Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 3 March 2019. The newly elected 101 members of the 14th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. The Reform Party remained the largest party, gaining four seats for a total of 34 and the Conservative People's Party had the largest gain overall, increasing their seat count by 12 to a total of 19 seats.
The Centre Party's result fell below expectations after being polled in tight competition with the Reform Party right before the election. Isamaa and SDE both lost support. Estonia 200 finished at 4.4%, falling just short of the 5% threshold. The Free Party's vote share fell to just 1.2%, resulting in the party losing all 8 of the seats it won in 2015.
In January 2019, the National Electoral Committee announced that ten political parties and fourteen individual candidates had registered to take part in the 2019 parliamentary election. During the campaign period, issues discussed most extensively regarded income taxation and immigration. Individuals from contesting political parties also participated in multiple organised debates in January and February 2019.
The election had a record percentage of votes cast electronically over the Internet up to that point in time. Centre successfully negotiated with the Conservative People's Party (EKRE) and Isamaa afterwards, forming a second government headed by Ratas in April, becoming the first government ever to include EKRE.
Background Following the 2015 parliamentary election, the Reform Party started coalition talks with the Social Democrats, Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL) and the Free Party.Coalition consultations begin with four parties in attendance ERR, 6 March 2015 After nearly three weeks of negotiations, the Free Party left the coalition talks, mainly due to disagreements on taxation and state funding of parties.Coalition talks to continue between three parties, Free Party to go into opposition ERR, 23 March 2015 The three remaining parties, known as the Triple Alliance parties, signed the coalition treaty on 8 April 2015, and the cabinet took office on 9 April.
On 9 September 2016 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marina Kaljurand, announced her resignation to run independently in the 2016 Estonian presidential election. She had previously been the favourite for Reform Party nominee, but was eventually dropped in favour of Siim Kallas. Kaljurand later ran for the European Parliament on the list of the Social Democratic Party.
On 7 November 2016, the Social Democrats and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union announced that they were asking Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas to resign and were planning on negotiating a new majority government. The announcement came soon after the opposition had submitted a motion to express lack of confidence in Rõivas’ government. SDE and IRL proceeded to support the motion, leaving the Reform the only party to support Rõivas. Rõivas commented the situation by declining to resign and arguing that a democratically elected government should be only removed by a democratic vote. In the following vote of confidence on 9 November, the majority of Riigikogu voted in favor of removing the prime minister’s government. In the following coalition talks, the Centre Party, SDE and IRL formed a new coalition led by Centre Party's chairman Jüri Ratas. The new coalition was sworn in on 23 November, becoming the first time since 1999 the liberal centre-right Reform Party were out of the government.
On 6 December 2016, Minister of Rural Affairs, Martin Repinski, resigned due to massive media criticism of the questionable business practices of his goat farm. Centre Party decided to nominate Tarmo Tamm as his successor.
On 24 May 2017, Minister of Public Administration, Mihhail Korb, resigned, in the interests of the health of the coalition, after the scandal that erupted following his comment on his lack of support for Estonia's NATO membership. He was replaced with Jaak Aab. Aab himself resigned on 17 April 2018 after being caught by Police speeding (73 km/h in 50 km/h zone) and driving under the influence (blood alcohol level 0.28‰) and was replaced with Janek Mäggi, until then non-partisan public relations specialist.
On 7 April 2018, Minister of Health and Labour, Jevgeni Ossinovski, announced his intention to resign in order to focus on leading the Social Democratic Party in the March 2019 elections. He was replaced with Riina Sikkut.
On 6 May 2018, IRL changed its name to Isamaa.
Electoral system The 101 members of the Riigikogu are elected by proportional representation in twelve multi-member constituencies. Seats are allocated using a modified D'Hondt method. Parties have to pass a nationwide threshold of 5% to win seats. If the number of votes cast for an individual candidate exceeds or equals the simple quota in their constituency (obtained by dividing the number of valid votes cast in the electoral district by the number of seats in the district), they are deemed elected. The remaining seats are allocated based on each party's share of the vote and the number of votes received by individual candidates. Any seats not allocated at the constituency level are filled using a closed list presented by each party at the national level.
Estonian citizens who are at least 18 years old, are registered in the voting list, have not been declared incapacitated or convicted of a crime by a court, or are serving a prison sentence have the right to vote.
