Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice Pekka Timonen has confirmed to the BTI news agency that ministry officials proposed postponing the municipal elections for health and safety reasons for the possible spread of the coronavirus.
The election is scheduled for April 18.
"We have two different things," Timonen said. "Firstly, traditional electoral security: the fact that elections must be held safely and reliably and that democracy takes place in such circumstances. The second is health security, which is a special feature of these elections. The combination of these was the basis of the proposal."
Timonen said he did not want to comment further when asked, which was a bigger concern.
Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson (SPP) and party secretaries unanimously rejected the proposal at a joint meeting on Thursday night, and the election will continue as normal, Timonen added.
Postponement of previous elections
The proposal by Ministry of Justice officials is not the first time it has been proposed to postpone this yearโs municipal elections.
Heikki PaloheimoThe professor of political science at the University of Tampere has previously proposed postponing the election to the autumn in opinions written in a Turku newspaper. Turku Sanomat as well as in Finland’s largest daily store Helsingin sanomat newspaper (both links in Finnish).
Paloheimo said in an interview last week that it is very difficult to follow coronavir virus safety guidelines at polling stations, and this can lead to some people choosing not to vote.
In December, Justice Minister Henriksson said municipal elections would be held on schedule because democracy involves delivering elections on time, even in difficult circumstances.
Last week, however, the minister told Yle that if coronavirus restrictions move to the highest level, level three, elections cannot be held.
Source: The Nordic Page