Elections supremo would restrict opinion polls from around one month before voting

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Arto Jääskeläinen, Head of Development at the Ministry of Justice, would restrict the publishing of opinion polls around one month before elections. "Restrictions should be considered especially in conjunction with elections that centre around a person, such as presidential election and election for the European Parliament", Jääskeläinen says.
      In Jääskeläinen's view, opinion polls influence people far too much when deciding how to cast their vote.
      Jääskeläinen first took notice of this during the presidential election of 2000.
      Again last summer, after Helsingin Sanomat had commissioned Suomen Gallup to conduct an opinion poll before the European Parliament election, Jääskeläinen paid attention to this phenomenon.
      A similar gallup poll was also published just before the 1999 European Parliament election, but did not cause a reaction from Jääskeläinen at the time.
     
Some argue that opinion polls may also cause people to start supporting the underdogs, but Jääskeläinen believes most people still prefer to be on the winning side.
      "Voters look at who is worth voting for, so that the vote they cast would not go to waste."
      Jääskeläinen suggests that the publishing of opinion polls before elections could be regulated by law, as is done in France. Another possibility could be an agreement within the leading mass media on releasing opinion polls.
      In Jääskeläinen's view, the opinion polls published in the leading newspapers and other forms of Finnish media are professionally done and reliable. Their advantage is that they provoke discussion.
      Jääskeläinen agrees that they are beneficial between elections.
     
Another reform that keeps the Election Unit of the Ministry of Justice busy is the gradual introduction of electronic voting.
      "First experiments will possibly take place during the 2006 presidential election", Jääskeläinen says.
      By the end of the decade the whole country should cast their votes electronically.
      "Electronic voting will speed up elections tremendously. It will be cost-effective, too, as manual counting of votes will not be needed", argues Jääskeläinen.
      However, voting through home computers is not on the agenda in Finland.
      "The secrecy and freedom of voting cannot be guaranteed if people cast their votes at home. In some families and circles of friends manipulation and even threats might be used to persuade people to cast their votes a certain way."


Links:
  Ministry of Justice: Elections

Helsingin Sanomat