At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Finland

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Martti AHTISAARI
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Paavo LIPPONEN
• 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 Second Round of the Presidential race:

• Tarja HALONEN
  • Party: Social Democratic Party / (HSDP)
• Esko AHO
  • Party: Centre Party / (Kesk)

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Tarja HALONEN
  • Party: Social Democratic Party / (HSDP)
• Esko AHO
  • Party: Centre Party / (Kesk)
• Riitta UOSUKAINEN
  • Party: National Coalition / (KOK)
• Elisabeth REHN
  • Party: Swedish People's Party / (SFP)
• Heidi HAUTALA
  • Party: Greens Party
• Other Candidates
  • Party: N/A

Last Presidential election:

• Presidential Elections were last held on January 16 and February 6, 1994. President AHTISAARI received 54% of the vote, thereby defeating Elisabeth REHN who received 46%.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,176,209 (2000)
• Registered Voters: 4,172,740 (January 2000)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,649,994 (2000)

·         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: 74 (following the 1999 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: 776,431 (est.)