EU elections in Estonia kick off with technical difficulties for online voting

The European elections began on Monday in Estonia, with people voting in person and online amid technical problems with the online voting platform.

Estonians could vote for their representatives in the European Parliament three days before the official date of the European elections, which take place this week from 6 to 9 June.

Yet some voters were unable to cast their ballots online due to technical problems with the election website, the Estonian National Election Committee (RVK) said on Monday.

In comments to national broadcaster ERR, RVK chief Arne Koitmäe said that some web browsers had identified the special application needed to vote as malware and blocked its download.

“Anti-virus software is known to recognise this application. It is just a browser problem,” he said.

According to the Estonian national broadcaster, more than 12,700 votes had been cast online and almost 6,000 in person by 4.45 pm.

As Estonians head to the polls, incumbent Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Renew) is facing a drop in popularity due to public sector budget cuts and a widespread feeling among the population that Kallas is more focused on a possible future position in NATO or the EU than on domestic policy.

Kallas’ fall in the polls has benefited the Fatherland Party (EPP), which has been leading the polls for the past six months on rhetoric that goes against green initiatives while having a more critical attitude towards the construction of a costly Baltic-Polish railway, the Rail Baltica project.

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)

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