Vice-President of Estonian parliament requests an opinion regarding online voting from OSCE in cooperation with the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives

Press release of the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives, 17 September 2024

Vice-President of the Riigikogu Mr. Arvo Aller from the EKRE party has turned to OSCE with a request for an opinion on the safety of Estonian online voting. The text of the request was prepared by Andres Aule, board member of the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives party, and it concentrates on six major issues with online voting in Estonia, asking for an opinion on whether it is justified and safe to continue using the online voting system as a whole even with its current shortcomings. Mr. Aller has also asked OSCE to consider the option of involving the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) in providing the opinion.

Since in Estonia, an opinion from the Venice Commission could be requested only by national authorities, the text of the request was under discussion in the Constitutional Committee of the parliament on 10 September. The Committee decided to refer the text as a draft to be discussed by the Riigikogu on 17 September. However, it was apparent from the discussion in the Constitutional Committee that the coalition was unlikely to want the draft to be adopted. Since Alar Laneman, an ex-EKRE MP, who recently joined the Reform party in the coalition, removed his signature from the draft on 13 September, the draft was excluded from the parliamentary process due to an insufficient number of signatures. By presenting the request to OSCE by himself, Mr. Aller has taken a step needed in the interests of democracy to seek an impartial opinion from international experts.

Andres Aule (Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives), who prepared the text of the request, sees this as a positive development: ‘On 26 August in Warsaw, Poland, with Jaak Valge, who is also a member of the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives, we received confirmation from the experts of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights that a request for the opionion of OSCE on online voting in Estonia can also be submitted by a Vice-President of the national parliament, who can also ask OSCE to invite the Venice Commission to provide an opinion. We let Mr. Aller know about this and I am glad that he has made use of the opportunity proposed by the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives.’

The Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives party welcomes the cooperation with the EKRE party and hopes that it will continue fruitfully.