Parliamentary elections on Sunday 2 April 2023

Finland’s parliamentary elections will be held on 2 April 2023. In the elections, Finnish citizens entitled to vote will elect 200 Members of Parliament for a four-year electoral term.

For the purposes of parliamentary elections, Finland has been divided into 13 electoral districts. The number of representatives elected in each electoral district depends on the number of Finnish citizens residing in the electoral district six months prior to the elections. However, one representative is always elected in the electoral district of Åland.

Every Finnish citizen who reaches the age of 18 years on election day at the latest has the right to vote. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency has sent a notice of right to vote to each eligible voter either by post or electronically via the Suomi.fi service. The notice has been sent electronically to those eligible voters who have activated the Suomi.fi Messages Service and given their consent for official messages to be sent to the service.

The polling station at which the voter has to vote if they choose to vote on election day is stated on the notice of right to vote. A list of the advance polling stations in the voter's own electoral district is also enclosed to the notice.

In the parliamentary elections, voters may vote either on election day, which is Sunday 2 April, or in advance during the advance voting period, which is from 22 to 28 March. Voters may only vote for a person who stands as a candidate in the voter's own electoral district. This electoral district is stated on the notice of right to vote.

Voters must present proof of their identity both when voting on election day and when voting in advance. Official photo IDs, such as a passport, an identity card issued by the police and a driving licence, are accepted as proof of identity.

Advance voting in Finland and abroad

Eligible voters may vote in advance at any of the general advance polling stations in Finland or abroad.

The advance voting period for the parliamentary elections begins in Finland on Wednesday 22 March and ends on Tuesday 28 March. Advance voting is conducted abroad between 22 and 25 March, but the voting period is shorter than this at many of the advance polling stations abroad.

The addresses and opening hours of the advance polling stations in Finland and abroad are available at the Information and Result Service. This information is also available in the Polling Station Service of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at https://www.aanestyspaikat.fi. Voters may also ask about advance polling stations by calling the Elections Helpline free of charge:

• Helpline in Finnish: 0800 9 4770
• Helpline in Swedish: 0800 9 4771
• WhatsApp message service: 050 438 8730.

Persons whose ability to move and function is so restricted that they are unable to go to an advance polling station or an election day polling station without unreasonable difficulty may vote in advance in their own home. Those who wish to vote in advance in their home must notify the central municipal election board of their municipality of this by 16.00 on 21 March. The informal caregiver of a person entitled to vote at home, living in the same household, may under certain conditions also vote at home.

Persons residing or staying abroad for the entire advance voting period and on election day may vote by post from abroad. An eligible voter wishing to vote by post must order the postal voting documents to an address located abroad in advance, cast their vote after receiving the documents, and finally send the ballot to the central municipal election board of their municipality in Finland. Postal votes must arrive at the correct central municipal election board by 19.00 on Friday 30 March. More detailed instructions are available at https://vaalit.fi/en/postal-voting.

Voting on election day 2 April

All polling stations are open on election day from 9.00 to 20.00.

On election day, voters may only vote at the polling station specified in the notice of right to vote sent to them before the elections. Voters may also search for their election day polling station by entering their home address in the Polling Station Service of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at https://www.aanestyspaikat.fi.

Calculation of election results

The counting of advance votes will be started on election day while the voting still continues. The counting of votes cast on election day will be started once the polling stations have been closed. Preliminary information about the vote count will be published at 20.00 on election day, when the counting of advance votes is expected to be complete. The preliminary election results will be available during the evening and the following night. 

A recount of the votes will be conducted in the constituency electoral committees on Monday 3 April. The constituency electoral committees will confirm the final results of the elections on Wednesday 5 April.

The elected Parliament will start its work on Tuesday 11 April.

Information about parliamentary elections available in several languages

The Electionsfinland.fi website contains information about parliamentary elections in many languages (Finnish, Swedish, Skolt Sámi, Inari Sámi, North Sámi, and the Finnish and Finland-Swedish Sign Languages, and several most used foreign languages, such as English, Arabic, Estonian and Russian).

In addition, the YouTube channel of the Ministry of Justice contains videos on voting in easy-to-understand language and sign language. Brochures in easy-to-read Finnish and Swedish are also available. Information about elections is also provided in a format suitable for the visually impaired.

Election funding disclosure must be filed with the National Audit Office of Finland

The newly elected Members of Parliament and deputy Members of Parliament must file a disclosure of their election funding with the National Audit Office of Finland. The disclosure must be filed by 5 June 2023. More information about election funding disclosures is available at www.vaalirahoitus.fi.

Inquiries:
Arto Jääskeläinen, Director of Electoral Administration, tel. +358 2951 50128, [email protected]
Laura Nurminen, Senior Specialist, tel. +3582951 50008, [email protected]

Electionsfinland.fi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VaalitFI
Electionsfinland.fi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vaalit.fi 
Election videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/oikeusministerio/playlists

Information and election results are available at www.electionsfinland.fi

• Information about advance polling stations and their opening hours
• Information about the candidates and their candidate numbers. Candidate information is also available as downloadable files.  
• During the advance voting period, up-to-date information about the number of advance voters by municipality, by electoral district and in the entire country will be published on the elections website every hour (also during the weekend). 
• The progress of the preliminary vote count can be followed on the website during the evening of election day. Once the preliminary vote count is complete, the names of the Members of Parliament elected according to the preliminary vote count and the number of votes received by them will be published on the elections website. In addition, the number of votes and the percentage of all votes received by each political party in the entire country, in each electoral district and in each municipality will be published. Once the preliminary vote count is complete, the number of votes received by all candidates and voting district-specific information will be published on the website. The results of the preliminary vote count will also be made available as downloadable files once the count is complete.
• The confirmed final results will be published on the elections website once the recount of the votes is complete on Wednesday 5 April.