Municipality elections 2025
County and municipal elections will be held at the same time on Sunday 13.4.2025. By voting, you can influence who decides on the important issues that affect everyone’s daily life for the next four years.
The year 2025 truly is a celebration of democracy as at the same time we are celebrating the 250th birthday of the city of Kuopio.
Read more about the County and Municipal elections 2025
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If you have Finnish citizenship
All Finnish citizens over the age of 18 can vote in elections.
If you have non-Finnish citizenship
You can vote if you have officially resided in Finland for at least 2 years. The 2 years are counted 51 days before the election day.
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- Always go to the polling booth alone
- Do not take photos at the polling station or of your ballot paper
- No need to take the letter sent to you by post when you go vote. A photo ID, such as a passport or driver`s licence, is enough.
- You don`t have to tell anyone who you will vote or have voted for. Nobody is allowed to pressure you to vote a particular person.
- Write only you candidate`s number on the ballot paper, nothing else.
- You can`t vote online in Finland. Another person can`t vote for you.
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County elections, the election of decision-makers for the welfare region, are held at the same time as the municipal elections.
While the municipal elections elect members of municipal councils, the county elections elect members of regional councils, which are responsible for organizing social and health services and rescue services in the welfare areas.
You can vote in both elections at the same time. However, if you wish, you can also vote in different elections on different days or vote in only one of the two elections.
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The full list of candidates can be found on the Ministry of Justice’s website: candidates, Kuopio
A good way to look for suitable candidates is to run tests on the election machines. There are many electoral machines and there are slight differences between them. Election machines also help to get an idea of what kind of issues are at stake in municipal elections. So it’s a useful way of finding out more about the themes of the elections.
Here is an example of an English-language electoral machine:
Yle electoral machine -
Instead of voting on election day (13.4.2025), a voter may vote in advance at any public advance polling station in the country or abroad.
Advance voting in Finland 2.-8.4.2025
Advance voting abroad 2.-5.4.2025For detailed information on advance polling stations in Kuopio, see the website of the Ministry of Justice: Kuopio, general advance polling stations in Finland