Finnish presidential election, 2006
Encyclopedia
The Finnish Presidential election of 2006 saw the re-election of Tarja Halonen
as President of Finland
for a second six-year term.
The first round of voting
in Finnish presidential elections always takes place on the third Sunday of January, in this case 15 January 2006. As no candidate received more than half of the vote, a second round was held on 29 January between the two highest placed candidates from the first round, Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö
. Tarja Halonen, the incumbent, won the final round by 3.6 percentage points. The newly elected president formally took office for her second term on 1 March, and would have done so on 1 February, had no run-off been necessary (Constitution 55 §).
Advance voting is possible in Finnish elections, and the dates for this in the first round were the 4th, 5th and 7th to 10th of January. Finnish citizens voting abroad could vote from the 4th to the 7th of January. An advantage to advance voting is that those doing so have a wider choice of polling station
s (typically post offices, such as the one shown here), whereas on the actual election day the polling stations are fixed, usually schools, libraries or town halls.
The law states that candidate numbers start from number 2. There are various justifications, such as preventing any candidate from using the slogan "number 1" for publicity, preventing ambiguity between the numbers 1 and 7, or preventing votes from being accidentally discounted because of a resemblance to a tickmark.
Electorate: 4 272 537 .
First round: Votes 3 025 606, turnout 70.8% .
Results of advance voting
(Social Democratic Party
) and Sauli Niinistö
(National Coalition Party
).
Opinion polls predicted a close election. A January 19 poll (HS Gallup) gave Halonen 53% and Niinistö 47% of the vote. By comparison, in October 2005 a clear majority of 70% would have voted for Halonen when asked to choose between her and Niinistö.
Four of the six candidates who did not make it to the second round, Matti Vanhanen
, Bjarne Kallis
, Henrik Lax
and Arto Lahti
publicly expressed their support for Sauli Niinistö in the runoff election. This reflects a loose alliance termed porvariyhteistyö in the Finnish media, (roughly translated as "bourgeois collaboration"). According to Niinistö and Vanhanen, the main centre-right parties (the National Coalition Party and the Centre Party
) had agreed about a year earlier on some level of co-operation to better compete with Halonen, who is supported by both the Social Democrats and Left Alliance
.
Second round: Votes 3 163 096, turnout 74.0% .
Overall summary:
The ten municipalities most supporting Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö were:
Source: Helsingin Sanomat
, January 30, 2006, page A7
's candidate Heidi Hautala
suggested that the President be completely stripped of all powers relating to foreign affairs and foreign policy, but this proposal met with fierce resistance from the three candidates of the largest parties – Tarja Halonen
, Matti Vanhanen
and Sauli Niinistö
. Halonen, the main left-wing candidate and incumbent president, has further indicated that the president's powers should not be increased either, since it would, in her opinion, reduce the degree of democratic decision-making.
Another important election theme was the threat of international terrorism
and how to counter it. The main right-wing candidate, Sauli Niinistö
, stated in the last presidential debate that he would consider Finland's membership "in a more European" North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after 2008 to achieve such an end, but this was strongly rejected by the other main candidates. The only candidate openly embracing NATO-membership was the other right-wing candidate, Henrik Lax
, of the Swedish People's Party. According to a poll carried out by the Taloustutkimus polling agency in July 2005, most Finnish people believe that NATO membership would increase the risk of international terrorism in Finland instead of decreasing it. This is also the view held by Vanhanen, of the Centre Party, and Halonen.
Other themes included Christian values emphasised by Bjarne Kallis
; stronger ties around the Baltic Sea and a stronger European Union by Henrik Lax
; criticism of the EU by Timo Soini
and the state of entrepreneurship and the returning of Karelia
by Arto Lahti.
Sauli Niinistö raised the state of work as another theme. His campaign slogan was "President of the workers" (Työväen presidentti) and this provoked many union activists and left-wing supporters and voters. However, he was also criticised for trying to lure left-wing voters to vote for him with this slogan. Niinistö's campaign stated that there was neither "left-wing work" or "right-wing work" but only Finnish work for Finnish welfare.
The total percentages may exceed 100% due to rounding.
Two of the latest polls made by Taloustutkimus and Suomen Gallup raised discussion over whether Halonen would gain the 50%+ majority of the votes necessary to win the election in a single round. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the reason why Halonen's support has decreased in polls might be an increase in the number of people not wanting to reveal their favourite candidate: some of them plead to the secrecy of voting. The airtime and space given by the media for the candidates may have given the candidates with smaller support the opportunity to bring their opinions to the public, which might add to their support in the polls in question.
