Preparations underway at Tallinn polling stations for local elections
The State Electoral Office is testing out the e-voting system for the upcoming local elections, as preparations are also underway to open polling stations.
Representatives of the State Electoral Office, electoral committee, auditors, and observers alike were all at Toompea on Monday to monitor how electronic voting for the local elections is going ahead and to ensure secrecy when casting votes is guaranteed.
Encryption keys were prepared and distributed to members of the Election Commission, with two keys remaining with the National Electoral Committee.
"Today, the keys for the electronic voting system were created – a public key for securing votes and a private key for opening votes. The private key has been distributed among the members of the National Election Committee and the staff of the Election Service," said Arne Koitmäe, head of the National Election Service, on Monday.
The encryption keys will be tested on Tuesday during a trial run, which will ensure the electronic voting system is ready for the elections. According to Koitmäe, all other preparations for paper-based voting are also nearing completion.
"We have all the materials ready and sorted, and are currently distributing them among the counties. On October 13, everyone will be able to vote on paper and also vote electronically," said Koitmäe.
There will be 44 polling stations in operation in Tallinn during this year's local elections, which is around half as many as on previous occasions.
"We analyzed the last three elections to determine where voters prefer to go to vote, and it is mainly shopping malls and other popular places that are located along people's usual routes. We have planned to have polling stations in those locations," said Priit Lello, chair of the Tallinn Election Commission.
Tallinn will open 16 of its polling stations for early voting, with all 44 in operation on election day itself. Approximately 460 staff are involved in organizing the elections in the Estonian capital.
"The closer we get to the elections, the more people are involved, and who are these people? They are members of the polling station committee. As the number of polling stations has decreased, we have increased the number of people working in those polling stations," explained Lello.
Advance voting and e-voting will begin on Monday, October 13. Election day is October 19.
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Editor: Johanna Alvin, Michael Cole
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
