Have your say in the elections
- Participation and influencing
- Decision making
This article has originally been published in the Espoo Magazine 4/2021. Read other articles in the Espoo Magazine 4/2021
The first county elections(external link, opens in a new window) will be held in January 2022. These elections are important, as they will elect the decision-makers of Finland’s future wellbeing services counties.
In the recent health and social services reform, Finland was divided into 21 wellbeing services counties. In addition to these, Helsinki will operate as its own separate area.
“Voting will play a significant role in the way future health and social services are constructed,” says Special Advisor Laura Nurminen from the Ministry of Justice.
“As for the elections themselves, we have taken precautions to ensure health security,” she promises.
What is a wellbeing services county?
A wellbeing services county is a public body that is separate from municipalities and the State. In the future, these counties will be responsible for organising health, social and rescue services.
These services will largely remain unchanged, as all personnel from municipalities and joint municipal authorities will be transferred to the new wellbeing services counties. The greatest impact on municipalities will be that costs associated with aging populations and morbidity will no longer be the responsibility of individual municipalities.
Who decides?
Each wellbeing services county will have its own county council. The council will be the county’s highest decision-making body and will be responsible for the county’s operations and finances. The county council will also appoint the county director. Applications are now being accepted for the position of county director, which will come into force on 1 January 2023.
Council members and their deputies will be elected via the county elections. Each county will have 59–89 council members depending on the county’s population. For Western Uusimaa, this means a total of 79 council members.
“The term of office for county councils will normally be four years. However, their first term of office will be slightly shorter, as the next county elections will be held in conjunction with municipal elections in April 2025,” says Nurminen.
Who can vote and where?
In the county elections, your constituency will be your wellbeing services county: Espoo will be part of the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County.
Electoral candidates can be nominated by political parties and constituency associations that are entered into the register of political parties. Political parties can form electoral alliances and constituency associations can form joint lists in the same way as in municipal and parliamentary elections.
You can vote in advance at any of the advance polling stations. If you vote on election day, you must vote at the polling station marked on your ballot paper.
- Advance voting in Finland: 12–18 January 2022
- Advance voting from abroad: 12–15 January 2022
- Official election day: 23 January 2022
- Results confirmed: 26 January 2022
- County councils will begin their term: 1 March 2022
Ask about the elections: Free-of-charge election service numbers: +358 800 94770 (Finnish) and +358 800 94771 (Swedish).
WhatsApp messaging service: +358 50 4388730.
More information about the elections: vaalit.fi(external link, opens in a new window)
