According to the proposed law, electronic voting will not be possible only on computers, but and through special applications for common operating systems on mobile devices. The technical conditions are determined by the election commission before each election.
The change in the law should enter into force in October, so the option of voting by mobile phone cannot yet be used in the elections for the European Parliament in June.
According to the words of the Estonian Minister of Economy and IT, Tiit Riisal, the new law aims to take into account the change in the behavior of citizens.
“A significant part of people’s daily digital activities has moved from computers to smart devices, and e-Estonia must be accessible to everyone on these new and widespread platforms,” said the minister.
In 2005, Estonia was the first country in Europe to enable online voting in political elections.
At the international level, the procedure is controversial in many places due to doubts about its reliability.
In the Baltic state, which likes to call itself e-Estonia, this procedure prevailed: more than half of all votes were cast digitally in the March 2023 parliamentary elections.
Citizens of that Baltic state can also do almost everything online in their daily life.
Estonia is considered a pioneer of digitization and e-government in Europe.