Seats by electoral district Electoral DistrictSeats 1Haabersti, Põhja-Tallinn and Kristiine districts in Tallinn 10 2Kesklinn, Lasnamäe and Pirita districts in Tallinn 13 3Mustamäe and Nõmme districts in Tallinn8 4Harju (excluding Tallinn) and Rapla counties15 5Hiiu, Lääne and Saare counties6 6Lääne-Viru county5 7Ida-Viru county7 8Järva and Viljandi counties7 9Jõgeva and Tartu counties (excluding Tartu)7 10City of Tartu8 11Võru, Valga and Põlva counties8 12Pärnu county7
Contesting parties
The Estonian National Electoral Committee announced that ten political parties and 14 individual candidates registered to take part in the 2019 parliamentary election. Their registration numbers and order were determined by a draw lot. NameIdeologyPolitical positionLeaderTotal candidates2015 resultVotes (%)SeatsFree PartyConservatismCentre-rightAndres Herkel1258.7%Reform PartyClassical liberalismCentre-rightKaja Kallas12527.7%GreensGreen politicsCentre-leftZüleyxa Izmailova1250.9%Social Democratic PartySocial democracyCentre-leftJevgeni Ossinovski12515.2%Biodiversity PartyGrassroots democracyCentreCollective leadership73did not existConservative People's PartyRight-wing populismRight-wing to far-rightMart Helme1258.1%Estonia 200LiberalismCentreKristina Kallas125did not existCentre PartyPlurinationalismCentre-leftJüri Ratas12524.8%United Left PartyRussian minority politicsLeft-wingJulia Sommer110.1%IsamaaNational conservatismCentre-right to right-wingHelir-Valdor Seeder12513.7%Individual candidates—14did not exist
Campaign
Restrictions on advertisements From January 23, 2019 until election day on March 3, it was prohibited to advertise an individual candidate, political party, or a person running on a party list, or their logo or other distinguishing mark or program on the inside or outside of a building, facility, public transport vehicle, or taxi, as well as other outdoor political advertising. Political posters and billboards that were located inside premises open to the public (for example, in the premises of a store, theater, cinema, etc.) and that were not placed facing the window towards the outside were not considered outdoor advertising.Politsei praktika seoses valimiskampaaniatega. Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet A name, photo or a logo on a vehicle or trailer were not considered outdoor political advertising but during the ban period, the vehicle could not have a candidate's number or a direct call to vote for them or anyone else.Politsei tuvastas eile seoses valimisreklaamiga kaks rikkumist. Delfi, 24.01.2019 On election day, active election campaigning was prohibited everywhere, including on television and radio. Any kind of political agitation was prohibited in the polling station and in the rooms to be passed through when entering it. The organization of public opinion polls was allowed both during the election period and on election day.Valimisagitatsioon ja küsitlused
Initiatives to improve campaign quality The initiative „Kust sa tead?“ ("How do you know?") called for the use of science-based argumentation in the election campaign with the aim of highlighting the importance of proving politicians' claims. Among others, several universities and research centers joined the initiative, and its patrons were Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise and Milrem Research Director Mart Noorma. The website of the event www.kussatead.ee was used gather notes about cases where politicians' statements were not based on facts, evidence or science-based arguments.Algatus „Kust sa tead?“ pakub teaduspõhiseks aruteluks tugipunkti. Sirp, 09.01.2019Algatus „Kust sa tead?” soovitab poliitikutelt küsida, millel nende väited tuginevad . Eesti Teadusagentuur, 09.08.2018"Kust sa tead?" koduleht
Vabaühenduste Union (Union of Non-Governmental Organizations) called on the candidates to "follow good electoral practice so that the campaigns are meaningful and ethical and help the voter make a wise decision". Behavior in accordance with good electoral practice was monitored by volunteers called "election guards". Their evaluations of the campaign were shared via Facebook and ERR.Valimiste valvurid At the same time, all people were expected to note any possible use of unfair campaign techniques.Valimiste valvurid kutsuvad ebaausatest kampaaniavõtteist teada andma. Delfi, 22.01.2019
Electoral compasses ERR, Delfi and PostimeesPostimehe hääleandja developed general electoral compasses designed to help a voter determine the degree to which his or her views resemble those of various parties and candidates. ERR's electoral compass "Valijakompass" (electoral compass) was prepared in cooperation with the Johan Skytte Institute for Political Studies of the University of Tartu, according to whose director Mihkel Solvak, the statements contained in the compass were chosen in such a way that they cover as many controversial issues as possible, formulating them in a way that forces people to take a clear position. The representatives of the political parties involved in the project also gave their party's position for each statement, which compass users can take a closer look at.ERR.ee avas oma valijakompassi. ERR, 01.02.2019
Political scientists from Tallinn University participated in the creation of the Delfi election compass "valimismootor" (electoral engine), who searched for the main election topics from the parties' programs that unite or divide the political forces running for the Riigikogu, and developed 20 election questions based on them.DELFI VALIMISMOOTOR | Millise erakonna seisukohtadega sinu mõtted enam kattuvad?. Delfi, 29.01.2019 Only political parties which were assessed as capable of crossing the election threshold and at least theoretically participating in the formation of the government were included in the election engine. The Free Party criticized Delfi's electoral compass for excluding several parties, including themselves, Greens and the Biodiversity Party. Andres Herkel, a former leader of the Free Party, claimed that Delfi's editorial team manipulated the public and created the impression that the three political parties did not exist.Vabaerakond solvus, kuna nad jäeti veebiväljaande valimismootorist välja. Postimees, 29.01.2019