Finland: Advance voting abroad in Finland’s municipal elections in 2021

NordenBladet — The municipal elections will be held on Sunday 18 April 2021. Advance voting will be possible abroad from 7 to 10 April 2021. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for the organisation of advance voting abroad.

The advance polling stations abroad will be located in Finland’s diplomatic and consular missions or their offices in 75 different countries. A total of 108 advance polling stations will be open abroad.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for the organisation of advance voting in Finland’s missions abroad and on board Finnish ships sailing outside the Finnish territory during the advance voting period.In municipal elections, the right to vote is linked with residency in the municipality in question, which means that Finns residing permanently abroad are not entitled to vote in the municipal elections.

The Ministry of Justice of Finland has the overall responsibility for conducting the elections. A list of the advance polling stations and their opening hours will be published at vaalit.fi on 29 January 2021. This news article will be updated with the list after that date.

Voters who are eligible to vote in municipal elections can exercise their right to vote also through postal voting, which is organised by the Ministry of Justice. Eligible voters are requested to order the postal voting documents also in the case that they are planning to cast their vote abroad during the actual advance voting period. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible that voting cannot be organised in the advance polling stations as planned because local authorities may impose restrictions or lockdowns at short notice. Information on the dates, instructions and an order form for postal voting documents are available at vaalit.fi.

Read more about the advance voting on the missions’ websites.