On the other hand, the latest poll conducted by Research International (2) showed no change in Halonen's popularity between the three different weeks.
The candidates and their supporters read their polls for their advantage. In Timo Soini's mind there was a big surprise waiting in the ballot boxes; he did, in fact, receive 3.4% of the vote, which was much more than the support for his True Finns
party in the last parliamentary election. Tarja Halonen stated this election as being the only one showing such a big support to her: "The crossbar is trembling just right", she said on January 10, meaning the excitement of getting the majority of the votes. Sauli Niinistö publicly stated that there would be a second round between him and Halonen.
. Voting was organised abroad for expatriate Finnish citizens at Finnish embassies, consulates and honorary consulates worldwide. The candidates were voted for directly by the electorate. Votes were counted nationally.
The counting of advance votes started at 15:00, and was expected to finish before 20:00, when the first preliminary results were announced. The preliminary counting of the election day votes began at 20:00, after which the votes were delivered to the central election committee in Helsinki
, which performed a recount. The definitive result in Finnish presidential elections is required by law to be confirmed on the following Tuesday at 10:00 at the latest. However, enough votes are normally counted during the first hour after polling stations close for an unofficial, but clear, result to be announced.
endorsed re-election for Tarja Halonen on his show due to a long-standing joke about his hair and facial similarities with the incumbent president. The skits, commentary, and mock campaign ads were seen on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
on SubTV, a Finnish cable channel, five days a week (with a 3 day delay). Some news reports and increased hits to Halonen's web site have been attributed to O'Brien's show. Markku Jääskeläinen, Halonen's campaign manager, noted that the frequent mention of Halonen's name was positive for their campaign. The political relevance of this international publicity, however, is questionable.
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
as President of Finland
President of Finland
The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....
for a second six-year term.
The first round of voting
Voting
Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
in Finnish presidential elections always takes place on the third Sunday of January, in this case 15 January 2006. As no candidate received more than half of the vote, a second round was held on 29 January between the two highest placed candidates from the first round, Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician from National Coalition Party. He is also President of the Football Association of Finland. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election...
. Tarja Halonen, the incumbent, won the final round by 3.6 percentage points. The newly elected president formally took office for her second term on 1 March, and would have done so on 1 February, had no run-off been necessary (Constitution 55 §).
Advance voting is possible in Finnish elections, and the dates for this in the first round were the 4th, 5th and 7th to 10th of January. Finnish citizens voting abroad could vote from the 4th to the 7th of January. An advantage to advance voting is that those doing so have a wider choice of polling station
Polling station
A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...
s (typically post offices, such as the one shown here), whereas on the actual election day the polling stations are fixed, usually schools, libraries or town halls.
Candidates
The candidates are listed below following their candidate numbers. This list was confirmed by the Electoral District Committee of Helsinki on 15 December 2005.- (See below)
- Bjarne KallisBjarne KallisJohan Bjarne Kallis is the former chairman of the Christian Democratic Party , previously known as the Finnish Christian Coalition , and a member of the Parliament of Finland...
(Christian DemocratsChristian Democrats (Finland)The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. Formerly known as the Finnish Christian League , the Christian Democrats have six seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament.The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of...
) - Sauli NiinistöSauli NiinistöSauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician from National Coalition Party. He is also President of the Football Association of Finland. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election...
(National Coalition PartyNational Coalition Party (Finland)The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns...
) - Timo SoiniTimo SoiniTimo Juhani Soini is a Finnish politician, and co-founder and current leader of the True Finns party. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, when he returned to the Parliament of Finland. Well-known as an EU-sceptic populist, he was elected a member of the Espoo city...
(True FinnsTrue FinnsTrue Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party...
) - Heidi HautalaHeidi Hautala-External links:* * *...
(Green LeagueGreen LeagueThe Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....
) - Henrik LaxHenrik LaxHenrik Lax is a Finnish politician and formerMember of the European Parliament with the Swedish People's Party, Member of the Bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.Lax was a substitute...
(Swedish People's Party) - Matti VanhanenMatti VanhanenMatti Taneli Vanhanen is a Finnish politician. He is a former Prime Minister of Finland and a former Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. In his earlier career he was a journalist...
(Centre PartyCentre Party (Finland)The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...
); the incumbent Prime Minister of FinlandPrime Minister of FinlandThe Prime Minister is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, who is the Head of State. The current Prime Minister is Jyrki Katainen of the National Coalition Party.-Overview:...
