Parliamentary elections were held in
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
on 5 March 2023 to elect all 101 members of the
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...
. The officially published election data indicate the victory of the
Reform Party, which won 37 seats in total, while the
Conservative People's Party of Estonia
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia (, EKRE) is a Estonian nationalism, nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Estonia led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012 with the merger of People's Union of Estonia and Est ...
(EKRE) placed second with 17 seats. The
Centre Party won 16 seats, a loss of 10, while
Estonia 200
Estonia 200 (, E200) is a liberal political party in Estonia. Since 2024, the party has been a junior partner in the Michal cabinet.
History
Formation and 2019 elections
In 2017, the initiators of the movement began discussing Estonia's ...
won 14 seats, gaining representation in the Riigikogu.
After the
previous parliamentary election in 2019, the Centre Party, led by
Jüri Ratas
Jüri Ratas (; born 2 July 1978) is an Estonian politician who served as the prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021 and as the leader of the Centre Party from 2016 to 2023, and the mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member o ...
, formed a government with Ratas serving as prime minister. His government was brought down in January 2021 after a corruption investigation, and
Kaja Kallas
Kaja Kallas (; born 18 June 1977) is an Estonian politician and diplomat. She was the first female prime minister of Estonia, a role she held from 2021 until 2024, when she resigned in advance of her appointment as High Representative of the ...
of the Reform Party formed a
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
with the Centre Party, which collapsed in June 2022. Kallas then formed a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
with
Isamaa
Isamaa () is a Christian democratic and national conservative political party in Estonia.
It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res ...
and the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
and remained in the position of prime minister.
In January 2023, the National Electoral Committee announced that nine political parties and ten individual candidates had registered to take part in the 2023 parliamentary election. During the campaign period, issues discussed most extensively regarded the Estonian economy, and the country's national defence and security due to the current
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. Individuals from contesting political parties also participated in multiple organised debates in January and February 2023. Voting at foreign embassies for Estonians outside the country took place from 18 to 23 February, while Estonian residents could vote during the pre-election period from 27 February to 4 March.
These were the first national elections where more than half of the votes were cast
electronically
Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other electrically charged particles. It is a subfield of physics and ...
over the Internet. Following the election, EKRE submitted an appeal to the
Supreme Court of Estonia
The Supreme Court of Estonia () is the court of last resort in Estonia. It is both a court of cassation and a constitutional court. The courthouse is in Tartu.
History During the first independence period (1919-1940)
With the First Constituti ...
, requesting that the results be annulled and claiming that "anomalies and technical errors in the e-voting process had been observed", though the appeal was later dismissed. Reform successfully negotiated afterward with the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
and Estonia 200, forming a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
headed by Kallas in April.
Background
The
previous parliamentary election, which was held in March 2019, saw the loss of the
absolute majority
A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the " Related terms" section below.
It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a gr ...
held by
Jüri Ratas's first cabinet
Jüri Ratas's cabinet was the 49th cabinet of Estonia, in office from 23 November 2016 to 29 April 2019. It was a centre-left coalition cabinet of Centre Party, Social Democratic Party and conservative Pro Patria and Res Publica Union. It was ...
in the
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...
, the unicameral parliament of Estonia. Ratas's Centre Party,
Isamaa
Isamaa () is a Christian democratic and national conservative political party in Estonia.
It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res ...
, and
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
(SDE) all suffered a setback in favour of the Reform Party, led by Kallas, and the EKRE.
Kersti Kaljulaid
Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonia, Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021, and was its first and only female head of state since the country declared independence in 1918. S ...
, then-
president of Estonia
The president of the Republic of Estonia () is the head of state of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid.
Estonia is one of the few parliam ...
, gave a mandate to Kallas to form a government after the election. The Reform Party negotiated with the Centre Party, Isamaa, and SDE but ultimately failed to form a government. After the vote in April 2019, Ratas received the mandate and successfully formed a government with Isamaa and EKRE.
