Advance voting in Finnish county elections 2022 in Japan
Finland’s county elections will be held on Sunday 23rd January 2022. The advance voting period will be in Finland 12th–18th January and abroad 12th–15th January 2022. Abroad, advance voting will be organized by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 96 places in 71 different countries.
In Japan advance voting will take place in Tokyo from 12th to 15th January 2022. Eligible voters staying abroad during the advance voting period and on election day may also vote in advance by post from abroad.
The new wellbeing services counties will constitute the electoral districts for the county elections. In the elections, the members and deputy members of county councils will be elected in each wellbeing services county. The county councils will be responsible for organising health, social and rescue services tasks in the wellbeing services counties. No county elections will be conducted in Helsinki or the Åland Islands. They organize their health, social and rescue services without being part of a wellbeing services counties.
The right to vote in Finnish county elections is determined in the same way as in municipal elections. The right to vote is linked with residency in the county. Therefore, Finns residing permanently abroad are not entitled to vote in the Finnish county elections. Read more about the right to vote directly from the vaalit.fi website(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window).
The Ministry of Justice of Finland has the overall responsibility for conducting the elections. It has published a list of the advance polling stations and their opening hours on its website at vaalit.fi(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), and general information about the county elections(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window).
Advance polling station in Japan
Embassy of Finland, Tokyo
3-5-39, Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 106-8561
Tel. +81 3 5447 6000
Opening hours:
12.-13.1.2022 at 14:00 – 17:00
14.1.2022 at 14:00 – 20:00
15.1.2022 at 14:00 – 18:00
Postal voting
Persons living or staying abroad for the duration of the entire advance voting period and on election day may vote by post in general elections. Finns permanently residing abroad do not have the right to vote in the county elections.
Eligible voters who are planning to vote at an advance polling station abroad are also encouraged to order the postal voting documents, as it is possible that advance voting cannot be organised as planned due to the COVID-19 situation. The epidemic may also affect the availability of postal services in some countries.
Regarding the County Elections 2022, the postal voting documents can now be ordered. The first possible date for postal voting is 23 December 2021, when the candidates and their candidate numbers will be confirmed. The postal vote must arrive at the central municipal election board of your municipality of residence by 19.00 on Friday 21 January 2022.
Possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible that voting cannot be organised in the advance polling stations as planned because local authorities may impose restrictions or lockdowns at short notice.