(AP-ANSA) - TALLINN - Estonians have started voting in a parliamentary election in the small Baltic nation in a ballot where Prime Minister Juri Ratas and his Center Party are pitted against the center-right opposition Reform Party and where populists are seen making inroads. Sunday's vote in the NATO and the European Union member of 1.3 million comes as the far-right, nationalist Estonian Conservative People's Party, EKRE, has substantially increased its popularity since the 2015 election.

Both main contenders wish to keep it at bay. Nearly a million voters are eligible to elect representatives for the next four years to the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature. About 26 percent have previously cast their votes online. Electronic voting pioneer Estonia was the first country in the world to use online balloting for a national election in 2005. (AP-ANSA).