Electoral system for national legislature

Constitution, 2000-03-01 (last amended 2011)

Section 25:  The Representatives shall be elected by a direct, proportional and secret vote. Every citizen who has the right to vote has equal suffrage in the elections. For the parliamentary elections, the country shall be divided, on the basis of the number of Finnish citizens, into at least twelve and at most eighteen constituencies. In addition, the Åland Islands shall form their own constituency for the election of one Representative. […]

Election Act (714/1998; amendments up to 218/2004 included)

Section 6 — Division of parliamentary seats between electoral districts

With the exception of the electoral district of Åland, a total of 199 representatives shall be elected by proportional vote in the other electoral districts. In the electoral district of Åland, one representative shall be elected in the manner laid down subsequently.

With the exception of the electoral district of Åland, the division of parliamentary seats shall be carried out on the basis of the number of those Finnish citizens who, according to the Population Information System, had their municipality of residence in Finland in the electoral district in question on the last day of the month six calendar months prior to the election. The division shall be carried out by dividing the number of Finnish citizens of each electoral district with the combined number of Finnish citizens of all electoral districts and multiplying this number by 199. The number of parliamentary seats for each electoral district shall correspond to the whole number derived from this calculation. If all seats are not divided in this manner, the remainder of the seats shall be divided in descending order between the electoral districts according to the decimal fractions derived from the calculation.

The Council of State shall carry out the division in good time before parliamentary elections by issuing a decision which shall be published in the Statute Book of Finland.

Section 76 — Voting on the polling day

The enfranchised person has in parliamentary elections and municipal elections the right to vote for a candidate from a combined list of candidates of the electoral district or municipality in which the voter is registered as having a right to vote in the election in question, in the European Parliamentary elections to vote for a candidate from the combination of the lists of candidates, and in the Presidential election to vote for a candidate from the list of candidates.

The voter must mark the number of the candidate he or she is giving his or her vote to in the ballot in such a manner that there can be no uncertainty as to whom he or she has voted for. The mark must be made in the voting booth so that the secrecy of the ballot is maintained.

Open list, using d'Hondt method.