Läänemets made the highly criticized proposal last week. It would have given the Internal Security Service (ISS) the power to strike individuals deemed "undesirable" off the electoral roll.

On Monday, the SDE chairman said this part of the plan would be scrapped.

"It was not very successful. To make things clearer and simpler, we will replace that part of our proposal. In the bill, there is actually no suggestion [for ISS] to review the list. Since in Estonia, the ISS is responsible for national security, and other security agencies are also included in the draft, if someone has already been convicted — for example, for publicly burning the Estonian flag or vandalizing a monument — then a penalty has already been issued. For those who have received such a penalty, our [original] proposal was for the ISS or another security agency to submit that information to the registry," Läänemets told the "Terevisioon" morning show.

The minister clarified it would not be based on the security authorities' assessment but on information provided by others to the register.

"It might be reasonable to outline in the law the conditions that allow or disallow someone from registering as a voter. If you have desecrated a monument, it has been verified, and you have been penalized, then you cannot register as a voter if you are a citizen of a third country," Läänemets explained.

He said that the proposal's aim was to allow Russians or Belarusians living in the country with "a positive attitude towards Estonia" to keep their voting rights.

"For example, in a family where one parent is a Russian citizen, the other an Estonian citizen, and the child is also an Estonian citizen, if we were to revoke voting rights, we would be pushing that individual away from Estonia. They are more likely to be pro-Estonian. However, we have always supported the idea that those who are more pro-Putin should not vote in local elections. No one else has been able to propose a solution that fulfills both goals, and we have managed to do so," Läänemets told the show. 

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, several political parties have proposed blocking third-country citizens from voting in Estonian elections. The measure is aimed at citizens from countries hostile to Estonia, such as Russia and Belarus.

Some parties, such as SDE, argue not all citizens of these countries should lose their voting rights as many are supportive of Estonia.

There are approximately 83,500 Russian citizens living in Estonia, roughly a third of whom have participated in local elections in past years. They are more likely to vote in local election results in Tallinn and Ida-Viru County.

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