Print REFERENDUM ACT
Passed on 18 May 1994 (RT* I 1994, 41, 659), entered into force 19 June 1994, amended by the following Act: RT I 1998, 98/99, 1577
Chapter I: General Provisions
§ 1. Purpose of Act
This Act provides the procedure for submission of a bill or other national issue to a referendum and referendum procedure.
§ 2. Issues to be submitted to referendum
(1) Amendments to Chapters I and XV of the Constitution shall be submitted to a referendum.
(2) The Riigikogu* also has the right to submit other bills that amend the Constitution, other bills or other national issues to a referendum except as provided for in § 3 of this Act.
§ 3. Constitutional restriction on issues to be submitted to referendum
Issues regarding the budget, taxation, financial obligations of the state, ratification and denunciation of treaties, the declaration or termination of a state of emergency, or national defence shall not be submitted to a referendum.
§ 4. Restrictions on initiation and holding of referendum
(1) A referendum shall not be initiated or held during a state of emergency or a state of war.
(2) A referendum shall not be scheduled for a time when less than three months remain until regular elections to the Riigikogu, the President of the Republic has declared special elections to the Riigikogu or the authority of the current membership of the Riigikogu has terminated.
§ 5. Right to vote
(1) An Estonian citizen who has attained eighteen years of age by the referendum date may participate in a referendum.
(2) A citizen shall not have the right to vote if he or she:
1) has been divested of his or her active legal capacity by a court order;
2) has been convicted by a court and is serving a sentence in a penal institution at the time of voting.
§ 6. Uniform right to vote
Participants in a referendum have one vote in voting on each bill or other national issue submitted to a referendum.
§ 7. Secret ballot
Voting is secret.
Chapter II: Initiation and Holding of Referendum
§ 8. Right to initiate referendum
(1) The right to initiate a referendum in order to amend the Constitution rests with:
1) not less than one-fifth of the membership of the Riigikogu;
2) the President of the Republic.
(2) The right to initiate a referendum on another Act or another national issue rests with members of the Riigikogu, Riigikogu factions, Riigikogu committees and the Government of the Republic.
§ 9. Initiation of referendum
The following shall be submitted to the Riigikogu in order to initiate a referendum:
1) a draft resolution to hold a referendum to submit the bill of an Act that amends the Constitution or of another Act to a referendum, together with the bill to amend the Constitution or other bill;
2) a draft resolution to hold a referendum to submit another national issue to a referendum, which shall also include the question to be submitted to a referendum.
§ 10. Requirements for a bill to be submitted to referendum
(1) A bill to be submitted to a referendum shall comply with the requirements set for bills.
(2) Other national issues submitted to a referendum shall contain a clear and unambiguous proposal.
§ 11. Withdrawal of draft resolution to hold referendum
An initiator may withdraw a draft resolution to hold a referendum until passage of the resolution in the Riigikogu.
§ 12. Submission of bill to referendum
(1) The Riigikogu shall debate a bill to be submitted to a referendum for three readings.
(2) The interval between the first and second readings of a bill to amend the Constitution or another bill shall be not less than three months, and the interval between the second and third readings shall be not less than one month. The Riigikogu shall decide the submission of a bill to a referendum at the third reading.
(3) The submission of a bill to amend the Constitution to a referendum is decided by a three-fifths majority of the membership of the Riigikogu. The submission of other bills to a referendum is decided by the Riigikogu by a majority of votes in favour.
§ 13. Submission of other national issues to referendum
(1) Resolutions to submit other national issues to a referendum shall not be passed by the Riigikogu earlier than three months after the draft resolution is entered on the agenda of the Riigikogu.
(2) The submission of other national issues to a referendum is decided by the Riigikogu by a majority of votes in favour.
§ 14. Submission of several bills or issues to one referendum
(1) The Riigikogu may submit several bills or other national issues to one referendum.
(2) Bills or issues which are mutually exclusive shall not be submitted to one referendum.
§ 15. Holding of referendum
(1) A referendum date shall be specified by the Riigikogu in the resolution to hold a referendum on a bill or other national issue.
(2) A referendum shall not be held earlier than three months before or later than six months after the resolution to hold the referendum is passed in the Riigikogu.
§ 16. Postponement of referendum
A referendum shall be postponed in the case of a declaration of a state of emergency or a state of war, or if the referendum date is scheduled for a time when the authority of the membership of the Riigikogu who decided to hold the referendum has terminated, or the President of the Republic has declared extraordinary elections.
