European Parliament elections: documentation of statistics
Basic data of the statistics
Data description
Statistical presentation
Statistical population
Statistical unit
- candidate (person)
- elected representative (person)
- person entitled to vote (person)
- voters (person)
- advance voters (person)
Unit of measure
Reference period
Reference area
Sector coverage
Time coverage
Data published after the control calculation are final.
Frequency of dissemination
Concepts
Advance polling stations
1) general advance polling stations in Finland laid down in a Decree
2) Finnish diplomatic missions set out by a decree
3) hospitals and prisons (institutions)
4) Finnish ships
5) a voter's residence (subject to certain preconditions)
6) Postal voting (Persons living or staying abroad during the entire advance voting period and on election day may vote by post from abroad in general elections)
Advance votes
As a rule, advance votes are counted on the actual election day, Sunday, at 15.00 pm. The count may be advanced in large electoral districts; the earliest possible starting time is at 12 noon. The objective is to finish the counting of advance votes by 20.00 pm, from which time onwards advance data can be released.
Advance voting
Advance voting commences on the 11th and ends on the 8th day before the election day both in Finland and abroad.
Advance voting percentage
In Statistics Finland statistics the share is calculated from all persons who voted. On the Ministry of Justice's Internet pages the percentage is calculated from all persons entitled to vote.
Comparative index
The order of candidates belonging to a party that is not in an electoral alliance or to a joint electoral list is determined by the number of votes cast for them personally. The candidates are assigned a comparative index. For the first candidate on a party list or a joint electoral list the comparative index is the total number of votes cast for the party or joint electoral list, the second candidate's comparative index is one-half of that and the third candidate's one-third etc. The comparative indices of the candidates from parties belonging to an electoral alliance are based on the total number of votes cast for the electoral alliance. The comparative index of a candidate not belonging to a joint electoral list is the total number of votes cast for him/her personally.
Constituency
County elections:
In county elections the constituency is the wellbeing services county.
Parliamentary elections:
For the purpose of parliamentary elections, the country has been divided into constituencies on the basis of regions. In parliamentary elections the seats in parliament are allocated to constituencies according to a Government decision. According to law, one representative is elected from the Ahvenanmaa constituency and the remaining 199 seats are allocated proportionally to the other constituencies according to their population of Finnish citizens.
Other elections:
The whole country is one single constituency in Presidential elections and in the European Parliamentary elections. Municipalities are the constituencies of municipal elections. Therefore, when counting the votes in these elections, seats are not allocated to different regions. All statistics do, however, present results also by constituency in order to maintain the comparability of different elections.
Constituency association
Election Act
The new Election Act was applied for the first time in the Parliamentary elections of 1999. The new division into constituencies based on the division into regions was applied for the first time in the Parliamentary elections held in spring 2003.
In all elections related concepts the date of ratification is considered to be the first day of being in force. After its entry into force, the new Act has been applied to all general elections.
Eligible
Eligible as candidates in municipal elections are persons
1) whose municipality of residence is the municipality in question
2) who are entitled to vote in municipal elections in some municipality, and
3) who are not under guardianship (legally incompetent).
A person is eligible to stand as a candidate in county elections if they
1) are domiciled in the wellbeing services county in question (their municipality of residence belongs to the wellbeing services county in question),
2) have the right to vote in the county elections in some wellbeing services county, and
3) are not without legal capacity.
A resident of a wellbeing services county is a person who has a municipality of residence in the wellbeing services county as intended in the Municipality of Residence Act (201/1994).
Provisions on the restrictions on candidate eligibility are laid down in section 77 of the Act on wellbeing services counties.
“Eligible for election to a county council are not:
1) central government officials who perform supervisory tasks directly concerning a wellbeing services county;
2) persons employed by a wellbeing services county who work in a senior position within an area of responsibility of the county executive or a board or in an unincorporated county enterprise, or in another comparable position of responsibility;
3) persons employed by a corporate entity or foundation under the control of a wellbeing services county who, in terms of their position, are comparable to persons employed by a wellbeing services county as referred to in paragraph 2;
4) persons employed by a joint county for wellbeing services, of which the wellbeing services county in question is a member, who, in terms of their position, are comparable to persons employed by a wellbeing services county as referred to in a paragraph 2.
5) however, persons in the employment relationships referred to above are eligible for election as county councillors, if this employment relationship ends before the county councillors’ term begins.”
All persons entitled to vote and not under guardianship can stand as candidates in parliamentary elections. A person holding military office cannot, however, be elected as a representative. In addition certain high officials may not serve as representatives unless they resign from office.
Eligible as candidates in European Parliamentary elections are
1) all Finnish citizens who are entitled to vote in elections and not legally incompetent
2) all citizens of a Member State of the EU who are entitled to vote and who have registered and been entered into the voting register in Finland, and who have not lost eligibility in elections in their home state.
Native-born Finnish citizens are eligible in Presidential elections.
Entitled to vote
In European Parliamentary elections, a citizen of another European Union Member State is also entitled to vote provided the person has reached the age of 18 no later than on the day of the election and whose municipality of residence referred to in the Municipality of Residence Act (201/1994) is in Finland provided the person has not lost the right to vote in European elections in the country of which he/she is a citizen (Election Act, Section 2).
