Finland

Section 46 states:

Every enfranchised person is entitled to vote in advance in the general advance voting polling stations in Finland and in the Finnish diplomatic missions abroad. An enfranchised person who is in hospital, in a facility with round-the-clock treatment care or in any other operational unit of social services designated by the municipal executive board as an advance polling station…may vote in advance in the said institution…Enfranchised persons whose ability to move or function is limited to the degree that they are unable to come to the polling or advance polling station without undue hardship, may…vote in advance at home...

…voting by proxy is not allowed.

Section 55 states:

Persons entitled to at-home voting shall in writing or by telephone notify the central election committee of their municipality of residence about their willingness to vote in advance at home at the latest before 16 p.m. on the 12th day prior to the polling day. The notice may be prepared on the voter’s behalf by a person appointed by the voter. The written notice, which shall be signed, may be made using the form designed for this purpose. The following shall be included in the notice:

• (1) the voter’s full name, personal identity code, address, municipality of residence, telephone number and, if the notice is prepared by the enfranchised person, his or her name and contact information;
• (2) that the voter’s ability to move and function is limited to the degree that he or she is unable to come to the polling or advance polling station without undue hardship, and that he or she wishes therefore to vote at home in advance; and
• (3) whether the voter him/herself is able to see to it that such a person as is referred to in section 54 is present for the at-home voting. The election official is, if this is possible, responsible for removing any inadequacy in the notice and ensuring that the notice has been prepared by the said voter or the voter-appointed person. The chairperson of the central election committee of the municipality must see to it that the voter is notified either in writing or by phone without delay of the time at which the election official will arrive at his or her home with an accuracy of at least two hours. At the same time, the phone number of the election authorities must be mentioned in case the voter wishes to contact the election authorities. If the election official is prevented from coming at the appointed time, the voter must immediately be notified of this and of the time of a new visit. If it has not been possible to remove the fault in the notification affecting the voting procedure, or if the notification to the central election committee of the municipality has been made after the time appointed, or if it is not possible to conduct the at-home voting at all due to a breakdown in transport services or another insuperable obstacle, the voter must be notified by means laid down in subsection 4 that the at-home voting will not be conducted.

Section 73 states:

All polling stations must have a properly indicated election assistant, wearing distinctive marks or signs, nominated by the election committee who, at the request of a voter, will assist him or her in marking the ballot paper. A voter who wishes to use a member of the election committee as an assistant in marking the ballot paper has a right to do so if this does not delay the voting process. A person whose ability to make a mark in the ballot is essentially weakened may use the help of an assistant he or she has chosen in marking the ballot. A person who is a candidate in the election in question cannot act as an election assistant or an assistant chosen by a voter.

Section 190 states:

With regard to the transportation of disabled enfranchised persons to the polling and advance polling stations what has been laid down in respect to transportation services in the law governing the organisation of services and supporting functions for the disabled is in force.

Excerpts from the Election Act (1998, last amended 2004)