Campare with the U.S. Election - No Fraud in Estonia ‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹ An Assessment of the Election to Riigikogu and the Presidency Republic of Estonia Christopher S. Siddall, Paul Wilder, Dr. Peter Schramm September 16-24, 1992 The International Foundation for Electoral Systems' (IFES) technical team present in Estonia for the September 20, 1992, elections determined that the elections in the areas visited by the team were credible and FREE FROM MAJOR IRREGULARITIES. Forty-eight polling sites were visited in Kloogaranna, Paldiski, Keila, Rummu, Arukula, Juri, Padise, Seljakula, Linnamae, Purski, Soderby, Hullo, Kersleti, Haapsalu, Palivere, Risti, Riisipere, Laagri, Raasiku, Kehra, Kuusalu, Haljala, Aseri, Kohtla-Järve, Kivioli, Rakvere and throughout Tallinn. Minor infractions resulted from inexperience with multi-party elections and a new election system. Minor irregularities included instances of more than one person voting in a booth and failure of some voters to keep their vote secret. Other items of note included a long "preliminary" voting period of two weeks before September 20 which may have led to concerns about ballot security among members of the electorate. There was also a lack of standardization of election materials and methods of vote counting. There was some irritation on the part of the voters and embarrassment from polling site officials at incomplete voter lists and ensuing difficulties. However, arrangements were made at the vast majority of polling sites outside Tallinn for a representative of the citizenship authority to be present to make rulings on citizenship and place late registrants on the list. When making decisions on citizenship, officials appeared to be operating with limited information with regard to regulations, but to be fulfilling their duties in good faith....
