| The Election Act was passed on 2 October 1998 (Law No. 714/1998), replacing
all previous electoral laws. The law was amended on 5 April 2002. (Minor
amendments are made in 2003 to the list of candidacy incompatibilities, to make
the law correspond with the Act on Elections to the European Parliament.) |
| Proportional representation: the whole country forms a
single constituency. Candidates stand at national level and are counted on a
national basis. Preference voting. |
|
Allocation of seats: d’Hondt method. After
each party, electoral alliance and joint list has been allocated the number of
seats to which it is entitled, the candidates on the lists are ranked according
to the number of preference votes they have received.
|
| Deadline for registration: 4 May 2004
at 4 pm. |
|
Deposit: None.
|
|
Conditions: The following organisations may put forward
candidates :
- Political parties: Two or more political parties may also form electoral
alliances.
- Electoral associations: Each electoral association may put forward a
candidate. At least 2000 founder members eligible to vote are required to
establish an electoral association (written agreement of each founder member
required). Electoral associations may form joint lists.
- Each political party, electoral alliance or joint list may put forward a
maximum of 20 candidates.
|
|
Incompatibilities: Those laid down in the Act on Elections
to the European Parliament and, currently, based on the Election Act
(714/1998), the following persons:
- Members of the Finnish Government: civil servants who, under the Finnish
constitution, may not stand as candidates for the Finnish Parliament (military
personnel, Chancellor of Justice, Vice-Chancellor of Justice, Members of the
Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court, Ombudsman and Vice-Ombudsman of
the Finnish Parliament).
|
| Other elections on the same day: |
| Polling hours: |
| The count begins: 8 pm on polling day
for the votes of 13 June, and in the afternoon of 13 June for the advance
votes. |
| End of count and provisional results:
between 10 pm and midnight on polling day. |
| Final results: on 16 June 2004. |
|
Right to vote:
- All Finnish citizens aged 18 or over are eligible to vote, regardless of
domicile.
- Citizens of other EU Member States aged 18 or over are eligible to vote if
they are domiciled in Finland on the 51st day before the election day and if
they apply for the right to vote not later than on the 80th day before the
election day.
- Citizens of other EU Member States who previously registered to vote in the
1999 EP elections in Finland and are still domiciled in Finland will
automatically have the right to vote in the 2004 EP elections, provided that
they have not asked to be removed from the Finnish register.
- EU citizens who have lost their right to vote in their Member State of
origin may not vote in the Finnish EP elections.
|
| Voting is not compulsory. |
| Advance voting: Voters may also vote in
advance in post offices, hospitals and certain other institutions as well as in
Finnish diplomatic missions or their offices. Advance voting in Finland begins
on 2 June 2004 and ends on 8 June 2004; advance voting abroad begins on 2 June
2004 and ends on 5 June 2004. Votes cast in advance will be counted on election
day. |
| Right to stand for election: Any
Finnish citizen or citizen of another EU country aged 18 or over who has the
right to vote may also stand for election, except persons subject to a care
order. See also : incompatibilities. |
| Funding: no specific rules. The draft
budget for 1999 included a provision of circa 1 million euro for EP
election-related information activities of political parties ; the budget
provision for 2004 is not yet known. |
| Official campaign starting date: No
rules or restrictions. |
|
Media access: No rules or restrictions. Under the Act on
Political Parties, the Finnish Broadcasting Company (a national public service
company) is required to give equal treatment to political parties in its
election broadcasts, subject to journalistic criteria.
|
| Opinion polls: No rules or
restrictions. |
