Important reminder for voters: 1.1 million Finns have received their polling cards only electronically

The advance voting on the first round of the presidential election will begin today, 17 January 2024. During the advance voting period, voters may vote at any public polling station, whereas on the actual election day, voting is only possible at the polling station mentioned in the polling card sent to the voters.

The polling cards for the presidential election were sent to all Finnish citizens aged 18 and over in December–January. Those who have activated Suomi.fi Messages will only receive the polling card electronically. If a person does not use Suomi.fi Messages, they will receive the notification by post as before. Polling cards sent by post are delivered to the address indicated by the person in the Population Information System.

"More than 1.2 million people are currently using Suomi.fi Messages. They may not all remember that the polling card has been sent electronically to Suomi.fi Messages instead of paper mail. In other words, if you didn't receive a polling card by post at the turn of December and January, you should check your Suomi.fi Messages and make sure that your e-mail address is correct there. Notifications of incoming messages are sent to the email address that you have provided to the service. If you are using the Suomi.fi mobile application, the app will also notify you when you receive a message," reminds Maria Juka-Lahdenperä, Service Owner of Suomi.fi Messages from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

Otto Palmu, Election Manager at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, notes that everyone intending to vote on the election day should also open the notification, whether in paper or electronic format, and check their polling station.

"On the election day, you can only vote at the polling station mentioned in the polling card. That's why it's important to check your polling station. However, voters don't need to bring the polling card to the polling station to vote – an identity card is all you need. Taking the notification with you may be useful, however, if you vote in advance abroad or in a hospital, a prison or a retirement home," Palmu points out. 

Electronic notifications are a significant eco-action

Sending electronic notifications instead of paper ones is also a significant eco-action, as it saves millions of pages of paper and reduces emissions from their transport. 
The users of Suomi.fi Messages receive e-mail from several different authorities in the same service. This includes official decisions, invoices, health care appointment notifications and other important documents. 

Using Suomi.fi Messages can therefore significantly reduce the amount of paper you receive. Documents received from different authorities are also stored and easily accessible in the service.

What is Suomi.fi Messages?

Suomi.fi Messages is a secure electronic mailbox that replaces official paper mail. The service is used by several authorities, and its use is constantly increasing. Incoming messages can be read using the Suomi.fi mobile application or by identifying yourself in the Suomi.fi Web Service at https://suomi.fi. This way, you can read incoming mail wherever you are. 

Notifications of incoming messages are sent to the email address that you have provided to the service. Users of the Suomi.fi mobile application will also receive notifications directly through the app.

You can access Suomi.fi Messages by downloading the Suomi.fi mobile application or by identifying yourself at https://www.suomi.fi/messages. Identification is done with online banking codes, a mobile certificate or an electronic certificate on an ID card. By activating Suomi.fi Messages, you will also receive mail from several other authorities electronically.