County and Municipal Elections 2025

County and Municipal electios in a nutshell

The 2025 County and Municipal elections will be held on Sunday 13 April 2025 to elect the decision-makers who will influence everyday services for the next four years.

  • The regional elections will elect the regional councillors responsible for social and health services in the welfare areas and for emergency services. The City of Helsinki and Åland do not participate in the regional elections.
  • The municipal elections elect municipal councillors who decide on the municipality’s finances and activities. In Åland, municipal elections will be held separately in autumn 2027.

You can vote either in advance or on election day

Advance voting in Finland 2.4 – 8.4. Information on advance polling stations can be found here
Advance voting abroad: 2 – 5 April 2025

Election day 13.4.

You will find information on your polling station on the day of the election in the voter notification sent to you and on the basis of an address search in the polling station service of the National Population and Registration Office from 18 March 2025.

Who gets to vote?

People living in Finland are entitled to vote:

  • Citizens of Finland, EU countries, Iceland and Norway
  • Other foreigners, if they have lived in Finland for at least two years
  • Employees and family members of international organisations under certain conditions

For more information on the elections:

This website contains basic information about the elections from the perspective of students and JAMKO, which you can read below. If you still have any questions, please send an email to Aamos aamos.wilhelms@jamko.fi. See you at the election events!

JAMKO’s Election Events

JAMKO’s election panel

Restaurant Twist at Main Campus, 27th of March, 18.00-20.00

JAMKO organizes its own election panel, where panelists who are candidates for the municipal and county elections will be asked questions. The questions are related to JAMKO’s election themes and are student-oriented. The panel can also be followed from afar through a stream. Would you like to influence the questions which will be asked? Suggest your own question with this form by Mar 23rd.

Line up to vote!

Main Library on the 2nd of April starting at 09:30.

Let’s vote together! JAMKO and JYY (University of Jyväskylä’s student union) are coordinating a queueing event on the first day of advance voting at the Main Library of the city. There will be election coffee and a badge on offer after voting!

Election street takeover

Kauppakatu 10th of April, 15.00-17.00

JAMKO and JYY will be visible at the election square together. The idea is to quiz the present municipal and county election candidates. You can also get an overall patch and pancakes from JAMKO’s and JYY’s shared tent near the Compass.

Why Should You Vote?

Voting in municipal and county elections is one of the most powerful ways to have an effect on one’s own future and day-to-day life. As a student of higher education, you are a student as well as a member of the local community – and in these specific elections things will be decided that directly affect your everyday life. Jyväskylä is the largest student city in Finland in terms of population. In a city of almost 143 000 inhabitants, about one in three of those are students. Of these, more than 20 000 are studying in higher education institutions. So your vote matters.

The voice of youth is not heard in decision-making. The percentage of young voters is usually lower compared to other age groups, which means that decisions are usually made by older generations – those who vote the most. This can mean that the needs of students and younger people are given less attention.

The flow of a student’s life is decided in municipalities. Think for example of public transit, the state of bicycle roads, library services, or the zoning of student apartments. If you want that there is a convenient way to the campus area and that rents remain affordable, your vote can affect that.

County councils decide on health services. When the flu knocks you out, or your mental health is in need of support, is the queue to the health clinic weeks-long or can you get treatment in time? The wellbeing of students can not be left in the dust – but for that, you need to use your legs and go vote.

Bring forth education and the voice of youth. Even though higher education is not within the responsibilities of counties or municipalities, decisions regarding educational institutions and their funding, facilities, and cooperation with local businesses directly impact students. The more young adults and students vote, the more will their needs be heard.

Voting is an investment on your own future. Even though municipal politics might seem distant, its decisions will affect what it is like to live and study in the city you live in. If you do not vote, others will decide for you.

With voting, you make the voice of students heard – and that in the future things will be decided together, not just by the terms of others. You are a part of this community. You have a say. Use it!

JAMKO's campaign priorities in the elections

JAMKO’s campaign priorities are based on the joint Municipal and County policy programme 2025-2029 of JAMKO, JYY and HUMAKO. The priorities have been selected from the programme to best affect the students of the university of applied sciences. Internationality and the consideration of international students permeate the priorities. They will be used as a basis for election advocacy and questions for the JAMKO election panel.