§ 17. Decision to postpone referendum
(1) The Riigikogu may postpone a referendum by a resolution during an emergency situation declared by the Government of the Republic due to a natural disaster, catastrophe or infectious disease, or in the case provided for in subsection 20 (2) of this Act on the proposal of the Legal Chancellor.
(2) Postponement of a referendum is decided by the Riigikogu by the majority of votes required to submit the bill or other national issue to a referendum.
§ 18. Determination of new referendum date
(1) The Riigikogu shall determine a new referendum date within two weeks after the reasons provided for in § 16 and §17 of this Act cease to exist, observing the deadlines prescribed for in subsection 15 (2) of this Act which shall be calculated from passage of the resolution by the Riigikogu determining a new referendum date.
(2) The Riigikogu shall decide determination of a new referendum date by the majority of votes provided for in subsections 12 (3) and 13 (2) of this Act.
(3) If a resolution is not passed because it does not receive the required majority of votes, a referendum shall not be held. A corresponding notice shall be published in the Riigi Teataja.
§ 19. Publication of resolutions and notices concerning referendum
Resolutions to hold a referendum and the bills to be submitted to a referendum, resolutions to hold a referendum on another national issue, resolutions to postpone a referendum or which determine a new referendum date, and notices of postponement or cancellation of a referendum shall be published in the Riigi Teataja.
§ 20. Repeal of resolution to hold referendum
(1) The membership of the Riigikogu shall not repeal a resolution to submit a bill or other national issue to a referendum or to hold a referendum which the given membership has passed.
(2) Resolutions to hold a referendum on a bill which is in conflict with the Constitution, except resolutions to submit a bill to amend the Constitution to a referendum, shall be repealed by the Supreme Court on the proposal of the Legal Chancellor.
Chapter III: Committees Organising Referendum
§ 21. Committees organising referendum
A referendum shall be organised by the following committees, formed on the basis of the Riigikogu Election Act:
1) the National Election Committee;
2) county electoral committees;
3) division committees.
§ 22. Duties of National Election Committee in organising referendum
The National Election Committee shall:
1) monitor the implementation of this Act and ensure its uniform application on the entire territory of the state by providing instructions, clarifications and orders therefor;
2) establish the standard format of referendum documents, including ballots, and the procedure for their safekeeping;
3) arrange for the printing of referendum documents and of the bill to be submitted to the referendum and deliver them to the county electoral committees;
4) verify and publish notices concerning referendum results;
5) determine the procedures for safekeeping and destruction of ballots after a referendum;
6) approve the budget of a referendum and decide on organisational and technical issues in connection with a referendum;
7) register observers of a referendum;
8) review and decide on petitions and complaints concerning activities of the county electoral committees in organising a referendum.
§ 23. Duties of county electoral committees in organising referendum
A county electoral committees shall:
1) monitor the implementation of this Act and the correctness of the conduct of a referendum;
2) provide the division committees with blank referendum documents and ballots and clarify the procedures for their completion, use and safekeeping;
3) verify referendum results;
4) implement instructions and orders issued by the National Election Committee;
5) decide on organisational and technical issues in connection with a referendum within the limits of funds allocated by the National Election Committee;
6) review and decide on petitions and complaints concerning the activities of referendum division committees.
§ 24. Duties of division committee in organising referendum
A division committee shall:
1) communicate to voters the location and working hours of the division committee, and the time and location of voting;
2) provide the opportunity to examine the polling list and shall review applications to make corrections to the polling list;
3) ensure the preparation of polling places and ballot boxes;
4) organise voting, advance polls and home voting;
5) verify voting results in the division;
6) review and decide on petitions and complaints in connection with preparation and holding of a referendum.
Chapter IV: Preparation for Referendum
§ 25. Expenditure relating to referendum
(1) Expenditure relating to a referendum is covered from the state budget.
(2) Campaigning relating to a referendum shall not be financed from the state budget, the funds of a state enterprise or a local government budget.
§ 26. Requirements for ballots
(1) Ballots shall be printed in Estonian.
(2) The exact wording of the question submitted to a referendum and the possible responses "jah" [yes] and "ei" [no] shall be entered on the ballot. The specific format of a ballot and procedure for completion of a ballot shall be established by the National Election Committee.
(3) Text shall be printed on only one side of a ballot.
(4) If several bills or issues are submitted to one referendum, each one shall be entered on a separate ballot.
§ 27. Provision of ballots to division committees
Ballots shall be provided to division committees not later than five days before the referendum date.
§ 28. Polling lists
(1) Polling lists prepared for Riigikogu elections which voters may examine fifteen days before the referendum date shall be used in a referendum.