Jüri Ratas's second cabinet
Jüri Ratas's second cabinet, colloquially often referred to as EKREIKE, was the 50th cabinet of Estonia, in office from 29 April 2019 to 14 January 2021. It was a centre-right to right-wing coalition cabinet of the Centre Party, right-wing po ...
was sworn in on 29 April 2019.
In January 2021, the Centre Party-led government collapsed after a corruption investigation in which the Centre Party was accused of requesting financial support of up to €1 million within a year in return of the €39 million loan to
Hillar Teder's real estate development in
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
. In response, Ratas resigned as
prime minister of Estonia
The prime minister of Estonia () is the head of government of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the President of Estonia, president after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed ...
, while Kallas was invited to form a government. She struck a deal with the Centre Party, with Kallas now serving as prime minister. In June 2022, however, the coalition government between the Centre and Reform Party collapsed due to the Centre Party's opposition to a law on education.
This occurred during the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
; the Centre Party was seen as close to
Russians in Estonia
In Estonia, the population of ethnic Russians (, ) is estimated at 285,819, most of whom live in the capital city Tallinn and other urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. While a small settlement of Russian Old Believers on the coast o ...
.
In response, Kallas opened
Triple Alliance Triple Alliance may refer to:
* Aztec Triple Alliance (1428–1521), Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan and in central Mexico
* Triple Alliance (1596), England, France, and the Dutch Republic to counter Spain
* Triple Alliance (1668), England, the ...
negotiations with Isamaa and SDE, successfully forming
Kaja Kallas's second cabinet on 15 July 2022.
Electoral system
The Riigikogu is made up of 101 seats and its representatives are elected by
open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a Political party, party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists ...
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
in twelve multi-member constituencies. First, seats are to be filled in 12 constituencies of 5 to 16 seats depending on their population, and the remaining seats, known as "compensation seats", are allocated using the
d'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...
to all parties that exceeded the 5%
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature.
This limit can operate in various ...
, to bring the results in terms of seats as close as possible to those of the vote of the population.
In 2023, 75 seats were filled in the constituencies and the remaining 26 were allocated using the d'Hondt method. Voters have the possibility of casting a preferential vote for one of the candidates on the list for which they are voting.
If a candidate collects more preferential votes than the amount of the simple quotient in his constituency, they are declared elected even if the list for which they are candidate for fails to cross the 5% electoral threshold.
In November 2022,
Alar Karis
Alar Karis (; born 26 March 1958) is an Estonian molecular geneticist, developmental biologist, civil servant and politician who, since 11 October 2021, has served as the sixth president of Estonia.
Prior to presidency
Karis was born in Tar ...
, the
president of Estonia
The president of the Republic of Estonia () is the head of state of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid.
Estonia is one of the few parliam ...
, signed the election decree, setting the date for 5 March 2023. Estonian citizens who are at least 18 years old, are registered in the voting list, have not been declared incapacitated or convicted of a crime by a court, or are serving a prison sentence have the right to vote.
In foreign embassies abroad, voting took place from 18 to 23 February 2023, while to vote by mail in foreign countries, the voter had to submit a written request to the foreign mission by 3 February 2023.
Advance voting in Estonia took place from 27 February to 4 March, meaning that a voter could vote outside the electoral district of their residence and electronically.
Unlike in previous elections, on 5 March voters were able to vote in any precinct within the constituency, while voters who had voted electronically during the advance voting were able to vote on a paper ballot, although their electronic vote would be cancelled.
Citizens who were not able to go to the polling stations or to vote electronically could order a ballot box at home and vote between 3 and 5 March 2023.
Around eighty foreign observers monitored the election.
Seats by electoral district
Pre-election composition
Contesting parties
The Estonian National Electoral Committee announced that nine political parties and ten individual candidates registered to take part in the 2023 parliamentary election. Their registration numbers and order were determined by a draw of lots.
