|
|
|
|
|
General information about the Finnish parliamentary elections 2023
|
The upcoming Parliamentary elections in Finland will be held on 2 April 2023, and will elect members of parliament for the period of 2023–2027. On this page you can find practical information about elections, to help you participate. What are we voting about?
According to the Finnish Constitution, sovereign power in Finland belongs to the people, represented by Parliament. The Finnish Parliament is unicameral (having a single legislative chamber), and comprised of 200 representatives. The Parliament of Finland enacts laws, decides the State budget, supervises the activities of authorities subordinated to the Government, and adopts international agreements. The parliament chooses the Prime Minister who is officially appointed by the President of the Republic. The Prime Minister chooses the other members of the Cabinet who are appointed by the President of the Republic. Who is eligible to vote and how?
Every Finnish citizen who has reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election is entitled to vote in the parliamentary elections. Every person entitled to vote is sent a notice of his or her right to vote not later than 24 days before election day. Voting in Finland is done during the election day in secrecy in a polling station predetermined by the authorities according to the registered address of the citizen. Additionally, voting is possible also in advance, between 11 to 5 days before election day, in a variety of advance polling stations within the electoral district. The information card sent to each eligible voter states among other things the election day, the days for advance voting, a list of the advance polling stations within the electoral district, the name and address of the polling station on election day, and the addresses and telephone numbers of the election authorities. Can I be a candidate myself?
Everyone with the right to vote (and who is not under guardianship) can also be a candidate in the parliamentary elections. However, to be a candidate, one must be nominated by either a registered political party, or a constituency association established by at least 100 eligible voters. The deadline for submitting candidate applications is Tuesday 21 February 2023 by 16.00 How candidates are elected to the parliament?
Candidates in the parliamentary elections are divided and voted on a regional basis. Based on the registered address of the candidate, he or she is assigned to one of 13 electoral districts. From each district, a certain amount of representatives are elected to the parliament, according to the population size of the district. In turn, the eligible voters residing in each district can vote only for the candidates running in their district. What do I need to consider when voting?
In the Finnish parliamentary elections, each eligible voter votes directly for one candidate for the parliament. Nonetheless, while voting is for an individual candidate, each candidate is typically a part of a political party. Therefore voting for an individual candidate also means voting for the party the candidate is a member of. Within Finnish politics, much of the political actions are decided by the different political parties, whose members of parliament are convened and make a common decision. Hence, it is important to learn about the political views of the different candidates, but also of the parties they represent. Good sources of information can be the websites of the parties (provided below), good quality Finnish news outlets (for example, YLE and Helsingin Sanomat), as well as discussions with trustworthy acquaintances who follow Finnish politics. Ultimately, before the election major Finnish news outlets offer an "election compass". In these compasses, one can answer questions regarding his/her positions on various political issues, and accordingly find out which candidates and parties hold similar positions. A link to YLE's election compass in English will be uploaded to this page when it will be available. Previous Elections' Results (2019)
Parliament composition following the 2019 elections' results:
Following the elections, a government was established consisting of 5 parties: Social Democratic Party, Centre Party, The Greens, Left Alliance and Swedish People's Party. The Prime Minister was Antti Rinne (Social Democratic Party) - June 2019 – December 2019, followed by Sanna Marin (Social Democratic Party) - Incumbent Finnish parties' websites in English
The following list includes only parties' websites which have a section in English. Parties are ordered alphabetically.
More information on the different parties and candidates and their political views on various topics will be added here closer to the elections, so stay tuned! Read more on the procedures of the parliamentary elections and voting in the official website of the elections by the Finnish Ministry of Justice |
