Finnish municipal elections, 2012

Finnish municipal election, 2012 was held in Finland on 28 October with advance voting between 17 and 23 October 2012. 9,674 municipal council seats were open for election in 304 municipalities. The number of councillors decreased by over 700 compared to the previous election due to the merging of several municipalities.^[1] The term of the elected councillors will begin on 1 January 2013.

Funds

In Finland, candidates have to declare their campaign funding. 15% of the declarations did not arrive in time.^[2]

Competing parties

• Centre Party
• National Coalition Party (NCP)
• Social Democratic Party (SDP)
• True Finns
• Green League
• Left Alliance
• Swedish People's Party (SPP)
• Christian Democrats
• Pirate Party
• Communist Party
• Change 2011
• Independence Party
• Workers Party
• Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism
• For the Poor
• Freedom Party

Electoral method

The D'Hondt method is used in the election. The size of the municipal council or city council depends on the population of the municipality:^[3]

Population	Number of councilmen
under 2,000	13, 15 or 17
2,001–4,000	21
4,001–8,000	27
8,001–15,000	35
15,001–30,000	43
30,001–60,000	51
60,001–120,000	59
120,001–250,000	67
250,001–400,000	75
over 400,000	85

Helsinki is the only city in the last category and Espoo the only city in the second-to-last category.

National results

Party		Votes[4]				Council seats
		Number	%	Swing (2008)	Swing (2011)	Number	Net ±
	National Coalition	545,889	21.9%	-1.6%	+1.5%	1,735	-286
	Social Democratic	487,924	19.6%	-1.7%	+0.5%	1,729	-337
	Centre	465,166	18.7%	-1.4%	+2.9%	3,077	-440
	Finns	307,797	12.3%	+7.0%	-6.7%	1,195	+752
	Green League	213,100	8.5%	-0.4%	+1.3%	323	-47
	Left Alliance	199,615	8.0%	-0.8%	-0.1%	640	-193
	Swedish People's	117,865	4.7%	±0.0%	+0.4%	480	-30
	Christian Democrat	93,257	3.7%	-0.4%	-0.3%	300	-51
	Communist Party	11,174	0.4%	-0.1%	+0.1%	9	±0
	Pirate	5,986	0.2%	new	-0.3%	0	±0
	Independence Party	1,303	0.1%	±0.0%	-0.1%	0	-2
	Change 2011	1,258	0.1%	new	-0.2%	1	+1
	Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism	704	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	0	±0
	For the Poor	572	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	0	±0
	Workers Party	538	<0.1%	<0.1%	<0.1%	0	±0
	Freedom Party	15	<0.1%	new	<0.1%	0	±0
	Others	41,358	1.7%	-0.8%	+1.3%	185	-102
Total		2,493,521				9,674	-738

Turnout was 58.3%,^[5] lower than in the previous municipal election.

References

1. http://www.kuntavaalit.fi/media/faktat/Sivut/default.aspx
2. http://www.vaalirahoitus.fi/ section 4.1.2013
3. http://www.vaalit.fi/14167.htm
4. Ministry of Justice. "Party results". Retrieved 2 November 2012.
5. Ministry of Justice. "Party results". Retrieved 2 November 2012.

External links

• The Elections website of the Ministry of Justice