Party manifestos and slogans
Campaign
Issues
The ''
Eesti Rahvusringhääling
Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) – ''Estonian Public Broadcasting'' – is a publicly funded and owned radio and television organisation created in Estonia on 1 June 2007 to take over the functions of the formerly separate Eesti Raadio ...
'' and
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
commented that the issues that were discussed during the campaign period were the cost of living crisis, especially regarding rising prices and inflation, as well as issues regarding security and national defence due to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. ''Eesti Rahvusringhääling'' also asserted that the programmes of the contesting parties were largely influenced by the current war in Ukraine. Ellu Saar, a sociology professor, and Triin Lauri, an associate professor at
Tallinn University
Tallinn University (TLU; , ''TLÜ'') is a public research university in Estonia. Located in the centre of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn University is one of the three largest institutions of higher education in the country. Both QS ...
, said that in the programmes of EKRE and Isamaa stated their support to protect the
Estonian language
Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...
in higher education, while
Estonia 200
Estonia 200 (, E200) is a liberal political party in Estonia. Since 2024, the party has been a junior partner in the Michal cabinet.
History
Formation and 2019 elections
In 2017, the initiators of the movement began discussing Estonia's ...
and SDE mention united schools where native Estonian-speaking and Russian-speaking students would study together.
Saar and Lauri commented that the Centre Party had a vague opinion regarding the issue of education.
The
Estonian Greens
The Estonian Greens (, EER) is a green political party in Estonia. Founded in 2006, the party held six seats in the Riigikogu from 2007 to 2011. Its objective is to ensure that Estonia's development is environmentally friendly, sustainable, po ...
and SDE also mentioned school culture, quality of management, reducing path dependence as issues they would tackle.
The Reform Party also stated its support for introducing national defence classes in schools, while Isamaa said that there should be more investments in national defence.
The Centre Party called for higher salaries for those who work to contribute to the national defence, SDE suggested to implement a new tax regarding defence spending, while EKRE said that militarised border guards should be brought back.
Anne Raiste of ''Eesti Rahvusringhääling'' said that the contesting parties all shared similar positions regarding foreign policy and that they pledged to implement forms of
direct democracy
Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...
or a more efficient
representative democracy
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies func ...
. In regards to the
2022–2023 Ukrainian refugee crisis
An ongoing refugee crisis began in Europe in late February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Over 6 million refugees fleeing Ukraine are recorded across Europe, while an estimated 8 million others had been Internally displaced person, ...
, EKRE and Isamaa pledged to not accept any new
refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s,
while the Reform Party stated that it would continue accepting new Ukrainian refugees.
Euronews
Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...
said that EKRE's support in opinion polls had fallen due to alleged links with Russia.
Regarding the economy, Raiste said that the contesting parties had pledged to raise pensions to €1,000 or more. The Centre Party stated its support for the introduction of
progressive taxation
A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...
, while SDE and the Greens had adopted similar positions.
On the other hand, Reform stated that it would
balance the budget
A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budget ...
, while EKRE called for reduction of taxes.
Estonia 200 said that labour taxes should be lowered, while Parempoolsed promised to not introduce any new taxes.
Scholars Liili Abuladze and Luule Sakkeus stated that EKRE and Isamaa put their family policy focuses on families with many children and that the needs of those most vulnerable are hardly addressed. EKRE stated its opposition to
transition to sustainable energy
An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainable ...
to lower energy bills, while the Reform Party pledged to adopt sustainable energy.
EKRE also criticised Kallas's Reform Party due to the growing inflation. The Centre Party campaigned on infrastructure investments and affordable housing.
Debates
Opinion polls
Results

Voting at Estonian embassies abroad took place between 18 and 23 February 2023.
The National Electoral Committee had announced that 47.3% of voters cast their ballot during the pre-election period, which began on 27 February and ended before 5 March, a majority of whom voted online.
Voting stations on 5 March 2023 were opened from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. There were 966,129 citizens that had the right to vote in the election.
