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Where and how to vote?
Primary method: Voters in Finland can vote in person on election day at the polling station indicated in the electoral roll and on the notification card sent to them before the elections.
Alternative methods: Voters in Finland can vote in advance in a number of situations:
- At municipal offices and post offices designated as general advanced polling stations and identified in the notification card (at least one per municipality, including Finnish embassies abroad).
- In hospitals, prisons and some other institutions (only in case of treatment or incarceration).
- At home (in case of illness, disability, etc.) when requested in advance to the municipality.
Voting by proxy or online is not possible in Finland.
Polling day requirements: Voters need to prove their identity at the polling station in order to cast their vote using an identity card, a passport, a driving licence or any other official photo ID. The same requirements apply to both nationals and mobile EU citizens.
Who can vote?
General. An individual must meet the following requirements to vote in EP elections in Finland:
- hold Finnish citizenship or be a citizen of another EU Member State;
- be at least 18 years of age;
- not be excluded from voting.
Mobile EU citizens. EU citizens must have lived in Finland for at least 51 days immediately before election day.
Registration requirements.
Nationals. Finnish citizens do not need to registered in advance in order to vote as this is done automatically.
Finnish citizens residing outside Finland or taying abroad during the elections can vote in person at an advanced polling station set up at Finnish embassies. Voters also have the possibility to vote by post. To do so they must go online to order the postal voting documents to an address abroad and are able do so three months before the election day at the earliest (https://vaalit.fi/kirjeaanestys). The voter must vote in the presence of two witnesses. The ballot paper will have to be returned to the relevant municipal election board between one month and the Friday before the election day.
Mobile EU citizens. Mobile EU citizens need to register at least 80 days before election day so that the Population Register Centre can include them in the electoral list .
Exclusions
Mobile EU citizens who have lost their right to vote in their home Member State cannot vote in EP elections in Finland. Finland does not impose restrictions on the rights of prisoners to vote.