Electoral conflict: Estonian authorities cannot deprive Russians of the right to vote

The withdrawal of the Social Democratic Party from the ruling coalition may become an obstacle to the adoption of a bill on depriving Russian citizens of voting rights in municipal elections in Estonia, the Russian Embassy in Tallinn told Izvestia. The Social Democrats openly oppose the bill, which assumes the abolition of the right to vote for citizens of the Russian Federation immediately, and for stateless persons by 2029. It will take 4/5 votes to pass the bill in the final, third reading. At the same time, President Alar Karis opposes the amendments to the Estonian constitution, which can veto the bill.

Who in Estonia is against depriving Russians of the right to vote

The collapse of the ruling coalition in Estonia may become an obstacle to the adoption of a law on depriving Russian citizens of the right to vote in local elections. This was stated to Izvestia at the Russian Embassy in Tallinn.

— The collapse of the ruling Riigikogu coalition and the expulsion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from it could potentially become an obstacle to the implementation of this essentially racist initiative, since the SDP categorically opposes the addition of stateless persons to the list of persons deprived of the right to vote in municipal elections, while the remaining reformists and Estonia 200 recently announced its readiness to agree to the relevant demands of the opposition Conservative People's Party (EKRE) and the Fatherland, albeit with the caveat that this should happen only in 2029, the Russian Embassy in Estonia noted.

On March 10, the Reform Party and Estonia 200 decided to remain in the government together, excluding the Social Democrats from it. At first, within the framework of the coalition, it was decided to preserve the right to vote for stateless persons whose passports were issued by Estonia, and to take it away from citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus. This option suited the Social Democrats at the time. Then the Reform Party and Estonia 200 decided to make amendments, according to which, starting in 2029, non-citizens will also be deprived of the right to vote. The SDP is no longer satisfied with this state of affairs.

In its current form, the initiative is supported only by the Reform Party and Estonia 200, which have 52 votes out of 101. The Centrist Party is strongly opposed. The votes of more than 80 deputies are required for approval in the third reading, which is scheduled to take place on March 26. Even with the support of EKRE and Otechestvo, there will be only 71 votes in support. Some social democrats have stated that they are determined to support the bill. However, party leader Lauri Leaenemets hinted that the leadership might try to force them to change this decision.

— The third reading is questionable, it is necessary to gain 4/5 of those present in the hall. If the bill is passed, then after that it may not be proclaimed by the president and theoretically challenged by the chancellor," Andrei Korobeinik, a member of parliament from the Centrist Party, told Izvestia. — The fate of the bill depends primarily on the Social Democrats, who turned out to be in opposition. If they come and vote against it, as promised, the bill will not be passed.

Russia strongly condemns the plans of the Estonian authorities to deprive the Russian-speaking population of the country of the right to vote.

— We emphasize the absurdity of the thesis promoted by the authors of the initiative that over 70,000 people pose a collective "security threat" to the Republic of Estonia. The contrivance of such arguments is evidenced at least by the fact that if a foreigner commits any crime, a long—term residence permit and, as a result, the right to vote is withdrawn from him," the Russian diplomatic mission in Tallinn noted.

Even with the fastest possible progress in the process of amending the constitution, the law will enter into force no earlier than June of this year. The Russian Embassy points out that the authorities will no longer be able to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, according to which significant changes to the rules for organizing elections should be made no earlier than 12 months before they are held — the election of local government members will take place on October 19, 2025.

Split in Estonian society and elites

In 1991, the Republic of Estonia denied voting rights to almost a third of its population — some of them remained in the status of non-citizens, and some, having retained their former place of residence, took Russian citizenship. Most of them live in Tallinn, as well as in the northeastern county of Estonia, Ida-Virumaa, with the largest city of Narva.

Passport holders and citizens of other countries with an Estonian residence permit can participate in municipal elections, provided they have lived in the territory of a particular municipality for at least five years. In total, as of May last year, 69 thousand Russian and Belarusian citizens who have the right to vote in local elections lived in Estonia. The new bill does not find approval among many Russian-speaking residents of the country.

— There is also no need to talk about a consensus on this issue among the population of the ER. Many compatriots from among the citizens of both our country and Estonia, as well as stateless persons, are against it. We remind you that about 300,000 representatives of Rosdiaspor live in the republic on a permanent basis, which is about a quarter of the local population," the Russian Embassy in Tallinn noted.

The Estonian elite does not support innovations either. Thus, the President of Estonia, Alar Karis, in his address to the nation on the occasion of the Independence Day of the republic celebrated on February 24, noted that the revision of the voting rules immediately before the elections is fraught with increased distrust on the part of voters.

— There is also a danger that we will begin to restrict rights in our country simply in order to achieve a semblance of security. With regard to any restriction, the question is justified — what does it actually provide. And it is worth demanding confirmation that this restriction will actually have some effect," he said.

The Head of State stressed that the change in electoral rules immediately before the elections may affect confidence in the elections. According to him, restrictions on fundamental rights, not supported by convincing arguments, undermine Estonia's international status as a state based on the rule of law, and thus may also weaken its security.

The chairman of the Centrist Party, Mikhail Kilvart, has repeatedly stated that the adoption of the initiative will mean the exclusion of a significant part of the Estonian population from participating in the political life of the country and will lead to increased confrontation in society. In principle, Arnold Sinisalu, the former head of the Security Police (KaPo), agrees with him, noting earlier that the innovation may lead not to the settlement of existing problems, but to the creation of new ones.