| content | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Republic of Finland |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Legislative
Elections
Foreign Policy
|
|
Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal |
Elections in Finland gives information on election and election results in Finland.
On national level Finland elects a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a six year term by the people. The Parliament (Eduskunta/Riksdagen) has 200 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. Finland has a multi-party system, with three strong parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.
In addition to the presidential and parliamentary elections, there are European Parliament elections every five years, and local municipal elections (held simultaneously in every municipality) every four years.
Contents |
Presidential Elections
Main article: President of Finland
The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term. An election was last held January 15, 2006 (second round on January 29, 2006). See also: Finnish presidential election, 2006. The previous presidential election was held February 6, 2000. The official dates for 2012-election have not been set.
2006 Presidential election
| Candidate | Nominating party | Votes 1st round | % | Votes 2nd round | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarja Halonen | Social Democratic Party | 1,397,030 | 46.3 | 1,630,833 | 51.8 |
| Sauli Niinistö | National Coalition Party | 725,866 | 24.1 | 1,517,947 | 48.2 |
| Matti Vanhanen | Centre Party | 561,990 | 18.6 | ||
| Heidi Hautala | Green League | 105,248 | 3.5 | ||
| Timo Soini | True Finns | 103,492 | 3.4 | ||
| Bjarne Kallis | Christian Democrats | 61,483 | 2.0 | ||
| Henrik Lax | Swedish People's Party | 48,703 | 1.6 | ||
| Arto Lahti | Independent | 12,989 | 0.4 | ||
| Source: First round Ministry of Justice, total [3] | |||||
2000 Presidential election
SDP's winning candidate was Tarja Halonen. National Coalition's candidate Riitta Uosukainen was clearly left out of the second round, after Sauli Niinistö declined candidacy. Center Party's candidate Esko Aho qualified for the runoff, and was defeated by a one-percent margin in the runoff by Tarja Halonen.
1994 Presidential election
Parliamentary Elections
Main article: Parliament of Finland
Finland's proportional representation system encourages a multitude of political parties and has resulted in many coalition-cabinets. The Prime Minister of Finland is appointed by the president, based on the vote in the parliamentary elections. Usually the chairman of the biggest party becomes the next prime minister.
In the parliamentary elections of 16 March 2003, there were two dominating parties: the Center Party (KESK) got 55 seats, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) got 53 seats, in the 200-seat Eduskunta. A new cabinet was formed by Center and Social Democrats together with the Swedish People's Party.
In the parliamentary elections of 2007, the Center Party retained its lead at 51 seats, but the election was a major victory for the National Coalition, which got 50 seats, and a major loss to SDP, which got 48 seats, losing 8 seats. A new coalition cabinet, Vanhanen II, between Center, Coalition, Greens, and the Swedish People's Party was formed.
2007 Parliamentary election
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centre Party (Suomen Keskusta) | 640,428 | 23.1 | 51 |
| National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus) | 616,841 | 22.3 | 50 |
| Social Democratic Party of Finland (Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue) | 594,194 | 21.4 | 45 |
| Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto) | 244,296 | 8.8 | 17 |
| Green League (Vihreä liitto) | 234,429 | 8.5 | 15 |
| Christian Democrats (Kristillisdemokraatit) | 134,790 | 4.9 | 7 |
| Swedish People's Party (Svenska Folkpartiet) | 126,520 | 4.5 | 9 |
| True Finns (Perussuomalaiset) | 112,256 | 4.1 | 5 |
| Communist Party of Finland (Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue) | 18,277 | 0.7 | 0 |
| Seniors' Party of Finland (Suomen Senioripuolue) | 16,715 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Bourgeois Alliance (Borgerlig Allians, Åland) | 9,561 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Total (turnout 67.9 %) | 200 | ||
| Source: Finnish Ministry of Justice | |||
Elections in the European Union
2004 Elections in the European Union in Finland
1999 Elections in the European Union in Finland
1996 Elections in the European Union in Finland
Referendums
EU membership referendum
See also
- Government of Finland
- President of Finland
- List of political parties in Finland
- List of political parties in Åland
- Electoral calendar
- Electoral system
External links
|
|||||||||||
