The Importance of Information in the First Finnish County Elections

New elections bring about a need for easily accessible and understandable information to encourage voters to participate in the democratic process of voting. Sub-national elections have been noted to be of less interest to voters (Bhatti et al. 2019; Blais 2000; Reif & Schmitt 1980), but what about a new level of elections - will more voters turn out as they are given a new level of government to have a say in? There is rarely a chance to investigate a new election in established democracies, but the Finnish County elections of January 2022 provide an opportunity to look deeper into the voting mechanisms applied and the role of information in these situations. These elections were also notable because they sparked a debate as turnout plummeted to 47,5% (compare: 72% - Parliamentary; 69,9% - Presidential; 55,1% - Regional elections). By investigating the perceptions and behaviour of voters in the first ever Finnish County elections, conclusions can be made about what the main deterrents and enablers were for their willingness to turn out to vote. When looking at the self-reported reason for not voting in the elections, and by analyzing the dependencies between turning out and other perception of the elections, there are certain trends emerging. It seems that the Covid-pandemic, lesser interest in politics, and the perception of availability of information about the elections are the leading factors affecting vote turnout in the first county-level elections in Finland. This paper’s findings offer insights into how important it is to invest in information in elections, especially first-time ones, to ensure participation on behalf of voters.