Everything you need to know about the European Parliament election in Finland

Everything you need to know about the European Parliament election in Finland

The European Parliament election is upon us next month which means campaigning is about to kick into high gear.

Candidates this year include seasoned political heavyweights, elite sports stars, minor celebrities, and even some politicians with more than a few criminal convictions among them...

Finland doesn’t have a great track record for turning up to vote at European Parliament elections and last time in 2019 just over 42% of eligible voters cast their ballots. Young Finns aged 18-24 have among the lowest turnout of any EU country.

So what are the elections for, what does the parliament in Brussels do for Finland, how can you vote and who’s in the running?

Here’s the Finland Insider quick and easy guide with everything you need to know about the European Parliament election.

What date is the election and who can vote?

The European Parliament election takes place on Sunday 9 June with polling stations open from 09:00 to 20:00.

Advance voting runs from 29 May to 4 June if you’re in Finland - and from 29 May to 1 June if you’re voting abroad (don’t forget to take a photo ID, such as a passport, driving licence or identity card issued by the police to the polling station with you).

Finns over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, as are EU nationals resident in Finland, but you should have already registered, as polling cards have started to be sent out by mail and via the Suomi.fi web service.

Everyone eligible and registered to vote will get their polling cards by 15 May, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Each EU country holds elections in accordance with its national legislation: so that means the voting age, or the exact date of the vote, or even the right to vote in advance could be different in other EU countries than it is in Finland.

How many MEPs does Finland have and what do they do?

Finland is electing 15 MEPs this year, out of 720 in total who meet in sessions either in Brussels or Strasbourg.

The European Parliament is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and MEPs are directly elected by citizens of the EU Member States every five years.

The Parliament adopts the EU budget together with the Council of the European Union, and also oversees the work of the Commission and EU agencies.

Over the years the number of MEPs elected from Finland has gone up and down a few times, and while the biggest political parties have always secured seats, some of the smaller parties like Christian Democrats and Left Alliance haven’t always had an MEP to represent them

Click on this interactive chart to see how Finnish political parties have fared over the last two decades since the first European Parliament election was held in Finland in 1994:

Which parties are putting up candidates?

Some 232 candidates from 14 political parties are standing in June’s election and the smaller ones include The Truth Party (which aims to “expose the lies of politicians and civil servants) with just one candidate; and The Open Party (which promises “prosperity, freedom and well-being instead of squabbling”) with 11 candidates.

Several other parties outside of parliament are fielding full slates of 20 candidates each including the Finnish Communist Party; the Liberty Alliance (which is anti-NATO, anti-EU and wants to take Finland out of the eurozone); and the Liberal Party (which began life as the Whiskey Party).

The other parliamentary parties also have full rosters of 20 candidates as you would expect: Kokoomus, the Finns Party, Social Democrats, Green League, Left Alliance and Swedish Peoples’ Party.

This year the Christian Democrats and Movement Now have joined forces in an electoral alliance to field 10 candidates each.

When the elected MEPs from Finland get to Brussels, they align themselves with like-minded other parties into an ‘umbrella’ group. For example, the National Coalition Party and Christian Democrats are part of the European Peoples’ Party group in Brussels. Find out more about those different pan-European groups here.

When will the results come out and how are votes counted?

For the first time this year, the Ministry of Justice aims to publish the election results on the same day 9 June, shortly after voting closes at 20:00.

You can follow the results live at the ministry’s website.

A rather complicated system called the d’Hondt method is used to calculate the election results, which employs a sort of proportional representation. If you want to take a deep dive into the political and mathematical theory behind it, the European Parliament website explains it all at length!

If you’re looking for more information about the European Parliament election in Finland in your own language, the Ministry of Justice’s election site has info in 19 different languages including plain English, Finnish and Swedish. Read more here.