This is how the right to vote is determined in county elections
Finnish citizens who reside in a wellbeing services county and reach the age of 18 years on election day 23 January 2022 at the latest are entitled to vote in the county elections.
In addition, those citizens of other EU Member States, Iceland and Norway who have a municipality of residence in a wellbeing services county in Finland are also entitled to vote. Other foreign citizens are entitled to vote if they have had a municipality of residence in a wellbeing services county in Finland for an uninterrupted period of at least two years. Further information on the determination of the right to vote is available on the Electionsfinland.fi website.
Eligible voters will receive a notice of right to vote in December. The notice will be sent in electronic format to those eligible voters who have activated the Suomi.fi Messages service and given their consent for all official messages to be sent to them electronically.
It is easy to find out your polling station and wellbeing services county
The elections to be held on Sunday 23 January 2022 are the first county elections in Finland. In the elections, representatives for the county councils will be elected. The county councils will be responsible for organising healthcare, social welfare and rescue services in the wellbeing services counties from the beginning of 2023. The county councils will start their work on 1 March 2022.
There are 21 wellbeing services counties. The division into counties is based on the current division into regions with the exception of the region of Uusimaa, which includes four wellbeing services counties. The residents of Helsinki will not vote in the county elections, because Helsinki does not form a wellbeing services county nor does it belong to any of the counties. Another exception is Åland, which is not affected by the health and social services reform.
In the county elections, voters may only vote for a candidate standing for election in their wellbeing services county. The wellbeing services county in which a voter is entitled to vote is determined based on their municipality of residence. Voters can check which wellbeing services county their municipality belongs to on the Electionsfinland.fi website.
On election day, 23 January 2022, voters may only vote at the polling station mentioned in the notice of right to vote sent to them, whereas during the advance voting period from 12 to 18 January 2022, voting is possible at any of the general advance polling stations.
The voting register for the 2022 county elections to be held in January was compiled based on the information contained in the Population Information System on 3 December 2021. If an eligible voter has moved after 3 December, the wellbeing services county in which they are entitled to vote and their election day polling station are determined based on the previous place of residence.
Information about county elections and voting - Electionsfinland.fi
Instructions for voters during COVID-19 - Electionsfinland.fi