Where and when to vote
There are three places to vote: online, at polling stations, or at home if your health doesn’t allow you to leave the house. Each of the options comes with its own rules and dates.
Electronic voting
You can vote online from Thursday Oct. 5 at 9 a.m. to Wednesday Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.
You can’t vote online after that, including election day.
If you miss Oct. 11 and still want to vote, you have to go to a polling station and fill in your ballot paper on election day, Oct. 15.
You can vote online through valimised.ee, where you can also find additional information about the 2017 local elections.
IMPORTANT: The app you need to vote online is available in Estonian only. Follow this link for ERR News' step-by-step explanation.
Advance voting at polling stations
From Oct. 5 to Oct. 8 you can vote at any of the county administrations. These polling stations are open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on these dates wherever a county’s administration (maavalitsus) is located. You can find a list of addresses by county here.
You don’t need to be registered in any particular county to do this. If you live in Tallinn but you are spending the week in Saaremaa, you can go and vote in Kuressaare.
This changes on Oct. 9. If you want to vote between Monday Oct. 9 and Wednesday Oct. 11, you will have to do so at a specific polling station in your local voting district. Polling stations are open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and usually located either at a school or local cultural center. You can find your polling station by entering your address in this map. The polling station’s address is also specified on your polling card.
There is no voting on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before election day.
Voting on election day
On election day you can only vote in your local voting district and at the polling station specified on your polling card (see above). Polling stations are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day.
You can vote at home on election day if your health doesn’t allow you to leave the house. This requires a special application to be submitted to your voting district, municipality, or city district’s administration no later than 2 p.m. on election day.
Means of identification accepted by polling stations
You need a valid document to confirm your identity. You do not need to take along or print off your polling card.
Accepted personal documents include:
- ID card
- Driver’s licence
- Estonian passport
- Diplomatic passport
- Seafarer’s discharge book
- Pension certificate
In Estonia, everyone votes for themselves. You can’t authorize someone else to vote on your behalf.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
