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Advance voting starts in European elections

Europe elects a new parliament on 9 June, and in Finland people are already making their choices at the ballot box.

Voting runs from 29 May to 4 June in Finland.
  • Yle News

Advance voting in the European elections starts on Wednesday and ends next Tuesday, 4 June. In Finland, the whole country is a single electoral district, allowing voters to select any candidate running for election regardless of their location.

You can find out where to vote using the Polling Station Service run by the Ministry of Justice. There are 931 advance voting stations in schools, community centres, municipal buildings and supermarkets, among other places.

Yle's election compass offers an insight into candidates' stances on a number of issues, and gives a personalised view of which candidates might be closest to you on several issues.

Our APN podcast explored the compass with two voters, asking how it helps them decide who to vote for. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Who rules Europe?

Citizens of any EU country legally resident in Finland 51 days before the election date are eligible to vote in this election, even if they are not Finnish citizens, so long as they have registered to vote.

For example, 513 single-country national Italian citizens are registered to vote in the election in Finland, with 1,558 Estonians able to vote on this side of the Gulf of Finland. The same goes for 1,493 Germans, 972 Swedes and 549 French people.

In total some 7,687 citizens of other EU countries are eligible to vote in this election in Finland. Around 12,000 Finnish citizens are registered to vote in other EU countries due to residence.

Regardless of residence, people are permitted to vote in only one EU country.

Some 22,000 first-time voters have turned 18 since the presidential election. In total, there are some 4.56 million voters in Finland.

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