Voting in county elections

Members and deputy members of county councils will be elected in county elections. County council will hold the highest decision-making power in each wellbeing services county.

The first county elections were conducted  on Sunday 23 January 2022.  From 2025 onwards, county elections will be held in conjunction with municipal elections. 

The City of Helsinki is not a wellbeing services county nor does it belong to any of the wellbeing services counties, which is why no county elections are conducted in Helsinki.

Who's allowed to vote?

• You may vote in municipal elections if you are a resident of a municipality in a wellbeing services county and reach the age of 18 by the election day.
• Your home municipality is the municipality where you were registered 51 days before the election day.
• Citizens of other EU countries, Norway and Iceland that have a home municipality in Finland also have the right to vote.
• Citizens of countries outside the EU that have had a home municipality in Finland for a continuous period of at least two years on the 51st day before the election day also have the right to vote.
• If you are entitled to vote, a card abour your right to vote will be mailed to you before the elections. If you have activated the Suomi.fi Messages service, you'll receive the card electronically to Suomi.fi Messages. Find out more about Suomi.fi Messages.Opens in a new window.

How can I vote?

• You may vote in advance at any of the advance polling stations in Finland or abroad. 
• On the election day, you may only vote at your own polling station. You can search the polling station on the Äänestyspaikat.fi siteOpens in a new window.. The polling station is also indicated on the card that will be mailed to you. 
• Elderly persons, persons with disabilities, and chronically ill that are unable to reach the polling station may request support so that they can vote at home. The necessary voting arrangements must be made with the municipal central election board.
• You need to prove your identity at the polling station. You do not need the notification stating that you are entitled to vote. Even though you do not need the notification at the polling station it may be useful when you are voting in advance outside Finland. In those situations, the notification card will speed up the voting process.
• If you are staying abroad or live permanently abroad during the election, you can vote by post. An eligible voter wishing to vote by post has to order the postal voting documents from Finland to an address abroad.

Read more about elections on Vaalit.fi siteOpens in a new window.