Observing of online voting

Before the elections of the Riigikogu, the State Electoral Office will offer a training course on the rules and procedures of online voting (electronic voting). The practical knowledge acquired at the training enables informed and purposeful observation of online voting on election day.

Both the training course and observation will take place only in Estonian.

Online voting training in the form of a seminar

On 14, 15 and 16 February 2023 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., training seminars will be held at the State Electoral Office as well as online. At the seminars, we will explain the technical details, procedures and security measures of online voting and answer the questions of observers.

First observation round of online voting

On 15 February 2023 at 10:00 a.m., a pair of encryption keys that will ensure the secrecy of voting will be created at the State Electoral Office. It will also be possible to observe the preparatory procedures for voting in the Riigikogu elections and the post-voting procedures, the exact dates of which will be communicated on an ongoing basis to those interested.

On 16 February 2023 at 10 a.m., a full check or test run of the online voting system will take place at the State Electoral Office.

It will be possible to take part in the test run online; a limited number of participants can attend in person.

Second observation round of online voting

On the election day, on 5 March 2023 at 3 p.m., the observers can observe the processing of online votes at the Conference Hall of the Riigikogu.

The counting of the online votes will start approximately at 8 p.m.

It will be possible to attend both procedures online; a limited number of participants can be present in person.

Third observation round of online voting

On the day after election day, on 6 March 2023 at 10 a.m., the election day procedures will be carried out again at the State Electoral Office. Internationally licensed auditors will also check the certificates of different electronic vote processing stages as well as the proof that the votes have been counted, and compare the results to the previous day.

Fourth observation round of online voting

In order to maintain the secrecy of the votes and prevent opening them in the future, both the ballot papers and the online votes are destroyed. This is done not earlier than one month after the resolution of the complaints. The observes may observe the destruction procedure of the online votes and of the keys used to open the votes, as well as the computer hard drive used for opening the votes.

Registration and safety requirements

If you wish to take part in the training and observe the elections, please register at [email protected] by 7 February 2023 at the latest.

Registered observers can participate in the training seminars. When creating pair of encryption keys, counting votes on Election Day and the day after Election Day, registration is not necessary for observers. The event is subject to the COVID-19 prevention measures in force at the time of the event. It is possible to observe all operations and participate in the training via the Internet.

 Observing in the polling place

Everyone has the right to observe the activities and procedures conducted by electoral committees and elections managers. Please provide your identification to the organisers before you start observation.