Elections in Finland

thumb|Voting

There are five types of elections in Finland: elections for the president, the parliament, county councils of the wellbeing services counties, municipal councils and the European Parliament. Normally, all Finnish citizens aged 18 or older are eligible to vote. Some non-citizens may also have the right to vote in municipal, county and European elections.

Finland holds a presidential election every six years to elect the President of Finland. The election uses a two-round system based on a direct popular vote. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a runoff is held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes. The same person can serve as president for no more than two consecutive terms.

Parliamentary elections are held every four years to elect members of the parliament. The elections use a system of proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies and allocate seats according to the D'Hondt method. Finland has a multi-party system making it uncommon for a single party to achieve a majority in parliament. As a result, Finnish governments are typically formed through coalition agreements involving multiple political parties.

County and municipal elections are held every four years at the same time to elect the councils of the 21 wellbeing services counties and 292 municipalities (the City of Helsinki also carries out the tasks of wellbeing service counties in its area). In Åland, municipal elections are held separately, at the same time as the election of the Parliament of Åland.

European Parliament elections are held every five years. Finland is allocated 15 seats in the European Parliament.

Presidential elections

The president of Finland is elected by popular vote for a six-year term and can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. Since 1988, the election has followed a two-round system. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round, they are elected president. If no candidate achieves a majority, the two candidates with the most votes proceed to a second round, where the candidate with more votes is elected president. The first round is usually held on the fourth Sunday of January in the election year, with the potential second round taking place two weeks later.

Political parties that won at least one seat in the previous parliamentary election are eligible to nominate a presidential candidate. Additionally, candidates can be nominated by constituency associations formed by at least 20,000 eligible voters. These associations must collect and submit the required number of signatures to register their candidate. In 2018, incumbent Sauli Niinistö became the first president elected as a candidate of a constituency association, having previously been elected as the candidate of the National Coalition Party. He also became the first president in Finland to win the election in the first round.

2024 Presidential election

An election was last held in 2024, with the first round on 28 January and second round on 11 February. Alexander Stubb won in the second round receiving 51.62% of the votes, facing against independent candidate Pekka Haavisto.

Parliamentary elections

thumb|List of candidates, sorted by party, in the voting booth; pencil and instructions on the table

Parliamentary elections in Finland take place every four years to elect the 200 members of the Parliament of Finland. Members are chosen from 13 electoral districts, with the number of seats allocated to each district based on population, ranging from 37 seats in Uusimaa to 1 seat in Åland. Elections are typically held on the third Sunday of April in the election year, unless Easter affects the schedule. Under Finland's parliamentary system the prime minister can ask the president to dissolve parliament at any time during its 4-year term, which would result in early elections. The most recent dissolution of parliament took place in 1975.

County elections

In Finland, the councils of the 21 wellbeing services counties are elected every four years in county elections. These counties are responsible for the organization of health, social and rescue services. The county councils hold the highest decision-making authority within their respective counties.

County elections exclude the region of Åland, where wellbeing services are managed by the parliament of Åland, and the city of Helsinki, where they are handled by the municipal council. The first county elections took place in 2022. Beginning in 2025, these elections will be held simultaneously with municipal elections.

Referendums

The Constitution of Finland allows only for a non-binding (consultative) referendum called on by the Parliament (Article 53 of the Constitution).

As of 2013 there have been only two referendums in Finland:

Finnish prohibition referendum in 1931
Finnish European Union membership referendum in 1994.

In both cases measures passed, and Parliament acted according to the results of the vote (although the referendum in Finland is non-binding).

Municipal law 30-31 § gives right to Referendum since year 1990. It had been used 56 times between 1990 and 2010. Citizens of Turku collected 15,000 names in one month for referendum against the underground car park. Politicians with in the elections unknown financing from the parking company neglected the citizens opinion. According to International Association of Public Transport UITP parking places are among the most effective ways to promote private car use in the city. Therefore, many European cities have cancelled the expensive underground car parking after the 1990s. The EU recommended actions cover develop guidance for concrete measures for the internalisation of external costs for car traffic also in urban areas. Parking control can only be successful if they are enforceable. In Finland the shops routinely offer free parking for customers which rises the prices of food for all customers, also for those who bicycle or walk.

There were also around 40 municipal referendums in Finland (as of 2006). Most have been about municipal mergers.

If fifty thousand Finnish citizens sign an initiative (for an act or a referendum), the Parliament has to discuss it, but the initiative is not binding, so the parliament does not have to initiate a referendum. This provision entered into force on 1 March 2013, and the first such initiative to reach Parliament was an initiative to ban fur farming, which was rejected by the Parliament. Several other initiatives reached the Parliament in 2013, including "Common Sense in Copyright" initiative, and a gay marriage initiative.

External links

Finnish Ministry of Justice website about elections in Finland
Adam Carr's Election Archive
NSD: European Election Database - Finland publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1991–2007
Findicator - Voting turnout in the Parliamentary Elections since 1908