Elections to 21 counties of wellbeing today

The first ever elections to 21 wellbeing services counties (social, health and rescue services) in the country will be held on Sunday amid worsening coronavirus situation.

Total of 3927728 voters comprising 1989833 females and 1937895 males will choose their representatives to the wellbeing services counties through the ballot scheduled for 9.00am to 8.00pm.

A total of 1,664 polling stations were set up across the country for Sunday´s elections.

In the meantime, a total of 1042223 or 26.5 per cent of the voters have already cast votes in advance from January 12 to January 18, official sources said.

A total of 10,584 candidates are contesting the polls.

The elections will be held as part of the country's social and health care overhaul. Responsibility for health and social services is transferred to 21 welfare districts.

The 21 regions will also be in charge of fire safety and rescue.

The residents of Helsinki will not vote in the elections, because the City of Helsinki will continue to be responsible for social, health and rescue services in Helsinki.

Åland will be also excluded in the polls as it will be not affected by the health and social services reform.

The Ministry of Justice and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) have taken the development of the epidemic into account in the practical election arrangements. According to the THL, voting is a low-risk activity.

The authorities urged the people to wear face mask, use hand sanitiser and maintain sufficient physical distance from others at the polling station.

People who reach the age of 18 years on election day at the latest have the right to vote in the county elections in their wellbeing services county.

In addition to Finnish citizens, those citizens of EU Member States, Iceland and Norway who have a municipality of residence in Finland are also entitled to vote. Other foreign citizens are entitled to vote if they have had a municipality of residence in Finland for at least two years.

Voters must present proof of their identity when voting at a polling station. Official photo IDs, such as a passport, identity card and driving licence, are accepted as proof of identity. The old cardboard driving licence is also accepted, if the voter can be identified from the photo and the election official can thus reliably verify the voter's identity.

Preliminary results of the county elections will be published online in the Result Service of the Ministry of Justice starting at 20.00 on election day.