The Sámi Parliament of Finland has been functioning in the Sámi cultural center Sajos in the village of Inari since 2012. Photo: Samediggi

The editorial board of the Arctic Century previously covered the results of the elections to the Sámi Parliament of Finland and the violation of the rights of the Finnish Sámi by the Finnish government, which was subjected to the scrutiny of the UN.

As soon as the election results were approved on 3 July 2024 by the Electoral Committee of the Sámi Parliament, a representative body was established. It consists of 36 members and will meet in 2024–2027. With a relatively low voter turnout of 48%, which may be explained by the semi-nomadic nature of the Sámi economy, the Electoral Committee observed all democratic voting norms, unlike, for example, the 2020 US presidential election. Nevertheless, Inka Kangasniemi, one of the members elected to the Sámi Parliament in 2024, made a public statement about violations of the voting procedure in the previous elections in October 2023. Her statement may be identified as an element of the information war of the government and some political forces in Finland against the popular representation of the Finnish Sámi.

All of Kangasniemi's "false statements" (quote from the bulletin) were carefully examined and rejected by the Sámi  Parliamentary Electoral Committee in a special bulletin published on 2 August 2024. The seven-page bulletin, with the meticulousness and scrupulousness typical of the Nordic people, presents the accusations of the complainant and their refutation, which we will present in a slightly abbreviated form without changing the original text.

Kangasniemi signed her report as an election observer. It should be noted that there were no election observers at the 2023 Sámi parliamentary elections. Kangasniemi did not provide the electoral committee with her official permission as an election observer. Kangasniemi was present when the votes were counted as a representative of the voters' association in accordance with section 34 of the Sámi Assembly Act (Sámi Assembly Act of 17 July 1995/974).

Kangasniemi refers to "cancellation of election day". According to section 28 of the Sámi Assembly Act, elections to the Sámi  Assembly (Parlament) are held by post, but if the electoral committee so decides, they can also be held on election day in the Sámi  home region. Each municipality in the Sámi Region may only have one polling station where voting is organised on election day. In 2023, the electoral committee decided that voting would not take place on election day. Therefore, there was no talk of "cancellation of election day".

In the 2023 elections, the Sámi Home Region tested a voting bus for the first time, where voters could return their voting documents in person in a return envelope, just as they would have returned them by post. The new voting mechanism was well received by voters.

Kangasniemi points to the "exclusion of voters from the voter lists before the election". The Electoral Committee prepares the voter list in accordance with Section 23 of the Sámi Parliament Act by the end of February of the election year. The Electoral Committee retained a group of persons whose inclusion in the previous voter list was based on the practice of the Supreme Administrative Court in decisions that the (United Nation) Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Racial Discrimination found in their decisions to be in violation of the right to self-determination of the Sámi  people and thus a violation of international law, which is part of the Finnish legal order.

Kangasniemi states (referring to herself) that "the representative of the electoral associations of voters was not allowed to monitor the counting of votes in the elections and was subjected to psychological violence." The agent was not hindered in monitoring the counting of votes and was allowed to ask questions during the start of the counting, which were also answered. The agent asked the same question three times and was given the corresponding answer. The claims of psychological violence are completely unfounded. Kangasniemi points to "discrimination against the election observer" and claims that the election observer was threatened and insulted (for example, called a drunkard). The claims are unfounded, and Kangasniemi does not provide further details or specifics to support these claims. It should also be noted once again that there were no election observers at the 2023 Sámi parliamentary elections.

Kangasniemi states that "when voting by post, one cannot be sure that the ballot paper contained in the ballot envelope belongs to the person to whom the postal ballot paper was sent." The voting documents are delivered to the eligible voter by registered mail, which can be collected at the post office by the recipient or a person authorized by the recipient. After voting, the voter places a sealed ballot envelope and a signed letter of recommendation in the return envelope, in which he or she confirms with his or her signature: "I have filled out the stamped ballot paper and sealed it in the ballot envelope, maintaining the secrecy of the elections." Finally, the voter seals the envelope and delivers it by post. The envelope can also be delivered in person to the Electoral Commission office in Inari or to the election bus travelling around the Sámi home region.

