Vaalipooli - Valpoolen - Election Pool

Goals and results

The objective of the project is to strengthen cooperation among authorities and cooperation with social media in addressing election interference and improving election preparedness.

The concrete actions of the project under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice are 1) creation of an online tool/platform to support the work of the election authorities, 2) training of authorities and political parties in supporting free and fair elections, 3) participation in EU cooperation on election preparedness.

Summary

From 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2021, the Ministry of Justice will implement the Election Pool project, which will support elections and cooperation between authorities. The project is funded by the European Commission’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme. The objective of the project is to strengthen cooperation among authorities and cooperation with social media in addressing election interference and improving election preparedness.

Starting points

Election interference aims to undermine citizens’ trust in society and the underlying democratic system and decision-making. Election interference may also be related to broader planned activities or hybrid influence. Influence can be used, among other things, to steer social debate. If a discussion is about invented topics or is based on lies, the topics discussed are wrong. If this affects the election result, the impact can be detrimental to society.

Being prepared is part of the authorities’ statutory tasks. As the world around us changes, the authorities must also constantly assess the effects of the changes on Finnish society. These changes must be taken into account in all activities. The authorities have been preparing for information operations for years. The key themes in preparing for election interference are trust and maintaining trust.