Section 34 of the Election Act:

"The authority processing candidacy applications shall determine at its meeting held no later than the 55th day before election day for the presidential election and the 48th day before election day for other elections, to whom, on what days and times, and where the candidacy applications and other documents concerning the nomination of candidates intended for it must be submitted."

An announcement shall be made of the order, which shall be notified to the election agents notified by the parties and displayed in the meeting room of the authority, and shall be published in the manner in which municipal announcements are notified, and in the official gazette in the case of other elections. (8.5.2015/563)"

Section 145 of the Election Act:

"The central electoral board of a municipality shall announce the number of councillors to be elected in the municipality. The announcement shall be published without delay in the same manner as municipal announcements are made and shall be displayed in the meeting room of the central electoral board. The announcement may be made in connection with the announcement referred to in section 34, subsection 2."

The Municipal Council has decided at its meeting on September 30, 2024, Section 21, that the number of councilors for the council term starting on June 1, 2025 will be 17 councilors.

According to Section 147 of the Election Act, a party, electoral alliance or joint list has the right to nominate a maximum of one and a half times the number of elected councillors in each municipality, which in Kihniö means a maximum of 26 candidates.

Section 152 of the Election Act:

"The election agent of a party, joint list or voters' association must submit a candidacy application to the municipal central election board no later than the 40th day before election day, before 16 p.m.."

The above provisions of the Election Act mean, among other things, that candidate applications and notifications of possible electoral alliances and joint lists will be received no later than 4 March 2025 at 4:00 p.m.

According to Section 67 of the Election Act, the municipal central election board must notify the election day and polling stations in the polling districts in the same way as the municipality's announcements are notified.

According to Section 49 of the Election Act, the municipal central election board must provide information about domestic general advance voting locations and voting times in the municipality in the same way as municipal announcements are made public.

According to Section 108 of the Local Government Act (410/2015), municipal notices are made public by publishing them publicly on the internet, unless otherwise provided for by the provisions on confidentiality, and, if necessary, in another manner decided by the municipality.

On 23 August 2021, the Kihniö Municipal Council made a decision under Section 44 on the notification of the municipality's notifications.

Appendix 1 election announcement

Section 17 of the Election Act provides for election officials. Election officials are responsible for advance voting at general advance voting locations in Finland, at Finnish missions and on Finnish ships, and for home voting.

There must be at least two election officials at each general advance voting station in Finland. Other advance voting stations may also have two or more election officials if necessary. Election officials for general advance voting stations in Finland and for home voting are appointed by the municipal central election board.

When conducting advance voting at a general advance voting station in Finland, at least two election officials must be present at the same time. In other advance voting stations where two or more election officials have been appointed or assigned, it is sufficient for one election official to be present when conducting advance voting. One election official will be responsible for conducting each individual home vote. The general advance voting station for Kihniö municipality for the 2025 regional and municipal elections will be Taitotalo in Puumilan.

According to Section 14 of the Election Act (714/1998), the Central Election Commission shall appoint a secretary and other necessary personnel. The Central Election Commission shall decide on the right of attendance and speaking at its meetings of persons entitled to participate in its meetings due to its duties other than those referred to in the Election Act. In order to ensure the smooth organisation of the elections, it is appropriate to appoint other personnel referred to in the Act to be responsible for IT matters and to act as technical support for the use of the election information system.

According to the instructions of the Ministry of Justice, the Central Election Commission decides on the extent to which the voting rights information system will be used in the municipality. Whether the election commission will use an electronic voting rights register and election minutes instead of or in addition to the paper electoral roll and minutes during the election day voting.

In advance voting, except for institutional and home voting, an electronic voting register is in use. Mobile voting has not been used in institutional voting due to the small number of voters.

Regional and municipal election schedule and Central Election Commission meeting schedule:

February

November 24, 2023 online training for municipal election officials opens for viewing

December 8, 2023, the date of extraction of information from the voting register (for which municipality each person is registered as entitled to vote)

24.2.2025 notification from the Ministry of Justice to the Central Election Commission about the parties entered in the party register and their signatories

March

Candidate applications for the municipal elections must be submitted to the Central Election Board by 4.3.2025 March 16 at the latest.

10.3.2025 Central Election Commission meeting (review of candidate applications)

12.3.2025 Central Election Commission meeting (confirmation of the candidate nomination and preparation of the combination of candidate lists, re-processing of applications if any comments have been received)

13.3.2025 alternate date Central Election Commission meeting (confirmation of candidate nomination and preparation of candidate list combination, re-processing of applications if comments have been received)

18.3.2025 early voting dress rehearsal

20.3.2025 general exercise for counting and electronic electoral roll)

DVV will send voting rights notifications to those entitled to vote by 20 March 2025 at the latest.

April

1.4.2025 at 12 noon, voting rights register legally valid

Registration for home voting ends on April 1, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.

Early voting begins on April 2, 2025.

4-11 April 2025 Central Election Commission meetings (advance voting and verification of postal voting documents)

On April 5, 2025, advance voting abroad will end.

On April 8, 2025, advance voting will end in Finland.

April 13, 2025 election day vote

April 13, 2025, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Central Election Commission meeting (counting of advance votes for regional and municipal elections)

On April 13, 2025 at 8 p.m., the Electoral Commission will begin the preliminary counting of election day votes.

14.4.2025 Central Election Commission meeting (checking and counting of votes on election day for regional and municipal elections)

16.4.2024 Central Election Commission meeting (notification of the number of votes in the regional elections to the Regional Election Commission and confirmation of the results of the municipal elections)

June

June 1, 2025 The terms of office of regional and municipal councils begin