat as alternate member.
Candidate 8 – 150 votes. Takes Candidate 2's Riigikogu seat as alternate member..
Candidate 9 – 130 votes. Takes Candidate 3's Riigikogu seat as alternate member.
Candidate 10 – 100 votes. Takes Candidate 4's Riigikogu seat as alternate member.
Candidate 11 – 100 votes Takes Candidate 5's Riigikogu seat as alternate member.
Candidate 12 – 70 votes
Candidate 13 – 50 votes. Eliminated.
Candidate 14 – 0 votes. Eliminated.
A good haul for Party A!
Should the original incumbent return to the Rigiikogu, for instance after ceasing to be a government minister for any reason, the alternate MP must make way for them. So if Candidate 3 above faces, and loses, a vote of no confidence as environment minister, he or she returns to the Riigikogu, and Candidate 9 above must make way for them and leave the Riigikogu.
On the other hand, as noted sitting MPs can also sit on a local council, ie. legislature (but not a local government, ie. executive), and around half of them do. In the case of Tallinn City Council this is quite convenient since the chamber is a walk down the hill from the Riigikogu and vice versa.
Estonia's seven MEPs may not sit at the Riigikogu, or in local councils/governments for that matter.
Represented parties are headed by a chief whip, also an MP.
MPs who leave their party while in office can remain with that party's group for voting purposes, or join another party's group. This happened in 2019 when Raimond Kaljulaid left the Center Party, and joined SDE's group.
More recently, former Isamaa MP Siim Kiisler joined the Parempoolsed party.
In the past, unpledged MPs sat in the "window seats", ie. moved from their original locations, and there were half-a-dozen of these towards the end of the XIII Riigikogu, but this practice has not been reported on with the XIV Riigikogu.
The composition of Riigikogu committees is also lined-up with the new Riigikogu. Representatives of each party sit on the committee, which is headed by a chair. The Foreign Affairs Committee, the National Defense Committee, and the Constitutional Affairs Committee are among the more frequently reported-on such bodies.
We hope this has been of some help. (Even) more detailed information on elections in Estonia is available from the State Electoral Office's site in English here. More information specifically on how district, personal and compensation mandate distribution is calculated is available from the same site, here.
The Riigikogu's website also contains a wealth of information in English, here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte