President Kersti Kaljulaid signed into action the go ahead for the general election in Estonia, due on 3 March 2019. Whilst the date of 3 March has long been talked about, according to § 78 (3) of the Estonian constitution, the president ”calls regular elections of the Riigikogu..” (official English translation), so the move was necessary to make the date official. The deadline for so doing was Sunday, 2 December. Ms Kaljulaid also made a speech at an event in the eastern Estonian town of Jõhvi, giving practical advice and setting out her views on the importance of democratic behaviour.
“As important as it is to help those in need, one’s community and society, as is being done by those being recognised today and tens of thousands of other fine volunteers, it is also important come together as citizens to ballot boxes every four years – be it at a local polling station or a personal computer at home, the option of which has been available for one and a half decades already – and decide how to proceed with our country,” the president said, speaking at the city’s concert hall, where the work of volunteers involved in the electoral process was recognised.
In addition to voting on the day at a polling station, and the now-famous online voting, other options include advance distance voting in an electoral district other than the voter’s home registered location (the ballot paper is securely delivered to the home district in that case) and voting at Estonian diplomatic missions worldwide for the many Estonian citizens living outside the country.
Full Article: President formally green lights election, advises level-headed voting | News | ERR.
