Advance voting in parliamentary polls begins today

The advance voting for the parliamentary elections will begin on Wednesday to elect 200 lawmakers from a total of 2468 candidates for a four-year term.

Domestically, the early voting will last for one week until April 9. The advance voting period abroad is from April 3 to 6.

The parliamentary elections will be held on 14 April 2019.

The ministry of Justice has completed all-out preparations to successfully hold the elections.

A total of 911 polling stations were set up in the country for the advance voting. The advance polling stations will be set up mainly at town halls, libraries and other municipal agencies and offices.

Abroad, advance voting will be held at 219 Finnish diplomatic or consular missions or their offices in 86 different countries.

At some of these advance polling stations, voting will be possible on all days during the advance voting period.

Most of the advance polling stations abroad will, however, be open for a shorter period.

There will be 1,943 election day polling stations around the country.

The voter is obliged to present a proof of his or her identity. An official photo ID is required, such as a passport, an identity card or a driving licence.

People whose ability to move is so restricted that they are unable to come to an advance polling station or a polling station on election day may vote in advance in their own home.

Those who wish to vote in advance in their home had to notify the central municipal election board of their home municipality April 2.

The election day is Sunday 14 April, and the polling stations will then be open between 9.00 and 20.00. On election day, voters may cast their votes only at the polling station specified on the polling card sent to them before the elections.

The counting of advance votes will be started already during the election day. 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 advance vote count will mainly be completed.

Preliminary results of the elections will be available during the evening of the election day and the following night.

A recount of the votes will be conducted in the constituency electoral committees on Monday 15 April. The constituency electoral committees will confirm the final results of the elections on Wednesday 17 April.