Presidential election in Finland 2018

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Presidential election in Finland 2018

January 28, 2018

Winner of the election Sauli Niinistö independent (supported by National Collection Party and Christian Democrats )

1st ballot Candidates Votes in% Sauli Niinistö    62.7 Pekka Haavisto    12.4 Laura Huhtasaari    6.9 Paavo Väyrynen    6.2 Matti Vanhanen    4.1 Tuula Haatainen    3.3 Merja Kyllönen    3.0 Nils Torvalds    1.5

Before the election of Sauli Niinistö KOK

Elected Sauli Niinistö without party

The 2018 Finland presidential election was the election of the President of the Republic of Finland for the 2018-2024 term and took place on January 28, 2018. If no candidate had achieved an absolute majority in the first ballot , the two best-placed candidates would have met again in a runoff election on February 11, 2018. However, incumbent President Sauli Niinistö successfully ran for a second and final term and won the 2018 presidential election in Finland in the first round. His new term began on February 1, 2018.

procedure

→ Main article : Election of the President of the Republic of Finland

The President of the Republic of Finland is directly elected by the people for a term of six years. Re-election is easily possible. If only one candidate is nominated, he will automatically become president without any elections. Otherwise, the first ballot will always take place on the fourth Sunday in January of the election year. If the candidate gets more than half of the votes in the first ballot, then he is elected President. If neither candidate reaches the required majority, the two candidates with the highest percentage of votes will run against each other in a runoff two weeks later . The winner of this second ballot is then the legally elected President. If this ballot ends in a draw, the choice will be made by drawing lots. The Finnish Council of State ( Finnish : Valtioneuvosto , Swedish : Statsrådet ) confirms the election result and - if necessary - draws the lottery ticket .

meeting

According to current legislation, the presidential elections in Finland are held on the fourth Sunday of January of the election year. A possible runoff election always takes place two weeks later, also on a Sunday. Accordingly, the 2018 presidential election fell on January 28, the possible runoff on February 11.

The Finnish parliament originally planned to hold all national elections on the third Sunday in April. However, the presidential elections were ultimately excluded from this reform.

The 2018 provincial elections were supposed to take place as part of the first round of the presidential elections, but the reform postponed them.

Candidates

Candidates for the presidential election could be put up by all registered parties that had won at least one seat in the previous parliamentary elections. A candidate could also be nominated by at least 20,000 citizens.

Confirmed candidates

The numbers assigned to the candidates are important in the election itself. The candidate's number is entered in a circle in the voting booth. The numbering starts at 2.

