NOTE: A second round of elections was held on 5 February 2012.  Results can be found here.  

At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Finland

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Tarja HALONEN
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Jyrki Tapani KATAINEN
• Assembly: Finland has a unicameral Parliament (Eduskunta) with 200 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 6-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Parliament (Eduskunta), 199 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 1 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There are 14 multi-member constituencies with anywhere from 6 to 33 seats. Seats are distributed among the individual parties, or alliances of several parties, in accordance with the d'Hondt method.

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Paavo Tapio LIPPONEN
  • Party: Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) / Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue
• Sauli Väinämö NIINISTÖ
  • Party: National Coalition Party / Kansallinen Kokoomus
• Timo Juhani SOINI
  • Party: True Finns / Perussuomalaiset (PS)
• Paavo Matti VAYRYNEN
  • Party: Centre Party / Suomen Keskusta
• Pekka HAAVISTO
  • Party: The Greens of Finland / Vihreät - De Gröna
• Sari Miriam ESSAYAH
  • Party: Christian Democrats / Kristillisdemokraatit
• Eva Rita Katarina BIAUDET
  • Party: Swedish People's Party of Finland / Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,413,971 (2012)
• Registered Voters: 4,159,857 (2012)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,754,038 (2012)

·         Is Finland a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Finland ratified CEDAW: Yes (4 September 1986)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 85 (following the 2011 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 24 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Finland a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Finland ratified CRPD: Yes (11 May 2016)

·         Population with a disability: 812,095 (est.)