Elections in Finland

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.

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

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

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

* [http://www.vaalit.fi/14173.htm Finnish Ministry of Justice website about elections in Finland]
* [http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/f/finland/ Adam Carr's Election Archive]