Finns voted more enthusiastically in advance in the current presidential election than six years ago, when Sauli Niinistö was re-elected for a second term by a wide margin in the first round.
A new record was set for early voting in the presidential election before polling sites closed on Tuesday evening.
Voter turnout rose to 44.0 percent. Six years ago, the preliminary figure reported on the last day was 36.1 percent. That figure was later adjusted to 36.7 percent.
A total of 1.88 million Finns cast their votes in advance between 17 and 23 January.
It is difficult to estimate the final turnout based on preliminary votes, though, according to Yle election expert Sami Borg, who is research manager at the Foundation for Municipal Development.
"I have thought for a long time, even before voting began, that we could reach 75 percent turnout in this election. That would be a significant increase from [almost] 70 percent six years ago. An increase in the voting percentage would be very rare in Finnish elections. It may be that now some kind of record will be set," he told Yle.
The total turnout in 2018 was 66.76 percent.
According to Borg, the fairly even competition between the top candidates this time may mean that some voters are waiting to vote on election day proper, which is next Sunday, January 28.
A likely second-round runoff election would take place on Sunday, 11 February, with advance voting from 31 January to 6 February.
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