23.5.2012
Election information also available in iPad format
Municipal elections to be held in six months
The highest decision-makers in Finland’s municipalities will be elected on 28 October 2012- Municipal elections are to be held on Sunday 28 October, 2012. Votes can be cast in Finland from October 17 to 23, and abroad from 17 to 20 October.
- The elections will decide the municipal councils’ highest decision-making bodies, which determine municipal operations and finances. The municipalities decide on roughly sixty-six percent of all public services, and also decide on the work of about 450,000 workers.
- In the last municipal elections in 2008, 10,412 councilors were chosen; their average age was 49 years. Six percent of councilors were under 30 years of age, while eight percent were 65 or older.
- In the municipal election in 2008, 61 percent of the electorate used their right to vote.
- In Åland, which held municipal elections in autumn 2011, 64 percent of those registered to vote did so.
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The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities will provide voters and candidates that are preparing for the election with information that is continuously supplemented and updated. The website Kuntavaalit.fi as well as the Kuntapäättäjä application (for e-readers) has opened, offering visual statistics and comparative data in graphic form as well as videos.
– Ahead of us we have a historic municipal election as it is being held in the midst of municipal reform. There are reasons for encouraging candidate and voter interest, so that their knowledge of local authorities and local self-government and democratic decision-making is increased and receives as strong a grounding as possible, says Kari-Pekka Mäki-Lohiluoma, Director General of the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.
The Uudenlaisen Kuntapäättäjä publication can be downloaded to iPad and Android format phones, and an iPhone version is also coming. Kuntapäätäjät offers a continuously updated news flow on information related to the municipal elections that includes statistics, video interviews as well as columns written by experts.
– With the new technology we especially want to reach the young, so that municipal issues and political decision-making will continue to attract the next generation of influencers. The availability of quick and timely information as well as ease of interaction is necessary for municipal councils to exert their influence, says Mäki-Lohiluoma.
The content is produced by Kuntalehti, Kunta.tv, Kuntatyönantaja magazine, Kuntaliitto, KT Municipal Employers' information units as well as Finlands Kommuntidning Fikt (a magazine about municipalities for Finland’s Swedish speakers).
Statistics in visual form are available on webpages that are produced specifically for candidates
– We want to offer first-time candidates and those who run for election comparative data that is as detailed as possible in order to support electoral debate and help orientate them to their upcoming tasks – if they are elected to office. The aim is to continue to offer a new kind of information service for local politicians who commence their municipal tasks next year.
On the Kuntavaalit.fi pages there is a section for candidates alongside pages that offer general information for voters, materials for the media as well material to encourage people to vote.
A manual for local elections is also available on the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities’ website kuntavaalit.net / municipal elections.
