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Estonian Lawmakers Fail to Elect President in Third Round of Balloting

© REUTERS / Ints KalninsA general view of Estonian Parliament session hall during the first round of Estonia's presidential election in Tallinn, Estonia August 29, 2016
A general view of Estonian Parliament session hall during the first round of Estonia's presidential election in Tallinn, Estonia August 29, 2016 - Sputnik International
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Estonian lawmakers failed to elect country's president in the third balloting, according to the chair of Estonia’s electoral committee.

TALLINN (Sputnik) – The Estonian parliament failed to elect the Baltic country’s president in the third balloting round after neither of the two candidates gained the needed votes, the chair of Estonia’s electoral committee Tuesday.

The candidate had to earn at least two-thirds of the lawmakers’ votes to win the secret ballot in parliament, or at least 68 out of 101 votes, Meelis Eerik said.

"During the vote, ruling coalition Reform Party and Social Democratic Party faction’s [Siim] Kallas obtained 42 votes. His rival Mailis Reps, put forward by the parliamentary faction of the opposition Centre Party, received 26 votes. Thirty ballots did not mark a single candidate," Eerik specified.

Members of the election commission count ballots during the second round of Estonia's presidential election in Tallinn, Estonia August 30, 2016 - Sputnik International
Estonian Lawmakers Fail to Elect Leader in Presidential Runoffs
Estonia’s next head of state will now be chosen by the electoral body within one month of the deadlock, according to the Estonian National Election Committee. The electoral body comprises 101 lawmakers and 234 local government council representatives.

The election committee set September 24 as the preliminary date of the planned electoral body meeting.

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