Postal voting
Persons living or staying abroad during the entire advance voting period and on election day may vote by post from abroad in general elections. If you are eligible to vote and wish to vote by post, you must order the postal voting documents to an address abroad. You may then cast your vote and send it back to the central municipal election board of residence or population registration municipality in Finland.
Regarding the Presidential Election 2024, the postal voting documents can be ordered from 28 October 2023 onwards. To order the documents, use the link in the column on the right.
The first possible date for postal voting will be 21 December 2023, when the candidates and their candidate numbers are confirmed.
If a second round is held, you may only vote for a candidate in the second round after the result of the first round and the two candidates proceeding to the second round are known. In other words, if you wish to vote in both rounds, you will need to vote and return your postal vote to Finland two times. You cannot give your vote at the same time in both rounds of the election.
In the first round, your postal vote must arrive at the central municipal election board of your municipality of residence or population registration municipality by 19.00 on Friday 26 January 2024. In the possible second round, your postal vote must arrive by 19.00 on Friday 9 February 2024.
Things to take into account when voting by post
Once the voter has posted the postal vote covering envelope to Finland, the vote has been cast and the voter can no longer vote in the elections in question, for example at a mission abroad or at a polling station in Finland. A postal vote is final, in the same manner as all other votes, and it cannot be changed or replaced later.
The same standards apply for postal voting as for regular voting taking place before election authorities. For example, voting more often than once or in another person’s name is an offence punishable under the Criminal Code, as is influencing another person's voting by violence or threat of violence.
Make sure that your contact details are up-to-date
The Digital and Population Data Services Agency sends a notice of right to vote (polling card) to all eligible voters whose address is known. The polling card is sent to the voters around 1.5 months before the election day. The polling card indicates the address to which you must return your postal vote (the address of the central municipal election board of your municipality). Therefore, it is important that you make sure well in advance that your contact details are up-to-date in the Population Information System.
Read more on the website of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.