, - Arto LahtiArto LahtiArto Henrikki Lahti is a professor of entrepreneurship at the Helsinki School of Economics.He was an independent nominee for the Finnish presidential election in 2006, with themes including preserving the status of small enterprises, rights of overleveraged, political honesty and returning of...
(independent) - Tarja HalonenTarja HalonenTarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
(Social Democratic PartySocial Democratic Party of FinlandThe Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...
; also supported by the Left AllianceLeft Alliance (Finland)The Left Alliance is a left-wing political party in Finland. It was founded on the basis of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Communist Party of Finland in 1990....
); the current incumbentIncumbentThe incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
The law states that candidate numbers start from number 2. There are various justifications, such as preventing any candidate from using the slogan "number 1" for publicity, preventing ambiguity between the numbers 1 and 7, or preventing votes from being accidentally discounted because of a resemblance to a tickmark.
Results
First round: Votes 3 025 606, turnout 70.8% .
Results of advance voting
| candidate | party | votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarja Halonen Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency... |
Social Democratic Party Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many... |
636,143 | 49.4 |
| Sauli Niinistö Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician from National Coalition Party. He is also President of the Football Association of Finland. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election... |
National Coalition Party National Coalition Party (Finland) The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns... |
281,901 | 21.9 |
| Matti Vanhanen Matti Vanhanen Matti Taneli Vanhanen is a Finnish politician. He is a former Prime Minister of Finland and a former Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. In his earlier career he was a journalist... |
Centre Party Centre Party (Finland) The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament... |
258,034 | 20.0 |
| Timo Soini Timo Soini Timo Juhani Soini is a Finnish politician, and co-founder and current leader of the True Finns party. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, when he returned to the Parliament of Finland. Well-known as an EU-sceptic populist, he was elected a member of the Espoo city... |
True Finns True Finns True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party... |
33,275 | 2.6 |
| Heidi Hautala Heidi Hautala -External links:* * *... |
Green League Green League The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö.... |
31,406 | 2.4 |
| Bjarne Kallis Bjarne Kallis Johan Bjarne Kallis is the former chairman of the Christian Democratic Party , previously known as the Finnish Christian Coalition , and a member of the Parliament of Finland... |
Christian Democrats Christian Democrats (Finland) The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. Formerly known as the Finnish Christian League , the Christian Democrats have six seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament.The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of... |
23,009 | 1.8 |
| Henrik Lax Henrik Lax Henrik Lax is a Finnish politician and formerMember of the European Parliament with the Swedish People's Party, Member of the Bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.Lax was a substitute... |
Swedish People's Party | 17,654 | 1.4 |
| Arto Lahti Arto Lahti Arto Henrikki Lahti is a professor of entrepreneurship at the Helsinki School of Economics.He was an independent nominee for the Finnish presidential election in 2006, with themes including preserving the status of small enterprises, rights of overleveraged, political honesty and returning of... |
(independent) | 5,810 | 0.5 |
Runoff election
A second round run-off was held on 29 January, 2006 between Tarja HalonenTarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
(Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party of Finland
The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...
) and Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician from National Coalition Party. He is also President of the Football Association of Finland. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election...
(National Coalition Party
National Coalition Party (Finland)
The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns...
).
Opinion polls predicted a close election. A January 19 poll (HS Gallup) gave Halonen 53% and Niinistö 47% of the vote. By comparison, in October 2005 a clear majority of 70% would have voted for Halonen when asked to choose between her and Niinistö.
Four of the six candidates who did not make it to the second round, Matti Vanhanen
Matti Vanhanen
Matti Taneli Vanhanen is a Finnish politician. He is a former Prime Minister of Finland and a former Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. In his earlier career he was a journalist...
, Bjarne Kallis
Bjarne Kallis
Johan Bjarne Kallis is the former chairman of the Christian Democratic Party , previously known as the Finnish Christian Coalition , and a member of the Parliament of Finland...
, Henrik Lax
Henrik Lax
Henrik Lax is a Finnish politician and formerMember of the European Parliament with the Swedish People's Party, Member of the Bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.Lax was a substitute...
and Arto Lahti
Arto Lahti
Arto Henrikki Lahti is a professor of entrepreneurship at the Helsinki School of Economics.He was an independent nominee for the Finnish presidential election in 2006, with themes including preserving the status of small enterprises, rights of overleveraged, political honesty and returning of...
publicly expressed their support for Sauli Niinistö in the runoff election. This reflects a loose alliance termed porvariyhteistyö in the Finnish media, (roughly translated as "bourgeois collaboration"). According to Niinistö and Vanhanen, the main centre-right parties (the National Coalition Party and the Centre Party
Centre Party (Finland)
The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...
