TALLINN (Sputnik) – Estonian lawmakers failed to elect a head of state in the presidential runoffs after neither of the three candidates gained the needed votes, the country’s electoral committee chair said Tuesday.
"Siim Kallas gained 45 votes, Mailis Reps – 32 and Allar Joks – 21. One ballot omitted all candidates," national election committee chairman Meelis Eerik said.
Eerik said Kallas and Reps would be pitted against each other in the third round, scheduled for 13:00 GMT, to be voted on by the Baltic state’s 101 lawmakers. The candidates need at least two-thirds, or 68, of the votes in the secret ballot.
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves’ two constitutionally mandated terms in office wrap up in the fall of 2016.
