IFES Election Guide | Elections: Estonian Parliament 2019 General

At Stake in this Election:      

• 101 seats in the Parliament (Riigikogu)

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Kersti KALJULAID
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Jüri RATAS
• Assembly: Estonia has a unicameral Parliament (Riigikogu) with 101 seats.

Electoral System:

• In the Parliament (Riigikogu), 101 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.
• There are 12 multi-member constituencies with district magnitude ranging from 5 to 15 seats. There is a 5% threshold. Seats are allocated in three rounds. In the first round, seats are awarded to candidates who garner the same or more votes than the simple quota in their electoral districts. In the second round, seats are allocated using a traditional PR method. Party lists are awarded seats based on their share of the vote in the district, and candidates within the list receive seats in the order of how many votes they received. In the third round of counting, all remaining mandates are distributed between the national candidate lists with at least 5% of the national vote.

Main Parties in this Election:

• Party: Estonia Reform Party / Eesti Reformierakond
  • Leader: Kaja KALLAS
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 30
• Party: Estonia Centre Party / Eesti Keskerakond
  • Leader: Jüri RATAS
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 27
• Party: Social-Democratic Party / Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond (SDE)
  • Leader: Yevgeny OSSINOVSKI
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 15
• Party: Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica / Isamaa
  • Leader: Helir-Valdor SEEDER
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 14
• Party: Estonia Free Party / Eesti Vabaerakond
  • Leader: Kaul NURM
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 8
• Party: Conservative People’s Party / Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond (EKRE)
  • Leader: Mart HELME
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 7
• Party: Estonia 200 / Esti 200
  • Leader: Kristina KALLAS
  • Number of Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Richness of Life Party / Elurikkuse Erakond
  • Leader: Artur TALVIK
  • Number of Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Estonian Greens / Erakond Eestimaa Rohelised (EER)
  • Leader: Züleyxa IZMAILO
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Estonian United Left Party / Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei
  • Leader: Julia SOMMER
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 0
• Independents*
  • Number of Seats won in last election: 0

* 15 independent candidates are running in this election.

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 1,303,798 (2019 est.)
• Registered Voters: 887,420*

* Voters registered in Estonia in 2019. The number of domestic registered voters is typically used to calculate voter turnout.

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 691,810 (2019 est.)
• Is Estonia a signatory to CEDAW: No
• Has Estonia ratified CEDAW: Yes (21 October 1991)
• Gender Quota: No
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 28 (27.7%)
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 30
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low

Disability Data:

• Is Estonia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (25 Sep 2007)
• Has Estonia ratified CRPD: Yes (30 May 2012)
• Population with a disability: 189,813 (est.)