Some Estonians will be able to vote online next year, as Tallinn plans trials with electronic voting software that is the first step toward a nationwide e-voting system

Some Estonians will be able to vote online next year, as Tallinn plans trials with electronic voting software that is the first step toward a nationwide e-voting system, officials said Friday. Toomas Sepp, spokesman for Tallinn's city government, said the virtual system - which will be used for the capital's local elections in the fall - requires that voters have an electronic ID card, ID-card reader and Internet access. A trial referendum for Tallinn residents will be held early next year to see the how the system works, Sepp said. "If the tests are successful, the e-voting system will also be used in parliamentary elections," he said. The next elections for Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament, are scheduled for 2007. Estonians are already frequent users of their official electronic ID cards, which were launched in 2002. The ID cards include small microchips and offer secure logons and e-signing through a reader attached to their their computers. The cards are used to access online bank accounts, and an increasing number of Estonian government institutions, such as the national tax office, allow citizens to log in and file official documents through e-signing. Sepp estimated that some 600,000 of Estonia's 1.4 million residents have an electronic ID card.