Tampere Church Elections Open Sunday: 123,714 Eligible Voters to Cast Two Ballots

Up to 123,714 members of the Tampere Evangelical Lutheran Church can vote in parish elections on Sunday, 15 November, with parish polling stations open from 11:00 to 20:00, Tamperelainen reports. Polling stations are: Southern parish at Viinikka Church, Harju parish at Pispala Church, Messukylä parish at Messukylä Church and Cathedral parish at Tampere Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko). All church members who turn 16 by election day may vote. They must show identification at the polling place.

Voters will cast two ballots at the same time: one for their local parish council and one for representatives to the Tampere parish union’s joint church council. Ballots are colour-coded, white for the joint council and orange for the parish council; a candidate who appears on both ballots has separate numbers for each. Seven electoral associations have nominated candidates, five of them running in all four parishes. In total, 208 candidates are seeking parish council seats and 202 are aiming for the joint church council.

Polling stations will run a collection to support children and youth in crisis, organised with Kirkkopalvelujen Kotimaanapu, Kirkon Ulkomaanapu, Suomen Lähetysseura and Suomen Pipliaseura.

Advance voting was held earlier in November at shopping centres, supermarkets and parish halls across Tampere advance voting locations and dates. Nominations for the elections were confirmed in September nominations and candidate rules announced in September.