Electoral rights of foreign nationals in county elections of Finland
Right to vote
The right to vote in county elections is determined in the same way as in municipal elections: a person who reaches the age of 18 years no later than on election day has the right to vote, if they are
- a citizen of Finland or another EU Member State, Iceland or Norway and their municipality of residence is a municipality belonging to the wellbeing services county in question on the 51st day before election day; or
- a citizen of some other state and their municipality of residence is a municipality belonging to the wellbeing services county in question on the 51st day before election day and the person has, on that date, had a municipality of residence in Finland for an uninterrupted period of two years.
No one needs to separately register to be entered in the voting register for county elections. Instead, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency compiles the register by virtue of office, based on the information entered in the Finnish Population Information System for each individual.
Right to stand as a candidate
As a rule, every person entitled to vote in county elections is also eligible to stand as a candidate in county elections. However, persons who have been declared legally incompetent by a court decision and persons who perform certain tasks related to wellbeing services counties referred to in section 77 of the Act on Wellbeing Services Counties are not eligible to stand as candidates in county elections.
Candidates may be nominated by (a) political parties and (b) constituency associations. To become a candidate of a political party, the person must agree on this with the party in question. To become a candidate of a constituency association, the person must collect the signatures of at least 50 persons entitled to vote in the wellbeing services county in question in support of his or her candidacy. Further information on the nomination of candidates is provided by:
- registered political parties, and
- county election boards, if the question concerns the establishment of a constituency association.