number	Surname, Political party			Offices	Details
2	Merja Kyllönen Left alliance (vas.)			Minister of Transport (2011-2014) Member of Parliament for Oulu (2007-2014) MEP for Finland (since 2014)	Kyllönen was Minister for Transport in the Katainen cabinet from 2011 to 2014 . She was elected to the European Parliament in the 2014 European elections .
3	Pekka Haavisto Green Bund (VIHR)			Minister for International Development (2013–2014) Minister for Environment and Development (1995–1999) Party leader of the Greens (1993–1995) Member of Parliament for Helsinki (1987–1995; since 2007)	Haavisto ran in the 2012 presidential election and made it to the second ballot, but lost to Sauli Niinistö from the National Assembly Party . He has been a member of the Finnish Parliament since 2007 . From 1999 to 2005 Haavisto worked for the United Nations .
4th	Matti Vanhanen Center Party (KESK)			Prime Minister of Finland (2003-2010) Minister for Defense (2003)	The former prime minister ran in 2006 and received 18.6% of the vote. He left politics after his tenure as head of government , but returned in 2015 when he was re-elected as MP.
5	Laura Huhtasaari Basic fins (PS)			Member of Parliament for Satakunta (since 2015)	Huhtasaari was in 2015 elected with 9,259 votes in the Parliament and in June 2017. Deputy Chairman of the base Finns . In Parliament she is a member of the Legal Affairs Committee, the Education and Culture Committee and the Finnish delegation to the Nordic Council .
6th	Tuula Haatainen Social Democratic Party (SDP)			Minister of Education (2003–2005) Minister of Social Affairs and Health (2005–2007) Member of Parliament for Helsinki (1996–2007; since 2015)	Haatainen was Minister of Education during Anneli Jäätteenmäki's brief tenure and kept her post in Matti Vanhanen's subsequent cabinet . She was then Minister for Social Affairs and Health from 2005 to 2007.
7th	Paavo Väyrynen			MEP for Finland (1995–2007; since 2014) Minister for Foreign Trade and Development (2007–2011) Minister for Foreign Affairs (1977–1982; 1983–1987; 1991–1993) more Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 1983 to 1987 Minister for Labor from 1976 to 1977 Minister of Education from 1975 to 1976 Member of Parliament for Lapland from 2007 to 2011 Member of Parliament for Uusimaa from 1991 to 1995 Member of Parliament for Lapland from 1970 to 1991	Väyrynen ran as a candidate for the Center Party in the 1988 , 1994 and 2012 presidential elections . In 2016 he left the Center Party and founded his own party, the Citizens' Party .
8th	Sauli Niinistö (supported by the National Collection Party and the Christian Democrats )			President of the Republic of Finland (since 2012) President of Eduskunta (2007–2011) Minister for Finance (1996–2003) Minister for Justice (1995–1996) more Chairman of the European Democratic Union from 1998 to 2002 Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2001 Chairman of the National Collection Party (Finland) from 1994 to 2001 Chairman of the Salo City Council from 1989 to 1992 Member of Parliament for Turku from 1987 to 1999 Member of Parliament for Helsinki from 1999 to 2003 Member of Parliament for Uusimaa from 2007 to 2011 Member of the Salo City Council from 1977 to 1992 Member of the Salo City Council from 1977 to 1988	The incumbent president of Finland ran as a candidate for the National Gathering Party in the 2012 election after narrowly losing in 2006. For 2018, he decided to run as a non-party . He collected 156,000 signatures and his candidacy was confirmed on September 25, 2017.
9	Nils Torvalds Swedish People's Party (SFP / RKP)			MEP for Finland (since 2012)	Torvalds was a member of the Communist Party of Finland and worked from 1982 to 2004 in the Swedish-speaking section of the Finnish broadcaster Yle . He joined the Swedish People's Party in 2006 and was elected third vice chairman in 2007. He ran for the European Parliament in 2009 and was not elected, but became a Member of Parliament in 2012 after Carl Haglund resigned.

Sauli Niinistö

The incumbent President Sauli Niinistö .

The incumbent President Sauli Niinistö ran in the 2012 presidential election as a candidate for the rally party . On May 29, 2017, Niinistö announced his candidacy for a second term, this time as a non-party candidate. In order to officially become a presidential candidate, he needed at least 20,000 signatures from his supporters. Niinistö collected a total of 156,000 signatures and his candidacy was confirmed on September 25, 2017.

National rally party

Shortly after the announcement of the president, the party leader of the rally party, Petteri Orpo , announced that Niinistö would be supported in his candidacy. Previously, former Finance Minister Alexander Stubb and former Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva were also considered possible candidates.

Christian Democrats

The Christian Democrats announced on August 19, 2017 that they would support incumbent Niinistö. Previously, it was speculated whether the party leader Sari Essayah wants to run again for the office of President of the Republic of Finland.

Center of Finland

Former Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is a candidate for the Center Party.

The Center Party announced on June 30, 2015 that a candidate was to be found by June 2016. Shortly afterwards, former Prime Minister and candidate for the 2006 presidential election , Matti Vanhanen , announced his candidacy. On May 11, 2016, he was officially confirmed by the party.

The incumbent Prime Minister Juha Sipilä , the former Prime Ministers Esko Aho and Anneli Jäätteenmäki , and the former Minister of Economic Affairs Olli Rehn were considered further possible candidates .

Base fins

The Basic Finns determined their candidate in the summer of 2017. The party chairman and foreign minister of Finland, Timo Soini , announced in November 2014 that he would not run again after his failed candidacies in 2006 and 2012.

In March 2017, Soini also announced that he would no longer be available for election as party leader. Shortly afterwards, MEP Sampo Terho declared his candidacy for the party chairmanship. If he had been elected, he would also have wanted to run for president. Also Jussi Halla-aho , also Member of the European Parliament, announced his interest in the party presidency and won the election, which the government crisis in Finland in 2017 ended. To solve the government crisis, the party announced a few days after the election that twenty parliamentarians, including all cabinet members, had formed a parliamentary group called Neue Alternative (Finnish: Uusi vaihtoehto). After this split most of the potential candidates left the party. Then the vice- chairwoman Laura Huhtasaari and the MP Tom Packalén considered a candidacy for the base fins.

On August 4, 2017, the party leader Halla-aho nominated Laura Huhtasaari for the candidacy. On September 23, Huhtasaari was officially nominated as a candidate by the party executive.

