Two deceased candidates appear in electoral list in renewed municipal election in Vihti

Exceptional elections in Vihti, Karkkila and Kauniainen to be arranged in September

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On the ballot form in the Vihti municipal election, which is to be re-run next month owing to problems with the electronic voting system experimented with last year, there are now two deceased candidates.
      The late-edition tabloid Iltalehti reported in its Thursday edition that on the Vihti list of electoral candidates there are the Green League councilwoman Uma Aaltonen and the National Coalition candidate Rikard Limnell, both of whom passed away in July.
     
The deceased individuals cannot be removed from the list of candidates for the new election as according to law the list has to be identical to that of the original municipal election, held in October last year.
      The votes cast for these candidates will still be counted, but will go to their respective parties.
      Because the candidate lists have to be approved a month before the elections, on occasion dead candidates do appear even in “normal” elections. This time around, however, the lapsed time between the cementing of the list and the organising of the election is exceptionally long, nearly a year.
     
According to the Ministry of Justice, the government is likely to pick up the tab in its entirety for the reorganising of the elections in three municipalities.
      The municipal elections will be re-run in a month’s time in Karkkila, Kauniainen, and Vihti because of the problems encountered with the electronic voting method that the communities experimented with last year (see linked articles).
      In the re-run of the elections, no electronic voting methods are to be used.
     
The amount of government aid required for organising the elections is currently being looked into. According to previous estimates the new elections in Karkkila, Kauniainen, and Vihti would cost around EUR 130,000.
      The government may also take part in covering the costs incurred by different political parties for having to reorganise election campaigns for their candidates.
      The new elections will be held on Sunday 6th September in the three electoral districts.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Over 200 electronic votes disappeared (29.10.2008)
  Supreme Administrative court orders new municipal elections for Vihti, Karkkila, and Kauniainen (9.4.2009)
  Errors in electronic voting could lead to new elections in three communities (10.11.2008)
  Minister of Justice says future of electronic voting remains open (30.10.2008)

See also:
  Helsinki Administrative Court rejects appeals over electronic voting glitch (29.1.2009)

Links:
  Ministry of Justice elections portal

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