Presidential election in Estonia 2016

Kersti Kaljulaid was able to prevail in 2016 as a compromise candidate in the sixth ballot

The 2016 presidential election in Estonia took place from August 29th to October 3rd . The 46-year-old Kersti Kaljulaid was elected fourth President of the Republic of Estonia after regaining independence in 1991 . The term of office is five years.

Election 2016

The previous incumbent Toomas Hendrik Ilves could no longer run after two terms of office. His term of office ended on October 9, 2016.

Every citizen who has acquired Estonian citizenship by birth and has reached the age of 40 has the right to vote. The election takes place by secret ballot.

Electoral process

The electoral procedure is regulated in Section 79 of the Estonian Constitution and in the Law on the Election of the President (Vabariigi Presidendi valimise seadus) .

houses of Parliament

The right to vote initially lies with the 101 members of the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ) . The first ballot took place on August 29, 2016. Any Estonian citizen whose candidacy is supported by at least 21 MPs (one fifth of the legal membership) is eligible to run. Each MP can only support one candidate. The candidate is elected who can unite at least 68 votes (two-thirds majority). Each MP has one vote.

If no candidate can find the required majority in the first ballot, another ballot will take place in parliament the following day. New candidates can be nominated in the second ballot. A candidacy must be supported by 21 MPs. Whoever can get 68 votes in the second ballot is elected.

If no candidate receives the required majority in the second ballot, another ballot will take place in parliament on the same day. Candidates are the two people who got the most votes in the second ballot. In the third ballot, the candidate who receives 68 yes votes is elected.

If no candidate receives the required majority in the third ballot either , the right to vote is transferred to a special electoral assembly (valimiskogu) , which is only formed for the election of the President.

Electoral assembly

The electoral assembly met on September 24, 2016. It is convened by the President of Parliament. The electoral assembly has 335 members. It includes 101 members of parliament and 234 other members who are elected by the local authorities (cities and municipalities).

In the first ballot of the electoral assembly, the two candidates from the third parliamentary ballot stand for election. Additional candidates can also be nominated whose candidacy is supported by at least 21 members of the electoral assembly. The candidate who can collect more than 50% of the votes cast in the election meeting is elected.

If no candidate is chosen in the first ballot, a second ballot will take place on the same day. There, the two candidates who have received the most votes in the first ballot of the electoral assembly stand for election. Of both parties, the one who can collect more than 50% of the votes cast in the second ballot is elected.

If neither of the two candidates receives the number of votes required for the election, the right to vote again passes to parliament. It would meet for an election on October 3rd.

Candidates

Due to the complicated electoral process and difficult majority in parliament, the outcome of the presidential election was uncertain. Initially, no candidate in parliament was able to achieve a two-thirds majority (i.e. 68 votes in favor) in three ballots.

First ballot in Parliament (August 29, 2016)

For the first round in parliament, the liberal reform party ( Reformierakond ) and the social democrats had named the social democratic parliamentary president Eiki Nestor . Should Nestor not be elected, the parties wanted to support the former chairman of the reform party and former EU commissioner Siim Kallas in the next two rounds .

The largest opposition party, the Center Party ( Keskerakond ) , has nominated former Education Minister Mailis Reps . In June 2016, Reps was able to prevail in an internal party vote against their party leader, Tallinn's Lord Mayor Edgar Savisaar .

The former legal chancellor of the Republic of Estonia , Allar Jõks , stood for the conservative parties IRL and Eesti Vabaerakond .

In the first ballot, none of the three candidates received the necessary majority of votes. Therefore, a second ballot took place the following day. New candidates could be named for this.

candidate	Yes votes
Allar Jõks	25th
Eiki Nestor	40
Mailis Reps	26th
Invalid	8th

Second ballot in Parliament (August 30, 2016)

In the second ballot in parliament, no candidate received the required majority of 68 votes in favor. A third ballot took place in parliament on the same day. The two best placed in the second ballot stood for election.

candidate	Yes votes
Allar Jõks	21st
Siim Kallas	45
Mailis Reps	32
Invalid	1

Third ballot in Parliament (August 30, 2016)

In the third ballot, neither Siim Kallas nor Mailis Reps could bring the required number of MPs behind them. Therefore, the right to elect the president was now transferred to the electoral assembly.

candidate	Yes votes
Siim Kallas	42
Mailis Reps	26th
Invalid	30th

First ballot in the electoral assembly (September 24, 2016)

Siim Kallas and Mailis Reps were automatically set for the first ballot . Each further nomination required the support of at least 21 electorates. On September 9, the non-party Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand announced that she would resign from her current position and run for election. In addition, the conservative Allar Jõks and the right-wing populist Mart Helme ran in the first ballot .

In the first ballot, none of the candidates received the required majority. There was therefore a second ballot on the same day. In it the two best placed, Allar Jõks (83 votes) and Siim Kallas (81 votes) competed against each other. Mailis Reps received 79 votes, Marina Kaljurand received 75 votes and Mart Helme received 16 votes.

candidate	Yes votes
Allar Jõks	83
Mailis Reps	79
Marina Kaljurand	75
Mart helmets	16
Siim Kallas	81
Invalid	0

Second ballot in the electoral assembly (September 24, 2016)

In the second ballot neither of the two candidates was able to achieve the required majority of more than half of the electoral men and women who voted. Siim Kallas received 138 votes in favor, Allar Jõks received 134 votes. 60 votes were invalid.

candidate	Yes votes
Allar Jõks	134
Siim Kallas	138
Invalid	60

This means that the right to vote again passed to parliament. Both Siim Kallas and Allar Jõks announced that they would not run again.

Fourth ballot in Parliament (October 3, 2016)

On October 3rd the parliament met again for the presidential election. The Estonian representative at the European Court of Auditors , Kersti Kaljulaid , was nominated as the only candidate on the proposal of the Riigikogu Council of Elders .

In the secret ballot, Kersti Kaljuraid received 81 votes. She was elected the fourth president since Estonian regained independence. She takes office when she is sworn in before Parliament on October 10th.

Candidate	Yes votes
Kersti Kaljulaid	81
Invalid	17th

Web links

• The Estonian Electoral Commission website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ German translation of the constitutional text
2. ↑ Text version in English
3. ^ State Electoral Commission