) had agreed about a year earlier on some level of co-operation to better compete with Halonen, who is supported by both the Social Democrats and Left Alliance
Left Alliance (Finland)
The Left Alliance is a left-wing political party in Finland. It was founded on the basis of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Communist Party of Finland in 1990....
.
Results
Electorate: 4 272 537 .Second round: Votes 3 163 096, turnout 74.0% .
Overall summary:
The ten municipalities most supporting Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö were:
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
, January 30, 2006, page A7
Election themes
The main theme of discussion in the campaign preceding the election was the President's powers and whether they should be limited further. The Green LeagueGreen League
The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....
's candidate Heidi Hautala
Heidi Hautala
-External links:* * *...
suggested that the President be completely stripped of all powers relating to foreign affairs and foreign policy, but this proposal met with fierce resistance from the three candidates of the largest parties – Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
, Matti Vanhanen
Matti Vanhanen
Matti Taneli Vanhanen is a Finnish politician. He is a former Prime Minister of Finland and a former Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. In his earlier career he was a journalist...
and Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician from National Coalition Party. He is also President of the Football Association of Finland. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election...
. Halonen, the main left-wing candidate and incumbent president, has further indicated that the president's powers should not be increased either, since it would, in her opinion, reduce the degree of democratic decision-making.
Another important election theme was the threat of international terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and how to counter it. The main right-wing candidate, Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician from National Coalition Party. He is also President of the Football Association of Finland. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election...
, stated in the last presidential debate that he would consider Finland's membership "in a more European" North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after 2008 to achieve such an end, but this was strongly rejected by the other main candidates. The only candidate openly embracing NATO-membership was the other right-wing candidate, Henrik Lax
Henrik Lax
Henrik Lax is a Finnish politician and formerMember of the European Parliament with the Swedish People's Party, Member of the Bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.Lax was a substitute...
, of the Swedish People's Party. According to a poll carried out by the Taloustutkimus polling agency in July 2005, most Finnish people believe that NATO membership would increase the risk of international terrorism in Finland instead of decreasing it. This is also the view held by Vanhanen, of the Centre Party, and Halonen.
Other themes included Christian values emphasised by Bjarne Kallis
Bjarne Kallis
Johan Bjarne Kallis is the former chairman of the Christian Democratic Party , previously known as the Finnish Christian Coalition , and a member of the Parliament of Finland...
; stronger ties around the Baltic Sea and a stronger European Union by Henrik Lax
Henrik Lax
Henrik Lax is a Finnish politician and formerMember of the European Parliament with the Swedish People's Party, Member of the Bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.Lax was a substitute...
; criticism of the EU by Timo Soini
Timo Soini
Timo Juhani Soini is a Finnish politician, and co-founder and current leader of the True Finns party. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, when he returned to the Parliament of Finland. Well-known as an EU-sceptic populist, he was elected a member of the Espoo city...
and the state of entrepreneurship and the returning of Karelia
Karelian question in Finnish politics
The Karelian question or Karelian issue is a dispute of Finnish politics over whether or not to try to regain sovereignty over the Finnish Karelia and other territories ceded to the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War...
by Arto Lahti.
Sauli Niinistö raised the state of work as another theme. His campaign slogan was "President of the workers" (Työväen presidentti) and this provoked many union activists and left-wing supporters and voters. However, he was also criticised for trying to lure left-wing voters to vote for him with this slogan. Niinistö's campaign stated that there was neither "left-wing work" or "right-wing work" but only Finnish work for Finnish welfare.
