Record number of 227 candidates standing in European Parliament elections

Voting slips on the way to eligible voters

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A record total of 227 candidates from 13 candidate lists are standing in the European Parliament elections which will be held in June. In the previous Euro election of 1999, the number of candidates was 140.
      The deadline for the registration of candidate lists was on Tuesday.
      In accordance with the electoral system, each political party or electoral alliance may put forward a maximum of 20 candidates. All candidates stand at the national level and the votes are counted on a national basis.
      A total of nine electoral lists of 20 candidates each were accepted by the Helsinki constituency officials by the deadline. Represented were the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party, the National Coalition Party, the Left Alliance, the Green League, the Swedish People’s Party, the Communist Party, For the Poor, as well as the electoral alliance between the Christian Democrats and True Finns.
      In addition to the electoral lists of the major political parties, four other lists with the names of 47 candidates were registered. The electoral numbers given to the candidates will be allotted within the next week.
     
Eleven current MEPs  are standing for re-election, along with 14 Finnish MPs. Furthermore, among the most eye-catching names are former PM and Party leader Anneli Jäätteenmäki (Centre), former Green League leader Satu Hassi, and the current Christian Democrat Party leader Bjarne Kallis, as well as the current National Coalition Party chairman Ville Itälä, who announced at the beginning of this year that he would resign from the chairmanship of the party and stand for the European Parliament.
      Finland will select 14 MEPs to the European Parliament.
     
The voting slips will be posted to all eligible voters, starting from the capital region this week. If the voting slip fails to appear in the post by May 26, it is advisable to check the electoral roll at the local magistrate's office.
      All Finnish citizens aged 18 or over are eligible to vote. Citizens of other EU member states aged 18 or over are also eligible to vote if they are domiciled in Finland. The total number of potential voters in the Euro election poll in June is about 4.2 million. Some 205,000 of them reside abroad.
      The increase in the number of eligible voters compared with the previous Euro election is 86,413 voters, and 335,140 voters are eligible for the first time, based on their age.


Links:
  Electoral Laws - Finland (refers to 1999)
  Statistics Finland: Political parties and abbreviations in Parliamentary elections in 2003
  European Parliament elections 10-13 June 2004

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