More votes rejected in municipal, county polls this year

A significant number of votes were rejected in the municipal and county elections held simultaneously in Finland on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Justice, the authority to hold elections in the country.

A total of 83,713 votes were rejected in the county polls and the number was 4.1 percent of the total votes cast in the elections and 3.7 percent higher compared to the rejected votes in the previous elections.

In the municipal elections, a total of 41,697 votes were rejected and the number was 1.7 percent of the total votes cast in the polls and 1.2 percent higher than the rejected votes in the last municipal elections.

In most cases, the votes were rejected due to illegibility, keeping the ballot blank and marking something other than a valid candidate number.

Some voters and candidates opined that this year voting for two elections was held simultaneously for the first time and some people might have mixed up the two different numbers for two specific ballots.

In most cases the candidates (excepting the candidates in Helsinki City) had two separate numbers- one for county and another for municipal polls that might create scope to write the candidate number in wrong ballot.

“I knew from one voter that she mistakenly wrote the number for municipal elections in the ballot of county polls and the number for county elections in the ballot of municipal polls resulting rejection of both the votes,” said a politician, adding that although there were separate arrangements for casting votes one after another in the polling stations.