Blue future

On June 19, 2017, Sampo Terho announced that a new party, the Blue Future , would be founded on the basis of the New Alternative . The vice- chairwoman of the new party, Tiina Elovaara , said that one could imagine putting up one's own presidential candidate for election. However, since the party was formed after the previous parliamentary elections and therefore has no elected MPs, it would have been necessary to collect enough signatures to put up a candidate of their own. So the party finally decided not to submit its own candidate, but will not formally support any other candidate.

Green covenant

Former presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto is running for the office of president for the second time.

In February 2017, Pekka Haavisto announced that he would like to run again for the office of president after his candidacy in 2012. On February 12, the Green Bund confirmed Haavisto's candidacy for the party. Previously, party chairman Ville Niinistö , nephew of President Sauli Niinistö, had rejected a candidacy.

Left alliance

On March 18, 2017, the left-wing alliance elected MEP Merja Kyllönen as its presidential candidate. Former party chairman Paavo Arhinmäki also showed interest in running for the presidency, but then stood as a candidate in the election for mayor of Helsinki .

Social Democratic Party

The Social Democrats have presented to a member survey, their candidate on September 2 2017th The members of parliament Maarit Feldt-Ranta , Tuula Haatainen and Sirpa Paatero stood for election . Tuula Haatainen won the member survey with 48.6% of the vote.

Swedish People's Party

In June 2017, the Swedish People's Party held a convention at which MEP Nils Torvalds was chosen as a candidate. In the spring of 2016, the then party chairman Carl Haglund also thought about running, but announced his retirement from politics that same year.

Pirate party

The Vice President of the Pirate Party , Petrus Pennanen , announced his candidacy on October 1, 2017 via the short message service Twitter . On November 11, 2017, the party pledged Pennanen to help collect the 20,000 signatures at their party congress.

Paavo Väyrynen

Former center politician Paavo Väyrynen announced that he would like to run as a non-party candidate in the presidential election. Väyrynen had collected around 15,000 signatures by November 26, 2017. On December 5, 2017, he announced that he had collected the required 20,000 signatures. It is his fourth presidential candidacy.

Ilya Janitskin

The editor-in-chief of MV magazine , Ilya Janitskin , announced that he would run as a candidate for the presidential election. At the end of November 2017, however, Janitskin withdrew his candidacy and assured Laura Huhtasaari of his support. The Finland First Association ( Suomi Ensin -Yhdistys ) wanted to support Janitskin. Tiina Keskimäki estimated in August 2017 that "there is no doubt that Janitskin will still collect the 20,000 signatures."

Jussi Ahde

The editor of Absolute magazine , Jussi Ahde , also announced a presidential candidacy. Ahde is also involved in local politics for the SDP .

Election campaign

Campaigns

Election posters in Helsinki in January 2018

Niinistö

President Sauli Niinistö currently considers NATO membership to be too unimportant for Finland. He advocates a referendum on membership. Niinistö said he is concerned about the unity of the Finnish people and believes that, for example, the harsh tone on social media could be a threat to social justice in Finland.

Niinistö's special adviser, Pete Pokkinen, has been appointed campaign manager.

Haatainen

SDP presidential candidate Tuula Haatainen had announced that she would pursue a foreign policy similar to that of Tarja Halonen . Haatainen stated that she will focus on sustainable development , environmental issues, global inequality and poverty reduction. According to Haatainen, Finland's greatest threat is the weak position of young men in the labor market.

The campaign manager was Jenny Suominen.

Haavisto

Green candidate Pekka Haavisto has announced that Finland should promote peace and stability in the world. Haavisto said he was firmly against the creation of enemy images and discrimination of any kind. Haavisto rejects NATO membership and a referendum on membership.

Haavisto started its campaign by attending various events in spring and summer 2017. His campaign manager was Riikka Kämppi.

Huhtasaari

Laura Huhtasaari , the Basic Finns ' presidential candidate, supports Finland's exit from the European Union , the euro and the Schengen area . It also supports a stricter immigration policy . The Paris Agreement regards them as "catastrophic for Finland". Huhtasaari would be ready to give the president more power and to reverse the 1999 constitutional amendment .

Kyllönen

Merja Kyllönen , the left alliance's presidential candidate, criticizes the shadow economy and emphasizes the importance of the welfare state . She refuses to join NATO.

Their campaign began in November 2017. Kyllönens campaign manager was Joonas Leppänen.

Torvalds

The Swedish People's Party candidate, Nils Torvalds , defined his campaign as part of an effort for a more liberal language and cultural policy in Finland. He supports NATO membership.

