Organisation : Elections Website of Ministry of Justice Finland
Facility : Municipal Elections
Country : Finland
Municipal Elections/ Home Page : https://vaalit.fi/en/frontpage
Municipal Elections on 9 April 2017 :
In Finland, the election day is Sunday 9 April 2017, and the advance voting between 29 Mars and 4 April and abroad between 29 March and 1 April 2017.
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Voting :
A person entitled to vote may vote either 1) in advance or 2) on election day.
VOTING ON ELECTION DAY :
On election day the polling stations are open between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. There is at least one polling station in every municipality, and the total number is approximately 2200. Voters may cast their votes at the polling station stated in the voting register and on the card sent to them before the elections.
VOTING IN ADVANCE :
The advance voting begins on Wednesday eleven days before election day, and ends abroad on Saturday eight days and in Finland on Tuesday five days before election day.
Right to Vote and Compilation of the Voting Register :
Entitled to vote in municipal elections are :
1) citizens of Finland or another Member State of the European Union as well as of Iceland and Norway who have reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election, and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is the municipality in question on the 51st day before election day, and
2) other foreigners who have reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election, and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is the municipality in question on the 51st day before election day, and who at that time have had a municipality of residence in Finland for an uninterrupted period of two years.
Compilation of the Voting Rights :
** The Population Register Centre compiles a computer register of everyone entitled to vote (voting register) 46 days before election day.
** This registers contains some of the information on the voters (e.g. name, personal number, electoral district, municipality of residence, and polling station) which was in the Population Information System 51 days before election day.
** The voting register is publicly available at the civic administration (maistraatti) from day 41 before election day.
** In addition, everyone in the register is sent a notice of his or her right to vote (card of information) not later than 24 days before election day.
** The card states i.a. the election day, the days for advance voting, the address of the polling station of the recipient, and the addresses and telephone numbers of the election authorities.
** The voting register is later used to print out electoral rolls for the polling stations on election day.
** Claims for correction of the register have to be submitted to the civic administration not later than 16 days before election day.
** A correction may be demanded e.g. if somebody considers that he or she has without cause been left out of the register or that the information in the register is incorrect.
** The civic administration shall decide the claims not later than 13 days before election day.
** A person not satisfied with a decision may appeal against it to a regional administrative court within seven days of service.
** The decision of the regional administrative court is not subject to appeal.
** An appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court is, however, possible in accordance with so-called extraordinary rights of appeal, i.e. an extraordinary appeal or application for the annulment of the administrative decision or for the restoration of lapsed time may be submitted.
** These are nevertheless extremely rare.
** The voting register becomes legally valid at noon 12 days before election day.
** After this it may not be amended, i.e. a person may neither be erased from nor added to the register and the information may not be changed.
** The only exceptions to this are the cases in which a regional administrative court or the Supreme Administrative Court reaches its decision after the register has already become legally valid.
** Then persons who e.g. pursuant to the court decision have been added to the voting register may vote in the elections, but they have to take the decision with them to the polling station and present it to the election authorities.
Eligibility and Nomination of Candidates :
Eligible as candidates are persons
1) whose municipality of residence is the municipality in question,
2) who are entitled to vote in municipal elections in some municipality, and
3) who are not legally incompetent.
Candidates may be nominated :
1) by parties entered in the party register and
2) by constituency associations established by people entitled to vote.
** Each party may nominate a number of candidates equalling the number of councillors to be elected multiplied by one and a half.
** Parties may form electoral alliances, but the number of candidates nominated by an alliance may not exceed the maximum number of candidates for a single party.
** A constituency association for the nomination of one candidate may be established by at least ten people who are entitled to vote in the municipality.
** In some small municipalities determined by the Ministry of Justice a constituency association may, however, be established by at least three persons entitled to vote.
** Constituency associations may form joint lists with a maximum number of candidates equalling the number of councillors to be elected multiplied by one and a half.
Candidate application :
A party or constituency association has to submit its list of candidates (candidate application) to the central election committee of the municipality not later than 40 days before election day at 4 p.m. (in the municipal elections 2004 the deadline is 14 September). The same deadline applies to notices of electoral alliances and joint lists. At the latest on the 48 th day prior to the polling day (in the next elections 6 September 2004), the central election committee of the municipality gives out an announcement of the instructions to whom, on what date and at what time and where the candidate applications and other documents relating to the nomination of candidates intended for the authority shall be submitted.
Compilation of the combined list of candidates :
The central election committee controls the lists of candidates, especially whether the candidates are eligible, and confirms the nomination of candidates 31 days before election day. The committee compiles a combined list of candidates in which the candidates of all parties, constituency associations and joint lists are enumerated in an order drawn by lot. The combined list contains the following information on the candidates number (beginning with number 2), name and title, profession or position. The combined list of candidates is displayed i.a. in the polling booths