County and municipal elections are held today, allowing Finns to influence their representatives in councils for the next four years.
County elections and municipal elections are held simultaneously today. Finns vote to influence who will sit in the county and municipal councils for the next four years.
While the first municipal elections were held in 1918, the first county elections, except for Helsinki, were held nationwide.
Residents of Helsinki will only vote in the municipal elections, because Helsinki does not belong to a wellbeing services county and is responsible for its own health, social and rescue services.
In the county elections, voters will elect representatives for county councils, which, like in Helsinki, decide on organizing and providing health, social and rescue services in wellbeing services counties.
In the municipal elections, voters will elect representatives for municipal councils. Municipal councils decide on the activities and finances of municipalities.
According to Statistics Finland, 10,097 candidates are nominated for the 2025 county elections, which is 487 candidates (4.6%) fewer than in the previous elections.
Almost 48% of the candidates are women. More than 90% of the county election candidates are also standing in the municipal elections. A total of sixteen registered parties are participating in the county elections.
The number of candidates in the 2025 municipal elections has significantly decreased compared to the previous elections.
This year’s municipal elections will feature 29,950 candidates, 5,700 fewer than in 2021, with an average of 3.5 candidates per council seat, down from 4.0 in the last elections.
In practice, 63 municipalities have fewer than two candidates per council seat. In other words, in at least one in five Finnish municipalities, at least half of the candidates will be elected.
The National Coalition Party (NCP) has gained ground on the leading Social Democratic Party (SDP) in both county and municipal elections, according to the latest opinion poll by national broadcaster YLE.
The top two parties are nearly evenly matched in both elections, each with around 21% support. The SDP is backed by 21.3% of respondents in the county elections and 20.8% in the municipal elections, while the NCP has 21% support in the county elections and 20.7% in the municipal elections.
In the 2025 county elections, citizens of Finland, other EU Member States, Iceland and Norway who live in a wellbeing services county and turn 18 by election day, April 13, 2025, are eligible to vote.
In the municipal elections of 2025, residents of Finland, along with citizens from other EU Member States, Iceland and Norway who reside in the relevant municipality and will be 18 years old by election day on April 13, 2025, are permitted to vote.
The voting ends at 20:00. After that, the vote counting and election night coverage will begin.
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Source: finlandtoday.fi