Torvald's special advisor Elisabet Rantschukoff left the European Parliament on August 15, 2017 for his campaign and became campaign manager.

Vanhanen

Center Party's presidential candidate Matti Vanhanen announced that he would oppose Finland's NATO membership and the Paasikivi - Kekkonen line. He spoke in favor of closer cooperation between Finland and Sweden , also outside of the military alliances. Vanhanen also wants Finland to play a more important role in foreign policy. Vanhanen is concerned about a split in Finnish society. In his election bulletin he emphasizes the importance of work and entrepreneurship in Finland.

His campaign started in the fall of 2017.

financing

The parties will invest roughly the same amount in their campaigns as they did in the last presidential election in 2012.

candidate	Political party	budget
Sauli Niinistö	independent	1 to 1.5 million euros
Tuula Haatainen	Social Democratic Party	550 thousand euros
Pekka Haavisto	Green covenant	500 thousand euros
Matti Vanhanen	center	500 thousand euros
Nils Torvalds	Swedish People's Party	400 thousand euros
Merja Kyllönen	Left alliance	250 thousand euros
Laura Huhtasaari	Base fins	200 thousand euros
Paavo Väyrynen	independent	k. A.

Campaign issues

Human rights

In the television duel on January 25, 2018, among other things, human rights in China were discussed, as well as the death penalty and China's panda diplomacy . The well-known human rights activist Liu Xiaobo died in 2017 as a result of liver cancer . The Chinese government had previously denied him medical care and assistance. According to experts, Liu could have been brought to Europe or the United States . Out of respect for the life and work of Liu Xiaobo, the candidates were not asked questions about Liu or about the behavior of the Finnish state in this matter. At the time of Liu's death, candidate Sauli Niinistö was already president.

Debates

The first debate took place on October 30, 2017 in the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki . It was organized by the Finnish Economic and Political Forum and all candidates confirmed so far, except Merja Kyllönen , who was on a business trip, took part in the discussion. The subject of the debate was security policy. The candidates were asked, among other things, whether they would be willing to hold a referendum on Finland's accession to NATO . Torvalds was the only candidate willing to leave this question to Parliament. Niinistö, Huhtasaari and Haatainen would support a referendum. Haavisto said he would leave NATO membership "to the politicians" because he was concerned about influence from abroad on the referendum.

The second debate took place on November 13, 2017 at the University of Helsinki . Vanhanen was unable to participate in the debate due to a hospital stay for a cardiac arrhythmia . Topics were foreign and security policy and the role of the president in Finnish society. Timo Haapala, the moderator, asked questions about the prerogatives of the president, the European Union's common defense policy , the civil war in Finland and social media .

The third debate also took place at the University of Helsinki on November 27th. All candidates confirmed at the time took part in the discussion. In the debate, each candidate gave a two-minute speech, after which they answered questions from other candidates. The discussion included topics such as NATO, the EU, the support and acceptance of Finland in possible military crises and multinational military exercises. During the debate, Pekka Haavisto described NATO as a "cage" and spoke out against joining. He also reiterated his concern about the interference from abroad on a possible NATO referendum. Laura Huhtasaari spoke out in the discussion for the nation states and against the EU, as this only harms the nation states. Tuula Haatainen, on the other hand, spoke out in favor of more cooperation with the EU. The last question involved participation in multinational military exercises. All candidates, with the exception of Merja Kyllönen, responded positively to this question.

Since Väyrynen only became an official candidate in early December 2017, he was not invited to the first three debates. The first debate, at which all candidates were present, took place on December 13, 2017. It was also the first debate to be televised. At the beginning of the debate, the discussion about joining NATO was resumed, which Niinistö called a "war talk debate". Torvalds contradicted this and declared himself to join NATO because he currently sees a great danger in Russia too . Were further arms exports of the Middle East , defense policy, the inclusion of asylum seekers and the #MeToo discussed campaign.