Kangasniemi states that "the votes were checked and organised before the counting began, although this is irrelevant in terms of the final result." The procedure described by Kangasniemi is the internal organisation of the work of the electoral office in registering the right to vote, so that the work runs flexibly and efficiently. The procedure is irrelevant in terms of the election result.

Kangasniemi states that "a large number of people were present during the counting of the votes. It is safe to say that they were not members of the Electoral Commission or employees of the Sámi Assemblies. No one had a badge or anything similar to check the person's name or their role in the counting of the votes." The Electoral Commission is responsible for counting the votes and decides how many employees it needs to count the votes. The Sámi Parliament Act does not require counting officers to use identification marks, as in national elections. Proxies have the right to be present during the counting of votes, but may not interfere with the counting of votes.

Kangasniemi states (again referring to herself) that "a list of those present was not provided despite the request of the election observer". Request from the secretary of the electoral committee of the Sami Assemblies by email on 4 October 2023. The request was extended on 10 May 2024". The representative was informed that the names of the persons involved in the counting of votes would not be communicated by email. The representative was present during the counting of votes and was able to confirm the identity of the persons present. Once again, it should be noted that the agent (Kangasniemi) was not there as an official election observer.

Kangasniemi states that "markings on the exercise of voting rights were made in separate rooms that could not be monitored. The doors of the rooms remained locked." The task of the Electoral Committee is to conduct the elections in full. The Electoral Committee is also responsible for counting the votes. Those who mark the votes have been trained in their tasks and know the necessary work techniques. No outsider has the right to enter the room where the people recording the votes are working. The Electoral Committee is also responsible for data protection. The authors of the vote marks process the personal data of voters, which cannot be disclosed to any outsider. Likewise, information about who voted must be kept confidential.

Kangasniemi claims that "the issues of disqualification of the employees of the Sami Parliamentary Electoral Council (family and close relationships with the candidates in the elections) were not resolved before the elections." The Electoral Committee checked whether there were grounds for disqualification, and these persons were not present during the vote counting. The office of the Electoral Committee has not been contacted regarding the disqualification of employees, so this claim is unfounded.

Kangasniemi claims that “the rejected votes could not be verified after the votes had been counted.” The Electoral Commission confirmed the invalid votes and they were announced publicly. If an agent had been present when the ballot envelopes were opened during the counting of the votes received by the candidates, he would have certified the number of invalid votes.

Kangasniemi claims that “the correctness of the election results cannot be verified. In my opinion, the vote counting was carried out in such a way that I was not allowed to follow the counting of the votes in the election. It seems that the situation that occurred before the start of the counting was planned, and an attempt was made to provoke me into a reaction so that the police could be called to remove me from the place where the votes were being counted. The police said that they had no grounds for such action against me. The incident was documented by a video recording, which proves the authenticity of the report.”

According to Section 39 of the Sami Electoral District Act, the election committee confirms the election result on the third day after the start of the vote count at its meeting, which starts at 18:00. The election result is preliminarily known after the votes received by the candidates have been counted. Representatives of the voters' association were invited to observe the vote counting, and none of them were removed.

As the agent states above, she has a video recording of the start of the vote counting, although filming was strictly prohibited due to the non-public nature of the event. Kangasniemi, who was a representative of the voters' association, filmed the vote counting procedure on her phone after it started at 18:00, although she was prohibited from filming and asked to delete the video she had recorded without permission. The envelopes with the received ballots were opened in the conference room (of the Sámi cultural centre) Sajos, and after that the work took place in the offices of the Sámi assemblies, where only those who participated in the counting of the votes, members and deputies of the electoral committee, representatives of the electoral associations and the persons responsible for providing refreshments and snacks at the place of counting the votes were present. None of the agents stayed to monitor the progress of the counting of the votes and did not show up the next morning, when the actual opening of the ballot envelopes and the counting of the votes received by the candidates took place in the Sajos meeting room.

Read Bulletin of the Sami Parliamentary Electoral Committee

Published on 2 August 2024 Releases, Press releases of the Electoral Committee

The North Observer

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