Entitled to vote in municipal elections and in county elections are citizens of Finland or another member state of European Union as of Iceland and Norway who have reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election, and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is in the Finnish Population Information System is the municipality in question on the 51st day before election day. The right to vote in municipal elections and in county elections is also to other foreign nationals meeting the above conditions, if he has had a place of domicile in Finland for at least two years. (Municipality of residence Act 26§).
European Parliamentary elections
In the European Parliamentary elections of June 2004, altogether 732 representatives were elected from the 25 member states. Fourteen representatives were elected from Finland.
Invalid ballots
1) the ballot envelope contains something else or more than one ballot paper
2) the ballot envelope has an unauthorised mark
3) something other than a ballot paper printed by the Ministry of Justice has been used as the ballot paper
4) the ballot paper has not been stamped
5) the candidate's number has been written unclearly
6) the elector's name or distinctive identification or some other inappropriate marking has been made on the ballot paper.
In addition to the above, statistics are compiled also on the number of empty ballots.
Nomination of candidates
The candidates are nominated for the entire wellbeing services county, voters only vote for the candidates in their own wellbeing services county and the result is calculated for each wellbeing services county.
Parliamentary elections:
Parliamentary election candidates can be nominated by registered political parties and constituency associations established by at least 100 persons entitled to vote. When nominating candidates two or more political parties have the right to form an electoral alliance by mutual agreement. Correspondingly, two or more constituency associations have the right to form a joint electoral list. Each party, electoral alliance or joint electoral list can nominate a maximum of 14 candidates in each electoral district. If, by virtue of a Government decision, more than 14 candidates are elected from an electoral district, the number of candidates may be at most the number of candidates elected from that electoral district.
Municipal elections:
Municipal election candidates can be nominated by political parties and a minimum of 10 persons entitled to vote, who have established a constituency association. When nominating candidates two or more political parties have the right to form an electoral alliance by mutual agreement. Correspondingly, two or more constituency associations have the right to form a joint electoral list. A party, an electoral alliance or a joint electoral list can nominate at most one and a half times as many candidates as there are places for elected representatives.
European Parliamentary elections:
European Parliamentary election candidates can be nominated by registered political parties and constituency associations established by at least 2,000 persons entitled to vote. When nominating candidates two or more political parties have the right to form an electoral alliance by mutual agreement. Correspondingly, two or more constituency associations have the right to form a joint electoral list. Each party, electoral alliance or joint electoral list can nominate a maximum of 20 candidates in each country.
Presidential elections:
Candidates may be nominated in Presidential elections by 1) a political party, from whose list of candidates at least one representative was elected in the most recent Parliamentary elections or 2) at least 20,000 persons entitled to vote, who have established a constituency association. A political party or a constituency association may nominate only one candidate. Political parties and constituency associations may nominate the same candidate.
Party
Proportional elections
Presidential elections are not proportional, as the votes are cast for individual candidates and not for parties.
Voting turnout
Statistics on general elections include four different voting percentages:
1) the voting percentage of Finnish citizens resident in Finland
2) the voting percentage of Finnish citizens resident abroad
3) the total voting percentage which includes both of the above
4) a separate percentage for persons belonging to group 2 above and living in Sweden.
In European Parliamentary elections a voting percentage is calculated also for citizens of other EU Member States.
In municipal elections the right to vote is not based on Finnish citizenship, but on municipality of residence (See Entitled to vote).
In municipal elections voting percentages by nationality of foreign voters are presented in addition to the total voting percentage: EU Member State, Iceland and Norway, Other country. (See also Advance voting percentage).
The right to vote in county elections is determined in the same way as in municipal elections, their municipality of residence is a municipality belonging to the wellbeing services county.
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Overall accuracy
Timeliness
The delay between the data released on the candidates and access to the data is usually around two weeks, while the delay between the background data published on voting turnout and access to the data is usually two to four weeks.
Given the exceptional nature of the statistics, not only in terms of the phenomenon described but also in terms of the time dependency of the phenomenon, external factors affecting the mid-week holidays of the year in question, etc. may affect the delay between access to the data and the phenomenon.
Punctuality
Comparability
Comparability - geographical
The statistics are comparable across countries insofar as they reflect the process of electing the members of Parliament in member states of European Parliament. Statistics are comparable for the Member States of European Parliament in which the elections are take place.
Comparability - over time
In practice, several changes have taken place in legislation in the time series (1996 to 2024) (e.g. changes related to voting rights) which may limit the comparability of data.
Coherence - cross domain
Source data and data collections
Source data
The background data on the persons are based on statistical data from Statistics Finland such as population, family and employment statistics, and the Register of Completed Education and Degrees.
Date of the background data:
- The latest election year: election year – 2 yrs.
- Previous election years: election year – 1 yr.
- Language
- Origin
- Main type of activity
- Number of children
- Education
- Disposable income
- Employer sector
Data collection
Frequency of data collection
Methods
Data compilation
Data validation
Principles and outlines
Contact organisation
Contact organisation unit
Legal acts and other agreements
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Confidentiality - policy
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment
Release policy
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Data sharing
Accessibility and clarity
Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.
In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases.
Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish.
Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service.
Data revision - policy
Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.
The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.
Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.
Relevance
User needs
Quality assessment
Quality assurance
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
User access
Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data.
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