Estland wählt digital

In Estland wird am 26. Februar erstmals eVoting bei einer nationalen Parlamentswahl eingesetzt: Estonia to e-Vote.

Introduced for municipal elections in 2005, any Estonian voter with a computer-readable voter ID card can exercise their democratic rights online. Almost all of the country’s registered voters – over 940,000 people – now hold such cards. To cast ballots voters access the electoral Web site in an three day advance-voting period, swipe their chip-card through a card reader and punch in a pin number. The card readers are available in public libraries and internet access points. They are also available to the public for as little as 100 kroons (8.39 USD).

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„Estonia is smaller (population 1.35 million) than traditional high-tech innovators such as Japan and Finland, and it’s always easier to try things out in a small society,“ explained Andres Kasekamp, professor of Baltic politics at Tartu University. „Politicians have also pursued a liberal policy regarding innovation – they’ve been keen to reduce the footprint of government generally, and this seems to be part of that ideology,“ he added.