(2) Polling lists shall be prepared, verified, made public, corrected and amended pursuant to procedure provided for in the Riigikogu Election Act.
Chapter V: Campaigning
§ 29. Campaigning
(1) Citizens, associations of citizens, political parties, legal persons and state and local government bodies have the right to campaign, unhindered, for or against a referendum or a bill or other national issue submitted to a referendum.
(2) Members of the committees organising a referendum shall not campaign for or against the referendum or a bill or other national issue submitted to the referendum.
(3) Campaigning is prohibited on the day of a referendum, except for previously posted printed matter or other campaign material outside of the polling place and building in which the referendum is being held.
(4) Information from the committees organising a referendum on the progress of the referendum shall not be considered campaigning.
§ 30. Restrictions on conducting and disclosure of public opinion polls
Conducting public opinion polls or publishing or commenting on the results of earlier polls during the seven days immediately preceding and until the close of voting on the day of a referendum is prohibited if such polls are directly or indirectly related to the bill or other national issue submitted to the referendum.
Chapter VI: Voting and Verification of Referendum Results
§ 31. Voting
(1) Voting, advance polls and home voting shall be held at the time and pursuant to procedure provided for in the Riigikogu Election Act.
(2) In voting, the voter shall mark the ballot beside the response "jah" [yes] or "ei" [no].
§ 32. Ensurance of referendum openness
(1) In order to ensure that a referendum is open, authorised representatives of political parties, representatives of the media and representatives of other agencies and organisations with the consent of the National Election Committee shall have the opportunity to be observers at the voting and verification of voting results on the day of the referendum.
(2) Persons specified in subsection (1) of this section shall register as observers of the voting and verification of voting results with the National Election Committee.
§33. Verification of voting results
(1) On the basis of the list and its appendices, the division committee shall verify the total number of voters in the division, the number of voters who received a ballot, the number of voters who participated in the voting, the number of affirmative and negative responses to the question submitted to the referendum and the number of spoiled ballots.
(2) On the basis of the records received from the division committees, each territorial committee shall verify the total number of voters entered in the referendum lists, the number of referendum participants and the number of affirmative and negative responses to the question submitted to the referendum. The results obtained shall be checked by recounting the ballots.
(3) On the basis of the records received from the territorial committees, the National Election Committee shall verify the number of voters entered in the referendum lists, the number of referendum participants, the number of valid votes and the total number of affirmative and negative responses to the question submitted to the referendum.
§ 34. Formalities of referendum results
(1) The referendum results of rural municipalities and cities shall be entered into the record of the corresponding territorial committee by division.
(2) The final results of a referendum shall be entered in a record of the National Election Committee.
(3) The record shall be signed by the chairman and secretary of the corresponding committee. Dissenting opinions of committee members and petitions and complaints received by a committee concerning violations of this Act in the course of a referendum shall be added to the record.
§ 35. Invalidity of referendum
If this Act is violated in a division during the course of a referendum, the National Election
Committee or a court may declare the referendum and all votes cast in the division invalid.
Chapter VII: Final Provisions
§ 36. Decision on issue submitted to referendum
A question submitted to a referendum is decided by a majority of votes.
§ 37. Communication of referendum results
(1) The National Election Committee shall communicate referendum results not later than on the seventh day after the day of the referendum.
(2) A notice of the National Election Committee concerning the results of a referendum shall be published in the Riigi Teataja.
§ 38. Declaration of Act passed by referendum or of extraordinary Riigikogu elections
(1) An Act passed by a referendum shall be promptly proclaimed by the President of the Republic.
(2) If a bill submitted to a referendum does not receive a majority of votes in favour, the President of the Republic shall declare extraordinary elections to the Riigikogu.
§ 39. Entry into force of Act or resolution on other national issue passed by referendum
(1) An Act that amends the Constitution that is passed by a referendum shall enter into force on the date provided therein, but not earlier than three months from the date of proclamation.
(2) Other Acts passed by a referendum shall enter into force on the tenth day after publication in the Riigi Teataja, if no other date is provided in the Act.
(3) A resolution made on another national issue submitted to a referendum shall enter into force upon communication of the referendum results by the National Election Committee, and is obligatory for state bodies as of that moment.
§ 40. Submission and review of petitions and complaints and liability for violation of Act
(1) The submission and review of petitions and complaints concerning activities and decisions of referendum organising committees shall take place at the time and pursuant to procedure provided for in the Riigikogu Election Act.
(2) Upon violation of this Act, administrative or criminal liability applies in the cases provided by law.