At a press conference held on 10 April in Helsinki, findings of the Congress' electoral visit in Finland were presented by Mrs Lelia Hunziker (Switzerland, SOC), Head of the Congress delegation to observe the local elections organised on 9 April 2017 in the country. The Congress deployed 10 teams to visit some 150 polling stations in Helsinki, Tampere, Vaasa, Joensuu, Oulu, Kuopio, Jyvaeskylae and Rovaniemi.'The voting day was organised in a highly professional manner and procedures were fully in line with European standards for free, fair and transparent elections', stated Lelia Hunziker. The delegation welcomed the Finnish well-established system of voters' registration, recently also based on a sound computer population register. “We appreciated that the very first voter is given the opportunity to check the ballot box and the materials and we think that this is good practice for other Council of Europe countries” she added. The Congress also praised that only individuals who are permanently residing in a specific municipality have the right to vote at local level. 

Full text of the news
Speech by Lelia Hunziker, Head of the Congress delegation
Article published on the YLE Finnish Public Broadcaster website (Finnish version)
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