Organisation : Estonian National Electoral Committee
Facility : Advance Voting
Country : Estonia
Advance Voting : http://vvk.ee/voting-methods-in-estonia/voting-in-advance/
Home Page : http://vvk.ee/
Advance Voting :
** In Estonia, the election acts and the Referendum Act provide for several possibilities to vote before the election day.
** You must consider in good time whether it is possible for you to vote at the voting district of your residence on the election day.
** If not, you can choose between a number of advance voting options.
** At the Riigikogu and the European Parliament elections as well as at referendums, the first voting opportunity comes up for Estonian citizens in foreign countries.
** You can vote abroad by post or in the foreign mission on certain dates.
** From 10th to 7th day before election day at least one polling place will be open in every county centre where all voters can vote regardless of their voting district of residence.
** The polling places are open from 12 noon antil 8 p.m.
** Electronic voting starts on the 10th day before the election day at 9 a.m and will continue until 4th day before election day 6 p.m (Wednesday).
** All polling places will be opened on the 6th day before the election day (i.e. on Monday of the week preceding the elections) until the 4th day before election day (Wednesday).
** Polling places are open from 12 noon until 8 p.m.
** There is no voting on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the election day.
** All voting options are described on the voter card which is sent to every voter.
** If you have not received your voter card 15 days before the election day at the latest, it is very important to contact your rural municipality or city government (district administration in Tallinn).
** Failure to receive the card may mean that your name is not on the list of voters.
** Advance Voting in Voting District of Residence
** During the advance voting days, it is very easy to vote in the voting district of your residence.
** All polling places are open for advance voting from the sixth day until the third day before the election day, i.e. from Monday till Wednesday of the week preceding the election day.
** You can vote from 12 noon until 8 p.m.
** You must bring an identity document with you to the polling place.
** An identity document is a document issued by a state agency which carries the name, the date of birth or personal identification code, a photograph or facial image and the signature or image of signature of the holder.
Identity documents include:
** ID-Card,
** Estonian passport,
** diplomatic passport,
** seafarer’s discharge book,
** driver’s licence,
** pension certificate.
** Everyone votes for themselves and it is not possible to authorise someone else to vote on your behalf.
** Your voter card will give you the location of the polling place.
** You do not have to bring the voter card to the polling place.
** During the advance voting in the voting district of your residence, all voting activities are carried out like on the election day.
** You must present your identity document to the members of the committee.
** The voter signs the list of voters against the receipt of the ballot paper.
** A ballot paper is filled out in the voting booth, which has the list of candidates on the wall.
** You must write the registration number of the candidate for whom you vote for on the ballot paper.
** At a referendum, the ballot paper includes the question or the name of the draft legislation put to the vote and two boxes for Yes and No, and you must mark the box you prefer with a cross or any other comprehensible mark.
** After completing the ballot paper, the voter folds the ballot paper and hands it to a member of the voting district committee who affixes a seal to the outside of the folded paper.
** You then deposit the ballot paper in the ballot box.
** If you spoil the ballot paper, you have the right to be given a new ballot paper by the voting district committee.
** The spoiled ballot paper must be returned to the district committee.
** If you have already marked your decision on the ballot paper, you must cross it out before returning the paper to the division committee, in a way as to render the choice illegible.
** The ballot paper must not be taken out of the polling place.
Voting Outside the Voting District of Residence :
** If you are away from your residence on the election week, you have the possibility to vote outside your voting district of residence.
** From 10th to 7th day before election day at least one polling place will be open in every county centre where all voters can vote regardless of their voting district of residence.
** Every rural municipality and city has at least one polling place open for voters voting outside the voting district of their residence on 6th to 4th day before Election Day.
** Information on such polling places is published on the website of the National Electoral Committee
** You can vote from 12 noon to 8 p.m.
** A voter must bring along their identity document.
** You must know what address the population register lists as your place of residence because the ballot paper will be sent in an envelope to the voting district according to the address you specified.
** Your data is entered in the list of voters upon the presentation of your identity document.
** The voter signs the list of voters voting outside the voting district of their residence against the receipt of a ballot paper.
** A member of the voting district committee gives you a ballot paper and two envelopes.
** At the Riigikogu and local government council elections, the voting division committee gives you a copy of the consolidated list of candidates in your electoral district of residence, which must be returned to the district committee after the voting.
** Ballot papers are filled in a voting booth.
** After filling in your ballot paper, you must enclose it in the internal (smaller) envelope given to you by a member of the division committee, and then enclose that in the outer (bigger) envelope.
** You or a member of the voting district committee writes your name, personal identification code and address as registered in the population register as of 30 days before the election day on the outer envelope.
** You must deposit the envelope in the ballot box intended for the ballot papers of voters voting outside the voting district of their residence.
** At the Riigikogu and the European Parliament elections and referendums, the polling places organising the voting outside of voting district of residence are open during the advance voting to Estonian citizens who are staying in Estonia but reside permanently abroad.
Advance Voting Outside the polling place, at your location :
** If you are not staying in your residence and are unable to vote at a voting district due to your state of health or for another good reason, you may submit a written application to vote at your location (e.g. in hospital, nursing home, your residence which is not registered as your place of residence in the population register, etc).
** For voters voting outside their voting district of residence, the polling places are also only open from the sixth day until the third day before the election day, i.e. from Monday till Wednesday of the week preceding the election day.
** You need an identity document to vote. You must also know what address the population register lists as your place of residence because the ballot paper will be sent in an envelope to the voting district committee of your residence.
** In order to vote at your location, you must submit a written application to the nearest voting district committee or rural municipality or city government (in Tallinn, district administration) organising the advance voting outside the voting district of residence by 2 p.m. on the last day of advance voting.
The application has to state the reason for voting at your location, such as:
** state of health,
** advanced age,
** difficult road conditions,
** lack of transport.
** If the voting district committee considers the application to be unjustified, it will inform you of the reasons to deny your application.
** The voting is organised by at least two members of the division committee who arrive at your location.
** Your data will be entered in the list of voters upon the presentation of your identity document.
** A member of the voting district committee gives you a ballot paper, two envelopes and a copy of the consolidated list of candidates in your electoral district of residence, which must be returned to the voting district committee after the voting.
** You must sign the list of voters voting outside the voting district of their residence against the receipt of a ballot paper.
** After filling in the ballot paper, you must enclose it in the internal (smaller) envelope given to you by a member of the district committee, and then enclose that in the outer (bigger) envelope.
** You or a member of the district committee must write your name, personal identification code and address as registered in the population register as of 30 days before the election day on the outer envelope.
** You must deposit the ballot paper enclosed in two envelopes in the ballot box prescribed for the ballot papers of voters voting outside the voting district of their residence.
** Voting for persons eligible to vote staying in custodial institutions but not serving a prison sentence is organised in a way similar to voting at one’s location.
** The application for organising a voting in a custodial institution is presented by the administration of the custodial institution.
** Voting at one’s location must not be confused with voting at home on the election day, because voting at one’s location takes place during the advance voting while voting at home only takes place on the election day.