The urns were most enthusiastically visited in the constituency of Satakunta, the laziest in Åland.
The presidential election on the first day of early voting, the domestic voter turnout was 6.1 percent. More than 260,000 eligible voters cast their votes.
Early voting for the first round of the presidential election began on Wednesday in early voting locations both in Finland and abroad.
The most active voting on the first day of early voting was in the constituency of Satakunta, where the turnout rose to 7.6 percent. Åland was the laziest at the ballot box, where the voter turnout was 2.8 percent.
Early voting continues in Finland until next Tuesday and abroad until Saturday. The actual election day is Sunday, January 28.
Early voting places there is at least one in every municipality in Finland, several in larger municipalities, and the voter can choose any of them.
You can check the locations and opening hours of early voting locations online at aanestyspaikat.fi.
It is not necessary to take the notification of voting rights sent in advance to those entitled to vote, but a photo ID is required.
You can vote in many libraries and shopping centers, for example. In addition, some municipalities have drive-in points where you can vote without leaving your car.
Visited the drive-in point in Sastamala Pirkanmaa on Wednesday morning Heljä Leppäniemi said the voting went well. He was already familiar with this kind of business from previous elections.
“I have had health problems with stairs and others. That's how it works so easily when you can sit in the car and vote. There is no need to get up or leave,” he told STT.
Alder cape said that nowadays he always votes in advance. He has not missed voting in any election since gaining the right to vote. He remembers how voting was much more difficult in previous decades.
“Yes, this has developed quite a lot. If only people understood this, what this means and how this can be influenced.”
Leppäniemi said that he also worked for tens of years in the election board and committee. He has also been involved in politics for decades, initially in the ranks of SKDL and later in SDP, for example as a municipal councilor.
In the presidential election a second round is likely to be needed as none of the candidates is expected to receive more than half of the votes in the first round. Early voting for the second round begins on January 31st, and the actual election day is February 11th.
In the previous presidential election in 2018, about half of those entitled to vote voted in advance. Six years ago, only one vote was needed in the elections, because Sauli Niinistö collected 64.3 percent of the votes in the first round and was directly elected to the next term.
Read more: This is how the first voters justified their choice in Pihlajamäki
Read more: See the instructions and the polling places in Helsinki and Uusimaa here
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