The Coalition Party led the preliminary results of the Finnish council elections.
The results of the advance ballot were announced shortly after the election closed at 8 p.m.
The percentage of basic Finns was less than 10 per cent, while the Greens fell below the Left Alliance by sixth.
These results include 26.4 per cent of the votes cast in advance, but the votes on election day have not yet been counted.
The result of Yle’s forecast is expected at about 10 pm, while the official results will be confirmed on 26 January by the municipal election commissions.
English results are updated in real time here.
The turnout is worrying
Experts were concerned about the possible low turnout in the election, with only 26.3% of eligible voters (1,035,460 voters) voting in advance.
In last year’s municipal elections, the turnout was 33 percent.
Starting next year, 21 new welfare service areas will take over health care, social and emergency services, covering the whole country in addition to Helsinki and the autonomous Åland Islands.
The Åland Parliament receives these powers and the Helsinki City Council on behalf of the capital.
The new system is the result of a decades-long reform process that several Finnish administrations have tried to increase costs as the population ages and the demand for care services increases.
It removes responsibility for these services from 310 municipalities in Finland and transfers it to the new county governments in the hope of saving public spending. However, some experts have suggested that the new system is unlikely to generate significant savings because the new areas are too small.
This story is being updated.
Source: The Nordic Page