Election information available in ten new languages

Lappeenranta resident Ljuba Metsola is voting in municipal elections for a second time

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Increasing numbers of immigrants are getting information on the upcoming Finnish municipal elections in their native languages.
      In previous municipal elections, official information has been available in Finnish, Swedish, and English, but now the election website of the Ministry of Justice has basic information on the elections in a total of 13 languages.
      New languages include Estonian, Russian, Somali, German, Chinese, Thai, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, and French.
      Foreign residents are entitled to vote in municipal elections in Finland.
      Ljuba Metsola, a Russian who moved to Lappeenranta from Peetrozavodsk eight years ago, is pleased with the change. She believes that language problems and a lack of information are the greatest impediments to immigrant voting.
      “If you don’t know Finnish, it is difficult to understand what to do in the elections."
     
Metsola voted in Lappeenranta in the previous elections four years ago. This time she will bring her 22-year-old son Pavel Osipov with her.
      “It is an event that we share. I think that it is important for him to vote as well.”
      As for local issues, Metsola would like to see improved availability of Finnish language instruction for immigrants, as well as more cultural services in Russian. She is also interested in matters of taxation.
      Only a few of Metsola’s Russian acquaintances plan to vote.
      “Some are not interested, some are lazy. Not everyone understands how it is possible to wield influence by voting."
     
The Population Registry Centre sent Metsola a notice about the municipal elections already in June. The letter, in six different languages, was also received by about 98,000 other foreign residents who are entitled to vote in the October election.
      Under Finnish law, foreign residents are entitled to vote in municipal elections in Finland; citizens of countries outside the European Union and the Nordic region are required to have lived in Finland for two years before being allowed to vote.


Links:
  Ministry of Justice election pages

Helsingin Sanomat