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Election guide

Riigikogu elections on 7 March 2027: dates, parties and how to vote

By Fadrique Garcia Font · Reviewed on 13.10.2026

Everything practical about the elections to the Estonian parliament on one page: the official timetable, who can vote, how to vote online and at a polling station, and how the seats are allocated. Official sources are listed at the end. This page will be updated when the nomination of candidates closes on 21 January 2027.

The essentials

  • Election day: Sunday 7 March 2027, 9:00 to 20:00.
  • Internet voting: from Monday 1 March at 9:00 to Saturday 6 March at 20:00. In 2023, 51% of votes were cast this way.
  • What is elected: the 101 members of the Riigikogu, the Estonian parliament, for four years.
  • Who votes: only Estonian citizens aged 18 or over (about 966,000 in 2023). People living in Estonia with another citizenship or with no citizenship do not vote in these elections.
  • Polls: they can be published until the last day: Estonia has no pre-election silence period and no ban on publishing polls.

Election timetable

Official timetable of the 2027 Riigikogu elections
Date What happens
by 6 December 2026 The President of the Republic calls the elections.
7 December 2026 Last day for a new party to be entered in the register in order to run.
by 6 January 2027 The National Electoral Committee allocates the 101 seats among the 12 districts according to the number of voters.
21 January 2027, 18:00 Nomination of candidates by parties and of independent candidates closes.
26 January 2027 Candidates are registered: the final lists are known.
5 February 2027 Last day to apply in writing to an Estonian embassy to vote by post from abroad.
20–25 February Voting at embassies and consulates.
1–6 March Internet voting, from 9:00 on 1 March to 20:00 on 6 March.
1–4 March Advance voting from 12:00 to 20:00 at one or more polling stations in every municipality, also for voters from other districts.
5 and 6 March Advance voting from 12:00 to 20:00 at all polling stations.
7 March Election day, 9:00 to 20:00. Until 20:00 an internet vote can be cancelled by voting on paper.

Source: official timetable of the National Electoral Committee (valimised.ee) and the Riigikogu Election Act.

What is elected: 101 seats in 12 districts

The Riigikogu has 101 members, elected for four years in 12 electoral districts: three in Tallinn, one covering the rest of Harju County and Rapla County, one for the city of Tartu, and the others covering one or more counties. The National Electoral Committee allocates the seats among the districts according to the number of voters; the 2027 allocation will be known by 6 January. The table shows the 2023 allocation.

The 12 Riigikogu electoral districts and their seats in 2023
No. District Seats in 2023
1 Tallinn: Haabersti, Põhja-Tallinn and Kristiine 10
2 Tallinn: Kesklinn, Lasnamäe and Pirita 13
3 Tallinn: Mustamäe and Nõmme 8
4 Harju County (excluding Tallinn) and Rapla County 16
5 Hiiu, Lääne and Saare counties 6
6 Lääne-Viru County 5
7 Ida-Viru County 6
8 Järva and Viljandi counties 7
9 Jõgeva and Tartu counties (excluding the city of Tartu) 7
10 City of Tartu 8
11 Võru, Valga and Põlva counties 8
12 Pärnu County 7
Total 101

A district’s seats are not guaranteed to it: seats not filled by the district’s own candidates go into the national allocation. In 2023 Ida-Viru County had 6 seats and 3 candidates from there were elected.

You vote for a person: how the seats are allocated

On the ballot paper you write the number of a candidate from the district where you live; online you choose from the list. There is no “party-only” vote: a vote for a candidate counts both for them and for their party. Each candidate runs in a single district. The seats are allocated in three steps:

  1. Personal mandate. A candidate who alone gathers the votes for one seat in their district (the district’s valid votes divided by its seats) is elected, even if their party does not reach 5%.
  2. District mandates. Parties with at least 5% of the votes nationwide get one seat in each district for every full quota their candidates gather together, plus one more if the remainder reaches 75% of the quota. The seats go to their candidates with the most votes.
  3. Compensation mandates. The remaining seats are allocated nationally among the parties with at least 5%, using a modified D’Hondt method, and go to candidates in the order of each party’s national list.

In 2023, 9 members were elected with a personal mandate, 66 with district mandates and 26 with compensation mandates.

The 5% threshold is calculated on valid votes nationwide (30,515 votes in 2023). That year Vasakpartei (2.4%), Parempoolsed (2.3%), the independent candidates (1.0% together) and Rohelised (1.0%) fell short.

Parties

There are 13 registered parties. The test includes the 7 that have seats in the Riigikogu or more than 5% in the polls; in 2023 all of them ran lists in all 12 districts. Candidates can be nominated until 21 January 2027 and the final lists will be known on 26 January.

As of 11.10.2026, no party has formally announced its candidate for prime minister.

What each party stands for, question by question, is on the party pages.

How to vote

Who can vote. Estonian citizens who are 18 on election day, whether they live in Estonia or abroad. People with another citizenship (including citizens of other European Union countries) and people with no citizenship do not vote in Riigikogu elections.

Online. From 9:00 on 1 March to 20:00 on 6 March, at any time of day, with the voting application from valimised.ee and an ID card or Mobiil-ID. You can vote again as many times as you like: the last vote counts.

In person. In advance voting from 1 to 6 March, 12:00 to 20:00, and on election day, Sunday 7 March, from 9:00 to 20:00. You write the candidate’s number on the ballot paper. Anyone who cannot go to a polling station for health reasons can ask to vote at home until 14:00 on election day.

Changing an internet vote. A paper vote always cancels an internet vote, including if you vote in person on election day, 7 March, before 20:00.

From abroad. Online, at embassies and consulates from 20 to 25 February, or by post after applying in writing to the embassy by 5 February. You vote in the district of your last residence in Estonia.

Is voting compulsory? No. Voting is not compulsory in Estonia.

Polls and campaigning

In Estonia polls can be published until voting ends, and campaigning is not banned on election day: since 2020 the law only bans campaigning inside the voting premises.

Sources