At stake in this election:      

• 200 seats in the Parliament (Eduskunta)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Sauli NIINISTO
• Head of Government: Alexander STUBB 
• Assembly: Finland has a unicameral Parliament (Eduskunta) with 200 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 6-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Parliament (Eduskunta), 199 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 1 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There are 14 multi-member constituencies with anywhere from 6 to 33 seats. Seats are distributed among the individual parties, or alliances of several parties, in accordance with the d'Hondt method.  

Main parties in the electoral race[1]:

• Party: National Coalition Party
  • Leader: Alexander STUBB
  • Seats won in last election: 44
• Party: The Social Democratic Party of Finland
  • Leader: Antti RINNE
  • Seats won in last election: 42
• Party: The True Finns Party
  • Leader: Timo SOINI
  • Seats won in last election: 39
• Party: Center Party of Finland
  • Leader: Juha SIPILA
  • Seats won in last election: 35
• Party: The Left Wing Alliance
  • Leader: Paavo ARHINMAKI
  • Seats won in last election: 14
• Party: Green League
  • Leader: Ville NIINISTO
  • Seats won in last election: 10
• Party: Swedish People's Party in Finland
  • Leader: Carl HAGLUND
  • Seats won in last election: 9
• Party: Christian Democrats in Finland
  • Leader: Päivi RASANEN
  • Seats won in last election: 6
• Party: Finnish Labour Party
  • Leader: Juhani TANSKI
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Independence Party
  • Leader: Antti PESONEN
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: For the Poor
  • Leader: Terttu SAVOLA
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Pirate Party of Finland
  • Leader: Tapani KARVINEN
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Change 2011
  • Leader: Jari LEINO
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Sinivalkoinen Rintama - Blue and White Front
  • Leader: Olavi MAENPAA
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: The Communist Party of Finland
  • Leader: Juha-Pekka VAISANEN
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Communist Workers Party (Finland) - For Peace and Socialism
  • Leader: Hannu HARJU
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

Last election:

• The last election for the Parliament (Eduskunta) was held on 17 April 2011. There were 4,159,857 registered voters for the election. The National Coalition Party won 44 seats (of 200), while the Social Democratic Party of Finland won 42 seats, the True Finns won 39 seats, the Center Party of Finland won 35 seats, the Left Wing Alliance won 14 seats, the Green League won 10 seats, the Swedish People’s Party in Finland won 9 seats, and the Christian Democrats in Finland won 6 seats.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,268,799 (July 2014 est.)[2]
• Registered Voters: 4,387,701 (2011)[3]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 2,690,481 (July 2014 est.)
• Is Finland a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (10 December 1999) [4]
• Has Finland ratified CEDAW: Yes (29 December 2000)[5]
• Gender Quota:  No
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 84 (42%) of 200 seats in the Parliament (Eduskunta)[6]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 24[7]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A[8]

Disability Data[9]:

• Is Finland a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
• Has Finland ratified CRPD: No[10]