Debates on the 2018 presidential election in Finland
date	Organizers	Moderators	T = Participated N = not participated								swell
			Haatainen	Haavisto	Huhtasaari	Kyllönen	Niinistö	Torvalds	Vanhanen	Väyrynen
October 30, 2017 5:30 p.m.	EVA ISTV	Matti Apunen	T	T	T	N	T	T	T	N
November 13, 2017 5:00 p.m.	ISTV Paasikivi Society UKK Society UNA Finland	Timo Haapala	T	T	T	T	T	T	N	N
November 27, 2017 6:00 p.m.	Maanpuolustuskurssiyhdistys	Pauli Aalto-Setälä	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	N
December 13, 2017 8:00 p.m.	MTV3	Jaakko Loikkanen Juha Kaija	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
December 14, 2017 9:05 pm	Yle	Jan Andersson Seija Vaaherkumpu	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
January 10, 2018 11:30 a.m.	Kaleva Yle	Hanne Kinnunen Petri Laukka	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
January 12, 2018 6:00 p.m.	Aamulehti	Sinikka Tuomi Jussi Tuulensuu	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
January 21, 2018 8:00 p.m.	MTV3	Merja Ylä-Anttila Jussi Kärki	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
January 22, 2018 6:00 p.m.	Iltalehti	Susanne Päivärinta Juha Ristamäki	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
January 22, 2018 8:00 p.m.	Svenska Yle	Ingemo Lindroos Ville Hupa	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
January 23, 2018 4:00 p.m.	Helsingin Sanomat Ilta-Sanomat	Marko Junkkari Timo Haapala	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
January 25, 2018 9:05 pm	Yle	Jan Andersson Seija Vaaherkumpu	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T

Fear of Russian influence

In October 2017, the Security Committee of the Finnish Ministry of Defense published an assessment of the possibilities of Russia's participation in the presidential elections. The assessment looked at nine possible scenarios, from spreading false information via social media to a political assassination attempt . The Security Committee also suggested ten possible targets for Russian participation, including obstructing the discussion on NATO .

The longtime Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja criticized the assessment heavily and called it “pure fantasy, which could also come from Ilkka Remes ”.

Surveys and Forecasts

Opinion polls

In December 2015, Ilta-Sanomat carried out a poll according to which 65% of those questioned would vote for incumbent President Sauli Niinistö if he were to run again in the 2018 election. The second biggest support was the Green Pekka Haavisto, for whom 15% would vote if they ran again. The poll also showed that Haavisto would not get 32% of the vote if Niinisto did not run again. Center politicians Juha Sipilä and Alexander Stubb got 21% and 9% of the vote, respectively. 6% of those questioned would have voted for the then chairman of the Basisfinnen, Timo Soini. The error rate of the survey was 3.2 percentage points.

After Niinistö announced his candidacy in May 2017, Ilta-Sanomat carried out another opinion poll. According to the poll, Niinistö would get 72% of the vote, Haavisto 12%, Matti Vanhanen 3%, Merja Kyllönen 2%, Sampo Terho 1%, Sari Essayah 1% and Anna-Maja Henriksson 0% Be right. In addition, 5% of the respondents said that they could not yet say who they would vote for. 2% intend to vote for another candidate and 1% replied that they do not intend to vote. The error rate of the survey was 2.5 percentage points. In a November 2017 poll by Yle, Niinistö received 80 percent of the vote and Haavisto 10 percent.

Polls for the January 28th election

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Haavisto Green Bund	Huhtasaari base fins	Vanhanen center	Haatainen SDP	Kyllönen left alliance	Torvalds Swedish People's Party	Väyrynen non-party	Others	Undecided
Cantar TNS	January 22-24, 2018	58%	13%	5%	4%	5%	5%	3%	7%	-	-
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	63%	14%	6%	4%	2%	4%	2%	6%	-	-
Cantar TNS	January 8-17, 2018	68%	11%	4%	3%	2%	3%	1 %	8th %	-	-
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	58%	14%	6%	5%	4%	4%	2%	7%	-	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	72%	11%	5%	2%	3%	2%	1 %	4%	-	-
Cantar TNS	December 04-16, 2017	70%	11%	3%	2%	2%	2%	-	3%	-	6%
Tietoykkonen	November 23 - December 3, 2017	64%	12%	3%	3%	2%	3%	1 %	2%	1 %	8th %
Taloustutkimus	November 20-28, 2017	80%	10%	4%	2%	2%	1 %	1 %	-	1 %	-
Cantar TNS	October 16-27, 2017	67%	13%	3%	3%	2%	2%	1 %	-	1 %	8th %
Tietoykkonen	October 10-11, 2017	60%	10%	4%	2%	3%	3%	-	1 %	2%	14%
Taloustutkimus	October 02-10, 2017	76%	14%	3%	2%	1 %	2%	1 %	-	1 %	-
Cantar TNS	September 04-14, 2017	68%	13%	3%	2%	3%	2%	-	-	-	10%
Taloustutkimus	August 22-23, 2017	60%	12%	4%	3%	-	2%	1 %	2%	5%	9%
Tietoykkonen	May 30 - June 1, 2017	62%	11%	-	1 %	1 %	2%	1 %	1 %	9%	12%
Taloustutkimus	June 2017	72%	12%	-	3%	-	2%	-	-	5%	5%
TNS	April 2017	66%	19%	-	4%	-	3%	-	-	8th %	-

