With Tuesday the final day to cast an advance vote in Finland's municipal and county elections, Helsingin Sanomat reports on how Finland is facing a "democratic crisis" as demographic shifts play an important role in this year's vote.
The last municipal election was in 2021 and, HS notes, there are now tens of thousands more foreigners eligible to vote compared to then — swelling the so-called 'foreign vote' to about 260,000.
Despite this change, Helsinki University political scientist Johanna Vuorelma tells HS that Finland's political parties have yet to wake up to the growing potential of foreign-language voters.
"If I look at the parties' campaigning, I don’t think foreign language use has been particularly taken into account," Vuorelma says. "Their programmes do not highlight themes that would represent the needs of foreign language groups."
This is further reflected by the fact that minority language groups are poorly represented on city and municipal councils across the country, Vuorelma further notes, citing the lack of diversity on Helsinki city council as an example.
This disconnect also adversely affects voter turnout among foreign-background communities, which stood at just 23 percent at the last municipal election (compared to 55 percent among the native Finnish population, itself a relatively poor level of engagement).
If people of foreign backgrounds were to turn out — or not turn out, as the case may be — at the same rate this time around, the impact alone could shave another full percentage point off the overall number.
Vuorelma tells HS that this would represent a "democratic crisis".
"The 55 percent [turnout] last time was already at a critical level. Below 50 percent would be an alarming situation," she says, noting that the legitimacy of the result would be threatened if less than half of the electorate votes.
The All Points North podcast hosted a panel election special to discuss the key issues in Finland's municipal and council elections. You can watch the episode from the player below or listen via Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Kela quandry
Staying with the subject of the elections, Ilta-Sanomat reports that the appointment of Kela's new boss has become an odd political sideshow on the fringes of the campaign.
Kela, Finland's social benefits agency, is looking for a new director general after incumbent Outi Antila announced in January that she intends to retire at the end of May.
It's a prominent public position, with a monthly salary of about 20,000 euros, and several well-known politicians were quick to throw their hats into the ring — including Finland's current Minister for Employment Arto Satonen (NCP).
However, according to Ilta-Sanomat's source, the government parties are hoping to delay the announcement of Antila's successor until after the municipal and council elections — as the appointment of Satonen could look strange to some voters.
The source further reveals that Satonen is not even the preferred candidate, making the foot-dragging even more difficult to understand.
"Absolutely ridiculous. A completely senseless solution," the unnamed source says.
The paper also reports that a meeting of Kela's council, the body which ultimately decides on the appointment, will take place on Tuesday evening to discuss the situation and the candidates.
There are a total of 12 councillors, IS adds, four from the National Coalition Party and three from the Finns Party — meaning the government parties have a majority vote and Satonen could still find himself appointed to the position.
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Snow and strong winds on the way
The cat-and-mouse game that is the arrival of Finnish spring will take a wintry turn this week, according to tabloid Iltalehti.
IL writes that several low pressure fronts, accompanied by strong winds, are set to move across Finland on Wednesday, bringing snowfall and poor driving conditions to many parts of the country.
These wintry conditions will continue into Thursday and Friday, the paper adds, with up to 5 centimeters of snow expected in southern and central areas.
This is bad news in particular for any overly-optimistic motorist out there who may have already switched to summer tyres.
"If you have already changed to summer tyres, it is worth monitoring the development of the driving conditions closely on Wednesday and from Thursday evening onwards. Especially early Friday morning, the roads may be wintry in places, and in these conditions it is worth avoiding driving with summer tyres," Ari-Juhani Punkka of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) tells IL.
In addition, the institute has issued a wildfire warning for southern and southeastern parts of the country due to the dryness of soil and the expected arrival of strong winds.
Edit note: Article updated at 13:47 on 8.4.2025 to correct the number of eligible foreign-background voters.
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