58,757 votes cast at advance polling stations abroad

A total of 58,757 persons cast their vote in advance in the presidential election at Finland’s missions abroad. The number of crew members who voted on board Finnish vessels was 223.

The number of advance voters increased by 6,253 in comparison to the 2018 presidential election when 52,504 persons cast their votes in the first round. This year, advance voting was arranged in 89 countries, which together had 219 polling stations. In addition, advance voting was arranged on board 50 Finnish vessels.

According to the Population Register Centre, over 263,000 persons with a permanent residence abroad were eligible to vote in this year’s elections. In addition, eligible voters staying abroad on a temporary basis had the right to vote at Finland’s missions.

Finns who permanently or temporarily reside or stay abroad have been able to vote by post since the 2019 parliamentary elections. Postal voting is now possible for the first time in the presidential election. Over 10,000 voters ordered the postal voting documents. The number of persons who voted by post is not yet known. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for organising and communicating about postal voting. 

As usual, the voter turnout was the highest in Sweden, where 14,630 votes were cast in advance. Spain saw the second highest turnout with 12,577 voters, followed by the United States (3,222 voters), the United Kingdom (2,998 voters) and Germany (2,849 voters).

The busiest polling station abroad was in Stockholm with 5,662 voters (4,295 in the 2018 election), followed by the three polling stations in Costa del Sol, Spain, with 6,162 voters (4,942 in the 2018 election) and the four polling stations on the Canary Islands with 3,615 voters (3,323 in the 2018 election). The number of votes cast in London was 2,029 (2,042 in the 2018 election).