E-voting in Estonia

Estonia has one of the most established e-voting systems in the world. Internet voting remote e-voting using the voter’s own equipment was piloted in 2005 [12] (with the first real elections using e-voting being conducted the same year) and has been in use ever since. So far, the Estonian internet voting system has been used for the whole country in three sets of local elections, two European Parliament elections and three parliamentary elections [5]. This chapter begins by exploring the voting system in Estonia; we consider the organisation of the electoral system in the three main kinds of election (municipal, parliamentary and European Parliament), the traditional ways of voting and the methods used to tally votes and elect candidates. Next we investigate the Estonian national ID card, an identity document that plays a key part in enabling internet voting to be possible in Estonia. After considering these pre-requisites, we describe the current internet voting system, including how it has evolved over time and the relatively new verification mechanisms that are available to voters. Next we discuss the assumptions and choices that have been made in the design of this system and the challenges and criticism that it has received. Finally, we conclude by discussing how the system has performed over the 10 years it has been in use, and the impact it appears to have had on voter turnout and satisfaction.