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