Important reminder for voters: About 1.5 million have been notified of their eligibility to vote in the upcoming county and municipal elections electronically

Advance voting in the county and municipal elections begins today on 2 April 2025. During the advance voting period, voters may vote at any public advance polling station, whereas on the actual election day, voting is only possible at the polling station mentioned in the polling card sent to the voters.

The polling cards for the county and municipal elections were send at the turn of February and March to all eligible voters. Those who have activated Suomi.fi Messages have only received their polling card electronically. If a person does not use Suomi.fi Messages, the notification has been delivered by post. Polling cards sent by post have been delivered to the address registered by the person in the Population Information System.

"If you haven't received a polling card by post, you should check your Suomi.fi Messages. While you're there, make sure that you have the correct email address in the Suomi.fi Messages settings. Notifications of new incoming messages are sent to the email address that the user has entered into the service," says Maria Juka-Lahdenperä, Service Owner of Suomi.fi Messages from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

You can read Suomi.fi Messages by downloading the Suomi.fi mobile application or by using strong identification in the Suomi.fi Web Service at https://suomi.fi. You can use online banking codes, a mobile certificate or the Citizen Certificate on your ID card to identify yourself.

The polling card indicates the polling station on the actual election day

Otto Palmu, Election Manager at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, points out that those intending to vote on the actual election day on 13 April 2025 should also open the received polling card and check their polling station on the election day. This applies to both paper and electronic notifications.

"On the election day, you can only vote at the polling station mentioned in the polling card. That's why it's important to check your polling station. However, voters don't need to bring the polling card to the polling station to vote – a photo ID is all you need. On the other hand, taking the notification with you may be useful if you vote in advance abroad or in a hospital, a prison or a retirement home," Palmu says.