The city government confirmed the number at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

Forty-three polling stations will be opened in the capital in October, with one additional station at the voter's location (home voting). At last year's European Parliament elections, there were 77 polling stations.

The number of votes is expected to fall significantly after third-country residents were stripped of their voting rights by the Riigikogu. However, the amendment still has to be promulgated by the president.

This time, voter preferences for voting in shopping centers, better accessibility, and previous turnout were taken into account. Stations with fewer than 600 voters will be merged with others.

Tallinn City Secretary and Election Committee Chair Priit Lello said the reduction is based on analysis.

"We analyzed turnout statistics from the elections held in 2021, 2023, and 2024, and based on that, we adjusted the number of polling stations. We decided to merge those where the number of voters remained below 600 in at least two elections or where the distance between stations was less than one kilometer. Preference was given to stations with better accessibility, suitable for wheelchair users, people with strollers, and easily reachable by car and public transport," he said.

Polling stations will close in all districts of the capital. The biggest loser is Lasnamäe, which has the highest number of foreign residents, which will have eight fewer, followed by Põhja-Tallinn (5) and Nõmme (4). 

Center Party chairman criticizes reduction

Former mayor of Tallinn and Center Party Chairman Mihhail Kõlvart criticized the reduction, saying it makes it harder for people to vote in person, rather than online.

"And these people are not some small minority, in the last local elections, the share of paper ballot voters was still over half (53.1 percent)! In the most recent European Parliament elections, 58.3 percent of people preferred to vote at polling stations," Kõlvart wrote in an online comment.

"Among them are elderly voters who cannot participate in e-voting and for whom the closure of a nearby polling station may mean being excluded from voting altogether. But among them are also younger voters who, for various reasons, either do not want to or do not trust e-voting," he continued.

The chairman also suggested the distribution was unfair. For example, there will only be four polling stations in Haabersti, which has over 51,000 residents, but six in Nõmme, with a population of around 37,000.

Kõlvart said voting at a polling station is a democratic right that must be guaranteed to all individuals.

He believes SDE, Reform, Eesti 200, and Isamaa are sending a message to these voters that they are not welcome at the elections and that their voices are not wanted.

"The ruling coalition already knows what kind of evaluation the voters will give them based on their performance so far and is trying to skew the election results in their favor using administrative force," said the Center Party chair.

Center has traditionally had strong support from third country voters, mostly from the Russian majority. The party may well be significantly affected at the local elections. Kõlvart usually stands for election in Lasnamäe.

Elections scheduled for October 19

Polling stations will be open from October 13-19.

At the last local election in 2021, during the pandemic, Tallinn opened more than 90 polling stations to allow for social distancing.

Electronic voting remains highly popular in all elections, and this year it will be possible to vote using Mobile-ID and Smart-ID.

In the previous local elections, Tallinn had 353,360 registered voters, 54.4 percent of whom participated in the election.

This article was updated to add comments from Mihhail Kõlvart.

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