Parliament of Finland - Parliamentary Elections

Parliamentary Elections

The Eduskunta's 200 representatives are elected directly by secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation. The electoral period is four years. Elections previously took two days but as early voting became popular they are now conducted on one day, since 2011 the third Sunday in April.

Every citizen who is at least 18 years of age by the election date is entitled to vote in general elections. With certain exceptions, such as military personnel on active duty and high judicial officials, these requirements (and not being under guardianship) are also enough to run for Parliament. Candidates are selected by party referendums or electoral organizations.

In parliamentary elections, Finland is divided into 15 electoral districts. The number of representatives returned by each district depends on the population. Åland is an exception in that it always elects one representative. The provincial state offices appoint an election board in each electoral district to prepare lists of candidates and to approve the election results. The Ministry of Justice is ultimately responsible for elections.

The President of Finland can call for an early election, in the constitution of 2000 upon the proposal of the Prime Minister, after consultations with the parliamentary groups while Parliament is in session. Prior to the new constitution the President had the power to do this independently. The President has called an early election eight times in Finnish history; however, this has not happened since 1975.

There is no hard and fast election threshold to get a seat in Parliament. In large part due to this, it is nearly impossible for one party to win an outright majority. Since the first election in 1907, only one party has ever won a majority--in the election of 1916, when the Social Democrats won 103 seats. Since Finland gained independence in 1917, no party has won the 101 seats necessary for a majority. It is also very difficult for the socialist and non-socialist blocs to form a government on their own. Most Finnish governments in recent history have been coalitions between three or more parties, and many of them have been grand coalitions between socialist and non-socialist parties.

The seats for each electoral district are assigned according to the d'Hondt method. Although there is no set election threshold, many electoral districts have lost population in recent decades, and some now elect as few as six representatives. This makes it harder for small parties to win MPs in these districts. The current administration plans to deal with the problem by rearranging the electoral districts.