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Estonia elects alegislature on the national level. According to the current (1992)Constitution of Estonia, the parliament (Riigikogu) has 101 members, elected for a four-year term byproportional representation with a 5%electoral threshold. Ahead of state – thepresident – is elected for a five-year term by parliament (1st–3rd round, 7th or subsequent rounds) or anelectoral college (4th–6th round). Locally, Estonia elects local government councils, which vary in size. Election law states the minimum size of a council depending on the size ofmunicipality. Local government councils are elected by proportional representation too.
Estonia has amulti-party system with numerousparties. At the national level, no one party has ever gained the simple majority in order to govern alone. Political parties have had to negotiate with each other in order to formcoalition governments.
Direct elections have taken place in the following years:
Residents without Estonian citizenship may not elect theRiigikogu (the national parliament). Residents without citizenship of any European Union member state may not elect theEuropean Parliament nor municipal councils.
Foreign citizens were eligible to vote in the local (municipal) elections in Estonia up until 2025, last eligible elections being2021 municipal elections. Stateless residents, or so-called “non-citizens” holdingEstonian alien's passport are eligible to vote up until2025 municipal elections, but not after.[4]
Electronic voting is based on theEstonian ID card. Every voter has the right to verify and change their vote electronically. If the voter has also voted with a ballot paper, then only the ballot paper will be taken into account.[5][6][7][8]
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| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
| Estonian Reform Party | 190,632 | 31.24 | +2.31 | 37 | +3 | |
| Conservative People's Party of Estonia | 97,966 | 16.05 | −1.71 | 17 | −2 | |
| Estonian Centre Party | 93,254 | 15.28 | −7.82 | 16 | −10 | |
| Estonia 200 | 81,329 | 13.33 | +8.97 | 14 | +14 | |
| Social Democratic Party | 56,584 | 9.27 | −0.56 | 9 | −1 | |
| Isamaa | 50,118 | 8.21 | −3.23 | 8 | −4 | |
| Estonian United Left Party | 14,605 | 2.39 | +2.30 | 0 | 0 | |
| Parempoolsed | 14,037 | 2.30 | New | 0 | New | |
| Estonian Greens | 5,886 | 0.96 | −0.86 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 5,888 | 0.96 | +0.68 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 610,299 | 100.00 | – | 101 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 610,299 | 99.43 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 3,502 | 0.57 | ||||
| Total votes | 613,801 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 966,129 | 63.53 | ||||
| Source: National Electoral Committee[9] | ||||||
TheConstitution of Estonia gives theParliament of Estonia the power to submit a bill or other national issue to a referendum (article 105 of the Constitution[10]). The result of the vote is binding. If a bill which is submitted to a referendum does not receive a majority of votes in favour, the President of the Republic shall declare extraordinary elections to the Parliament.
There are some issues which cannot be submitted to the referendum: issues regarding the budget, taxation, financial obligations of the state, ratification and denunciation of international treaties, the declaration or termination of a state of emergency, or national defence (article 105 of the Constitution[10]).
Some parts of the Constitution (chapters "General Provisions" and "Amendment of the Constitution") can be amended only by a referendum (article 162 of the Constitution[10]). The rest of Constitution can be amended either by
A three-fifths majority of the membership of the Parliament is required to submit a bill to amend the Constitution to a referendum (article 164 of the Constitution[10]).
