European Elections on 7 June 2009

In Finland election day is 7 June 2009. The number of members elected from Finland is 13.

4.2 million are entitled to vote

Every Finnish citizen, regardless of domicile, who have reached the age of 18 on or before election day are eligible to vote. However, a Finnish citizen, who has registered as a voter in another Member State, is not entitled to vote in the European elections in Finland. A total of 4 354 352 citizens are entitled to vote in the European Elections.

In addition, citizens of other Member States of the European Union who have reached the age of 18 and whose domicile is in Finland are entitled to vote in the European elections in Finland, provided that they have registered with the voting register in Finland. For this year’s European Elections, 6 215 such registrations were made.

The Population Register Centre will send every Finnish citizen a notice of their right to vote, which states the polling station where they should vote. The Ministry of Justice and the EP information office will also send a letter to around 40 000 first time voters.

Both in connection with advance voting and voting on the election day, voters must have their photo identity card with them. To speed up the voting process, it is also good to bring along the notice of the right to vote.

In the European Elections the candidates are the same in the entire country, which means that the voters may vote for any of the candidates. The list of candidates and the candidate numbers are confirmed on 7 May.

Voting in Finland and abroad

In Finland advance voting begins on 27 May. The last day for advance voting is 2 June. However, advance voting is not arranged on Whit Sunday (31 May).

The opening hours of the advance polling stations may vary, but at least one polling station is open on every advance voting day in almost every municipality. Advance voting abroad begins on 27 May and ends at the latest on 30 May. At several advance polling stations abroad the advance voting period is shorter than this.

Those entitled to vote may vote in advance at any of the general advance polling stations in Finland or abroad. For information about the addresses and opening hours of the polling stations, the Ministry of Justice has arranged an information service number and information is also provided at the Ministry’s elections website at www.vaalit.fi. The information service for citizens is free of charge and information is given both in Finnish at +358-800-1-57575 and in Swedish at +358-800-1-38383.

People whose ability to move or function is so limited that they are unable to access an advance polling station or a polling station on election day may vote in advance at home. The intention to vote at home must be notified to the central election committee of the person’s home municipality at the latest on 26 May before 4 p.m.

Voting on Election Day

Election day in Finland is Sunday, 7 June 2009. The polling stations are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. On election day it is only possible to vote at the polling station stated on the notice of the right to vote.

Election results published after 8 p.m.

The counting of the votes begins on 7 June as soon as the polling stations have closed. Preliminary results of the advance voting are published after 8 p.m., when the preliminary counting of the advance votes is completed.

In European Elections the electoral district committees count the advance votes and control the preliminary count. In a meeting that begins on 16 June at 6 p.m., the electoral district committees confirm the total number of votes of each candidate, party and electoral alliance and the same evening the Electoral District Committee of Helsinki confirms the results in the entire country.

Election Financing must be notified to the National Audit Office of Finland

Those elected Members of the European Parliament and those appointed Deputy Members are obliged to submit a notification on their election financing to the National Audit Office of Finland. The notification must be submitted by 10 August 2009 at the latest.

The notification must include the total costs of the election campaign of the candidate. The costs are itemised into the candidate’s own funds and outside support. Support from outside is classified in terms of contributions from private persons, enterprises, party organisations and other corresponding important donors.

The value of each contribution and the name of the donor shall be stated separately, if the value is at least 3,400 EUR. The names of private donors may not be given without their express consent if their contribution is smaller than the amount referred to above.

Further information:
Election Director, Mr. Arto Jääskeläinen, tel. +358 9 1606 7572
Ministerial Adviser, Mr. Jussi Aaltonen, tel. +358 9 1606 7620

Visit the elections website for more information and results

The elections website of the Ministry of Justice at www.vaalit.fi contains

- information about the European Elections in different languages: Finnish, Swedish, Skolt Sami, Inari Sami, Northern Sami, English, Estonian, Russian, Somali and Finnish and Swedish sign language.

- advance polling stations and their opening hours

- information about the candidates and the candidate numbers as of 8 May

- at 6 and 9 p.m. on each day of advance voting: the number of advance votes cast in the country and at 9 p.m. also the number of advance votes cast in different electoral districts and municipalities. On Saturday this information is published already at 5 p.m.

- preliminary results on the election day 7 June: the names of the elected Members of the European Parliament and the number of votes they received. Also information about the number of votes and percentage of votes for each party in the entire country, in the electoral districts and in the municipalities.