Welfare first – for every student!

The physical and mental well-being of students is the most important prerequisite for quality and smooth study, so health and physical activity services should be equally accessible to all students.

Student employment – the key to a vibrant Jyväskylä

Employment is an important factor that binds to the city. The city and the wellbeing services counties should contribute to increasing the supply and accessibility of jobs during studies, such as internships and summer jobs. The transfer of responsibility for employment and economic development services to the city must not reduce access to employment services in Jyväskylä and its surrounding municipalities. In addition, if Jyväskylä is to be viable in the future, the city’s employment services must take into account separately the position of students and international experts as job seekers.

Sustainable mobility as a basis for students’ everyday life

The majority of Jyväskylä students use public transport, cycling and walking. These modes of transport should be given special consideration in urban planning to ensure that mobility between campuses and housing is as easy and ecological as possible.

read more about the campaign prorities here

Read the whole Municipal and Regional Policy Programme here

Who gets to vote?

The right to vote depends on two things: Your municipality of residence and citizenship. 

Finnish citizens can vote, if they have a municipality of residence in Finland on 21.2.2025. Your municipality of residence is determined by where your residence is. Usually moving to the municipality where you study also means changing your municipality of residence, if the move lasts is thought to last over a year. There are exceptions, but for most students of higher education their municipality of residence should be the same as the municipality where they study.

Citizens of EU- and EEA-countries can vote based on the same principles as Finnish citizens. If they have a municipality of residence in Finland on the date when data is collected from the voting register, 21.2.2025, they can vote. As degree students usually reside in Finland for over a year, they usually have a right to vote.

The citizens of other countries can vote if their municipality of residence has been in Finland continuously for over two years before 21.2.205. This means that they must have moved to Finland at the latest February of 2023 and received a municipality of residence immediately.

Exchange students are not usually permanently registered in Finland as their stay usually lasts under a year. As they have no principality of residence, they also do not have a right to vote.

How and who can you vote!

Municipality and county elections are now, for the first time ever, being arranged at the same time. When you go to the polling station you will get two ballots. On the white ballot you will write the number of the candidate you would want to vote for the city council. On the purple ballot you will write the number of the candidate you would want for the county council. At the polling station there are election officials who can assist with what to do, so you do not have to worry if you don’t know or can’t remember how to proceed at a polling station.

Advance voting in your home country 2.-8.4.2025

With advance voting you can vote with whichever advance polling station. You will just need to bring a photo ID (passport, ID-card, driving license, or other document with a photo). If you do not have an ID, you can get a temporary identity card from a police station for voting, free of charge. Advance polling stations and their opening times can be found here. (lwebsite is in Finnish)

Election day 13.4.2025

During the actual election day you can vote at your own polling station. You will have received a notice of your right to vote either by mail or electronically to the suomi.fi. Along with the notice there are instructions for voting and your own polling station. Polling stations are open on election day 9-20.

A person living in Jyväkylä can only vote for the candidates running for the city council of Jyväskylä during the municipal elections. The polling booth has a list of the candidates running for election in Jyväskylä, from which you can check the number of the candidate. If you are registered as residing in another municipality, you will vote based on the candidate list of your municipality of residence. You can still vote at Jyväskylä’s advance polling stations. If you cannot remember the number of your candidate, you can ask an election official to bring the candidate list of your municipality with you to the polling booth.

A person living in Central Finland can, in the county elections, only vote for candidates running for the county council position for Central Finland’s wellbeing services county. The polling booth has a list of the candidates running for election in Central Finland, from which you can check the number of the candidate. If you are registered as residing in another county, you will vote on the candidate list of your own wellbeing service county. You can still vote at Jyväskylä’s advance polling stations. If you cannot remember the number of your candidate, you can ask an election official to bring the candidate list of your wellbeing service county with you to the polling booth. People living in Helsinki vote only in the municipal elections, as the city of Helsinki organizes its own health, social, and rescue services.

Is your candidate not clear? If you can’t wait for the election panel, you can get assistance with picking your candidate already. Here you can find a link for Yle’s election compass. You can find more by searching “election compass 2025”