Opinion polls
Here is a collection of latest poll results. The opinion pollsters' methods may vary, as do the samples and the conducting time, which give the differences.| runoff election | MTV3 MTV3 MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials... 16-18/01 |
HS Helsingin Sanomat Helsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays... 16–17/01 |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Sauli Niinistö | 45 % | 47 % |
| 9 Tarja Halonen | 55 % | 53 % |
| first round | YLE 10–11/01 | MTV3 weeks 52, 1 and 2 | HS 05–07/01 | HS 27–29/12 | AL 12–29/12 | HS 07–17/12 | YLE 09/12 | HS 05/11 | YLE 05/11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Bjarne Kallis | 1 % | 1 % | 2 % | 2 % | 1,4 % | 2 % | 1 % | 1 % | 1 % |
| 3 Sauli Niinistö | 20 % | 19 % | 21 % | 20 % | 20,3 % | 20 % | 18 % | 24 % | 19 % |
| 4 Timo Soini | 4 % | 3 % | 3 % | 2 % | 1,4 % | 2 % | 1 % | 1 % | 1 % |
| 5 Heidi Hautala | 4 % | 3 % | 3 % | 2 % | 2,3 % | 2 % | 2 % | 3 % | 1 % |
| 6 Henrik Lax | 1 % | 1 % | 1 % | 1 % | 1,0 % | 1 % | 1 % | 1 % | 1 % |
| 7 Matti Vanhanen | 18 % | 17 % | 18 % | 18 % | 16,5 % | 19 % | 19 % | 18 % | 15 % |
| 8 Arto Lahti | 1 % | < 1 % | < 1 % | 1 % | 0,9 % | 1 % | na7 | na8 | na9 |
| 9 Tarja Halonen | 52 % | 55 % | 51 % | 54 % | 56,2 % | 55 % | 58 % | 52 % | 61 % |
The total percentages may exceed 100% due to rounding.
Two of the latest polls made by Taloustutkimus and Suomen Gallup raised discussion over whether Halonen would gain the 50%+ majority of the votes necessary to win the election in a single round. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the reason why Halonen's support has decreased in polls might be an increase in the number of people not wanting to reveal their favourite candidate: some of them plead to the secrecy of voting. The airtime and space given by the media for the candidates may have given the candidates with smaller support the opportunity to bring their opinions to the public, which might add to their support in the polls in question.
On the other hand, the latest poll conducted by Research International (2) showed no change in Halonen's popularity between the three different weeks.
The candidates and their supporters read their polls for their advantage. In Timo Soini's mind there was a big surprise waiting in the ballot boxes; he did, in fact, receive 3.4% of the vote, which was much more than the support for his True Finns
True Finns
True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party...
party in the last parliamentary election. Tarja Halonen stated this election as being the only one showing such a big support to her: "The crossbar is trembling just right", she said on January 10, meaning the excitement of getting the majority of the votes. Sauli Niinistö publicly stated that there would be a second round between him and Halonen.
Voting
Voting in the Finnish 2006 presidential election took place from 09:00 to 20:00 on both of the two election days, with specifically designated periods for advance voting before both the first and second rounds. Every municipality was required by law to have at least one polling stationPolling station
A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...
. Voting was organised abroad for expatriate Finnish citizens at Finnish embassies, consulates and honorary consulates worldwide. The candidates were voted for directly by the electorate. Votes were counted nationally.
The counting of advance votes started at 15:00, and was expected to finish before 20:00, when the first preliminary results were announced. The preliminary counting of the election day votes began at 20:00, after which the votes were delivered to the central election committee in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, which performed a recount. The definitive result in Finnish presidential elections is required by law to be confirmed on the following Tuesday at 10:00 at the latest. However, enough votes are normally counted during the first hour after polling stations close for an unofficial, but clear, result to be announced.
Influence by Conan O'Brien
American late night talk show host Conan O'BrienConan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
endorsed re-election for Tarja Halonen on his show due to a long-standing joke about his hair and facial similarities with the incumbent president. The skits, commentary, and mock campaign ads were seen on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
on SubTV, a Finnish cable channel, five days a week (with a 3 day delay). Some news reports and increased hits to Halonen's web site have been attributed to O'Brien's show. Markku Jääskeläinen, Halonen's campaign manager, noted that the frequent mention of Halonen's name was positive for their campaign. The political relevance of this international publicity, however, is questionable.
External links
- Presidential Elections 2006 at the Ministry of JusticeMinistry of Justice (Finland)The Ministry of Justice is one of the 12 ministries in the Finnish Government. Headed by the Minister of Justice, it is responsible for "maintaining and developing order and legal safeguards and overseeing the structures of democracy and the fundamental rights of citizens" in Finland...
's website- Results, to be posted at a later date.
- Vaalit 2006 (YLE), presidential election pages privided by the national broadcaster YLE
- MTV3 vaalikone, website helping to select the best candidate, provided by the commercial broadcaster MTV3MTV3MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
- Presidentinvaalit 2006 (HS), the election website provided by Helsingin SanomatHelsingin SanomatHelsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
, the biggest Finnish daily newspaper - Foreign media and candidates in page of Ministry of Foreign Affairs