Estonian MEP denies involvement in Reform Party voting fraud

Photo: Margus Ansu

 MEP Kristiina Ojuland has denied involvement in voting fraud after finding herself at the center of the scandal in the wake of allegations that e-votes were cast in the Reform Party's internal leadership elections in the name of elderly members of the party without their knowledge.

"In the run-up to the 2013 internal election I and my team phoned members of the party in the West-Viru region to urge them to vote and also to back my candidacy if it suited them. Many replied they would definitely vote, but there also were those who said no. I personally didn't vote in anyone else's name," Ojuland, who heads the party's regional organization, told BNS.

In her words, this is an extremely unpleasant surprise. "I support a thorough investigation to establish the truth and create a clear picture of all that happened," she said.

Heli Laine Sinijarv, an 89-year-old member of the Reform Party, cast according to records an electronic vote in the Reform Party board election last week although she does not even own a computer. She told TV news of public broadcaster ERR on Thursday that she received a call from Ojuland who asked her consent for voting.

The weekly Eesti Ekspress reported on Thursday it had information which suggests that online votes were cast in the party board elections in the name of elderly members of the party who actually did not participate in the vote.

According to the paper fraud was committed in both the 2011 and last week's election. Six senior citizens from the West-Viru region told the paper that they had not participated in the election although records show they had cast e-votes. The paper believes this may be just the tip of the iceberg as it took only the West-Viru region under scrutiny.

Eesti Ekspress suspects that fictitious e-mail addresses were created in the name of the pensioners who had joined the party to obtain from the party headquarters passwords and user names which then were used to log in to the party's internal network and cast e-ballots to affect the outcome of the elections.

It is the Reform Party's practice to restrict access to personal data of members of regional organizations to the regional leader and development director, in this case Ojuland and Taimi Samblik.

The Reform Party has formed an investigative group to look into the voting fraud allegations which consists of MPs Vaino Linde and Peep Aru, head of the party's regional organizations division Reimo Nebokat, IT chief Mati Leet and secretary general Martin Kukk.