VIDEO: How online voting in Estonia works

Watch the short video below for a quick overview of how online voting works in Estonia.

The 2007 Estonian Parliamentary elections saw a ‘world premiere‘ of the first time an electorate could vote over the internet in elections of a national parliament.

The number of online votes cast in in 2007 was 30,243 out of a total of 550,213.  This amounted to 5.4% of the total number of votes being cast via the internet.  The percentage of online votes cast by voters aged 24 and under was 11% with the smallest percentage coming from the 55 to 59 age category with 6%.  The turnout in the election was 62% of the population.

In 2011, the number of online votes cast was almost five times larger than in 2007 with a total of 140,764 out of 580,264 votes cast via the internet.  This amounted to 24.3% of the total number of votes.  The percentage of online votes cast by voters aged 24 and under was 9%.  The turnout in comparison to the 2007 elections had increased by 1.5% with a turnout of 63.5%.

In 2007, it was estimated that 63% of the Estonian population use the internet, with 53% of households having a computer, and with every school having an internet connection.

Preconditions to online voting included a ‘high e-readiness of the Estonian population‘.  Voting was conducted using electronic ID cards and a legislative basis was created by the Estonian Parliament in 2002.

Statistics about online voting in Estonia can be found here.