The turnout progressed towards 63% by 7:00 pm according to ''Eesti Rahvusringhääling'', with the highest turnout being in the Rapla County and the lowest in the Ida-Viru County. With 312,181 electronic votes, these were the first elections where more than half of votes were cast online. Later that day, ''Eesti Rahvusringhääling'',
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
, and the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
reported that the Reform Party won the most votes and seats in the Riigikogu, with EKRE placing second and the Centre Party placing third.
Additionally, ''Eesti Rahvusringhääling'' reported that Estonia 200 would enter the Riigikogu for the first time since its formation.
Results by constituency
Aftermath
Tanel Kiik
Tanel Kiik (born 23 January 1989) is an Estonian politician and former cabinet minister.
In the years 2012–2016, Tanel Kiik was an advisor to Jüri Ratas in the Riigikogu and in the years 2016–2019, he was the head of Prime Minister Jüri ...
, the vice-chair of the Centre Party, had said that "the Centre Party would be satisfied if it were to get 20 seats" in the Riigikogu, while
Sven Mikser, the former chairman of the SDE, said that "nine mandates is probably the best the party can do in Estonia today".
Ratas later described the results as "mediocre".
After the publication of e-vote results, Kallas gave a speech and thanked her voters.
Kallas was congratulated by
Sanna Marin
Sanna Mirella Marin (; born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish former politician who served as prime minister of Finland from 2019 to 2023 and as the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) from 2020 to 2023. She was a Member of Pa ...
, the prime minister of Finland, and
Krišjānis Kariņš
Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš (; born 13 December 1964) is a Latvian American politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 2019 until 2023. A linguist and businessman by profession, he previously served as Latvia's minister of Economic ...
, the prime minister of Latvia.
Martin Helme
Martin Helme (born 24 April 1976) is an Estonian politician and current leader of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia, Conservative People's Party (EKRE). From 2019 to 2021 he was the country's Minister of Finance (Estonia), Minister of ...
, the leader of EKRE, stated that "he does not trust the e-vote results" and demanded a recount.
On 9 March 2023, EKRE made an appeal to the
Supreme Court of Estonia
The Supreme Court of Estonia () is the court of last resort in Estonia. It is both a court of cassation and a constitutional court. The courthouse is in Tartu.
History During the first independence period (1919-1940)
With the First Constituti ...
, requesting the results to be annulled and claiming that "several anomalies and technical errors in the e-voting process had been observed". Lawyer Paul Keres of EKRE also claimed that the e-voting process is unconstitutional. This case was dismissed on 13 March.
Government formation
As the party that won the most seats in the election, Reform Party began negotiations between the parties to attempt to form a government.
''Eesti Rahvusringhääling'' reported that while experts predicted that the Reform–Estonia 200–SDE coalition would be formed after the election, Kallas only ruled out a coalition with EKRE.
A day after the election, Kallas said "that it is clear that voters expect to see Estonia 200 in the government", while she also said that there are four possible coalitions for the Reform Party to form. Kallas invited Estonia 200 and SDE for government talks on 7 March 2023.
Lauri Läänemets
Lauri Läänemets (born 31 January 1983) is an Estonian politician who served as Minister of Interior Affairs and was a member of XIV Riigikogu.
Biography
In 2007 he graduated from Tallinn University in recreation management.
Political car ...
, the leader of SDE, confirmed on 7 April that the Reform Party, Estonia 200, and SDE reached an agreement. A day later, Kallas revealed the composition of her new cabinet. The coalition agreement was signed on 10 April. Soon after, Kallas became the prime-minister designate, with the Riigikogu approving the coalition government on 12 April.
Her
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
was sworn in on 17 April.
See also
*
Members of the 15th Riigikogu
This is a list of the members of the 15th Riigikogu, the unicameral parliament of Estonia, following the 2023 election.
Election results
Lists By party Estonian Reform Party (37)
Conservative People's Party (17)
Estonian Centre Party (16)
...
Notes
References
External links
Official websiteof the National Electoral Committee
{{Estonian elections
Parliamentary elections in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
Parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...