Finns vote today to elect new President

The presidential election will be held across the country today (Sunday) to elect the new President for the next six years.

A total of 4546041 voters including 2355921 women and 2190120 men will elect the president out of nine candidates through exercising their rights of franchise from 9.00am to 8.00pm.

A total of 955 general polling stations were set up across the country for the election.

The candidates are former Foreign Minister and Vihreä Liitto (Green Party) leader Pekka Haavisto, former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb (Kansallinen Kokoomus-National Coalition Party), former lawmaker and Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn of Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland), former Chairperson of Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland -SDP) Jutta Urpilainen, Vasemmistoliitto (Left Alliance) Chairperson Li Andersson, Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party) leader and Speaker of the Parliament Jussi Halla-aho, SuomenKristillisdemokraatit (Christian Democrats of Finland-CD) Chairperson Sari Essayah, Liike Nyt (Movement Now) lawmaker Harry Harkimo and Independent candidate Mika Aaltola.

The presidential election may consist of two rounds, if necessary. If one of the candidates receives more than half of the votes in the first round, that person will be elected President.

If none of the candidates receives more than half of the votes in the first round, a second round will be held between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round.

The election day for the second round, if needed will be conducted, on February 11. The advance voting period for the possible second round is from January 31 to February 6 in Finland and from January 31 to February 3 abroad.

Meanwhile, a total of 1912458 people cast votes in advance in Finland in the, which is 44.7 percent of the total voters living in the country, said the Statistics of the Ministry of Justice after end of the advance voting.

A total of 58,757 persons cast their vote in advance at Finland’s missions abroad. The number of crew members who voted on board Finnish vessels was 223, according to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

According to the Population Register Centre, over 263,000 persons with a permanent residence abroad were eligible to vote in this year’s elections.

The preliminary results of the vote count in the presidential election to be conducted on Sunday will be published in the Result Service of the Ministry of Justice starting at 20.00 on election day.

The term of office of the President of the Republic begins on the first day of the month following the election, in other words on 1 February 2024 if only one round is conducted, or on 1 March 2024 if two rounds are conducted.