2012 Finnish municipal elections

Municipal elections were held in Finland on 28 October 2012, 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

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

Competing parties

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Electoral method

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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

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

Turnout was 58.3%,[6] lower than in the previous municipal election.

References

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  1. ^ "Kunnallisvaalit - Kunnat.net". Archived from the original on 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
  2. ^ http://www.vaalirahoitus.fi/ section 4.1.2013
  3. ^ "Kunnallisvaalit - Vaalit". Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
  4. ^ "Yle Tulos palvelu Koko maa". Yle Vaalikone.
  5. ^ Ministry of Justice. "Party results". Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  6. ^ Ministry of Justice. "Party results". Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
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