Election officials

Election officials manage the at-home voting process as well as the advance voting process at the general advance polling stations in Finland, in the Finnish diplomatic missions and on Finnish ships. At least two election officials shall be appointed for each general advance polling station in Finland. Where necessary, there may be two or more election officials also at other advance polling stations.

The central municipal election board appoints the election officials for the general advance polling stations in Finland. In other cases, the election officials are as follows:

1)  in Finnish diplomatic missions, the Head of Mission or a person appointed by the Head of Mission;

2)  on a Finnish ship, the master of the ship or a person serving on the ship appointed by the master of theship.

For the purpose of conducting the advance voting at a general advance polling station in Finland, at least two election officials shall be present simultaneously. For the purpose of conducting the advance voting at other advance polling stations for which two or more election officials have been appointed or assigned, it is sufficient that one election official is present. One election official conducts each individual at-home voting.

A candidate or his or her spouse, child, sibling or parent cannot act as an election official. A spouse refers to a married spouse, a domestic partner and a partner in a registered partnership. The provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act on disqualification are not applied to election officials.

A candidate or a person close to a candidate as referred to above may, however, act as an election official in a Finnish diplomatic mission or on a Finnish ship, if no other person suitable for the task is available and the advance voting could not for this reason be otherwise conducted.