"Nearly 2.5 percent more voters cast have their ballot in three days compared to the 2019 European elections," said Arne Koitmäe, head of the State Electoral Office (RVK) to ERR on Thursday.

As of 4 p.m. on Thursday, 11.6 percent of voters, or 113,502 people, had cast a vote. Of those two-thirds did so online, and the remainder at the ballot box.

In 2019, turnout was 37.6 percent and 36.5 percent in 2014. Asked what it could be this year, Koitmäe said: "It's all speculative, but looking at these numbers and considering, that currently not all polling stations are open, then one would expect that the result of the last time will be surpassed."

However, he stressed that it is difficult to compare the current data of the previous election with the current one.

"These data are not strictly comparable because in 2019 the voting period was longer, starting on Thursday [of the previous week] and all polling stations opened only on Monday, while so far voting was possible only in 15 county centers," he said. "That's the difference. Then there was a very long voting period, Thursday to Sunday."

In both elections, advance voting and e-voting started on Monday morning. All polling stations will tomorrow (June 7). Online voting ends on Saturday evening at 8 p.m. On Sunday, it is only possible to cast a ballot at a polling station. After a change in the law, voters can visit any polling station.

"So in both cases, the main voting period is actually still to come, because while in 2019 all polling stations opened on Monday, this year all polling stations will open on Friday. And the electronic voting period for both 2019 and 2024 is still ongoing. And that's where a lot of the votes will come from," Koitmäe said.

He also said that, as in previous elections, it seems that the residents of Tallinn, Tartu and Harju County are participating in the elections more actively than average.

Asked about when people vote online, Koitmäe said the mornings are the busiest times. The second big jump is when e-voting is about to end.

"Otherwise, it varies throughout the day as usual, with more activity in the mornings and a certain uptick towards the evening. And in the past we have also seen that highly watched TV debates have caused momentary spikes in voting activity. So in that sense, voters are also responding to what is happening in general," he outlined.

Voters living abroad may reduce turnout rate

Koitmäe also said voters living abroad may reduce the total turnout rate. This is the first time this segment of people has been included in the overall result, which makes the total number of voters higher and can therefore lower the participation rate.

"The 94,000 voters are added largely because we now calculate turnout on the basis of all those on the electoral roll – voters living in Estonia and those permanently residing abroad are counted. But in 2019, turnout was only calculated for voters living in Estonia," he said.

Under the old methodology, turnout would be higher.

Although the possibility of e-voting has increased voting from abroad, only about a tenth of Estonian citizens living abroad participate in the elections, Koitmäe noted.

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