Polls for the possible runoff on February 11th

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Haatainen SDP	Undecided
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	89%	11%	-
Cantar TNS	January 8-17, 2018	80%	8th %	12%
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	85%	15%	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	92%	8th %	-
Tietoykkonen	November 23 - December 3, 2017	91%	9%	-
Taloustutkimus	October 02-10, 2017	94%	6%	-
Cantar TNS	September 04-14, 2017	85%	6%	9%

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Haavisto VIHR	Undecided
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	80%	20%	-
Cantar TNS	January 8-17, 2018	73%	14%	13%
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	75%	25%	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	82%	18%	-
Tietoykkonen	November 23 - December 3, 2017	79%	21%	-
Taloustutkimus	November 20-28, 2017	86%	14%	-
Taloustutkimus	October 02-10, 2017	82%	18%	-
Cantar TNS	September 04-14, 2017	77%	16%	7%
Taloustutkimus	August 22-23, 2017	70%	22%	8th %
Taloustutkimus	May 2017	76%	19%	5%

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Huhtasaari PS	Undecided
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	90%	10%	-
Cantar TNS	January 8-17, 2018	83%	6%	11%
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	90%	10%	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	93%	7%	-
Tietoykkonen	November 23 - December 3, 2017	94%	6%	-
Taloustutkimus	November 20-28, 2017	93%	7%	-
Taloustutkimus	October 02-10, 2017	96%	4%	-
Cantar TNS	September 04-14, 2017	87%	4%	9%
Taloustutkimus	August 22-23, 2017	87%	7%	6%

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Kyllönen vas.	Undecided
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	80%	20%	-
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	89%	11%	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	93%	7%	-
Tietoykkonen	November 23 - December 3, 2017	90%	10%	-
Taloustutkimus	November 20-28, 2017	93%	7%	-
Taloustutkimus	October 02-10, 2017	96%	4%	-

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Torvalds SFP / RKP	Undecided
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	95%	5%	-
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	91%	9%	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	97%	3%	-
Tietoykkonen	November 23 - December 3, 2017	94%	6%	-

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Vanhanen KESK	Undecided
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	91%	9%	-
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	89%	11%	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	95%	5%	-
Tietoykkonen	November 23 - December 3, 2017	93%	7%	-
Taloustutkimus	October 02-10, 2017	96%	4%	-
Cantar TNS	September 04-14, 2017	89%	3%	7%

source	Survey period
		Niinistö independent	Väyrynen non-party	Undecided
Taloustutkimus	January 17-23, 2018	89%	11%	-
Tietoykkonen	January 9-16, 2018	85%	15%	-
Taloustutkimus	December 27, 2017– January 3, 2018	92%	8th %	-

Forecasts

In December 2017 and January 2018, the Iltalehti newspaper published three Accuscore predictions about the outcome of the first round of the presidential election.

Forecasts for the January 28 election

source	publication
		Niinistö independent	Haavisto Green Bund	Huhtasaari base fins	Vanhanen center	Haatainen SDP	Kyllönen left alliance	Torvalds Swedish People's Party	Väyrynen non-party
Accuscore	January 25, 2018	51.1%	13.6%	7.9%	5.3%	4.6%	5.5%	2.5%	9.4%
Accuscore	22nd January 2018	49.2%	13.6%	7.8%	5.0%	4.4%	4.7%	2.1%	13.2%
Accuscore	23rd December 2017	52.4%	15.1%	7.9%	6.3%	4.1%	4.6%	1.9%	7.7%

Results

Map of Finland with the constituencies:

Overall result

candidate		Political party	be right	%
	Sauli Niinistö	independent	1,874,331	62.7
	Pekka Haavisto	Green covenant	370,823	12.4
	Laura Huhtasaari	Base fins	207.175	6.9
	Paavo Väyrynen	independent	185.143	6.2
	Matti Vanhanen	Center Party	122,320	4.1
	Tuula Haatainen	Social Democratic Party	97.254	3.3
	Merja Kyllönen	Left alliance	89,815	3.0
	Nils Torvalds	Swedish People's Party	44,661	1.5
Invalid votes			9,800	-
total			3,001,322	100
Eligible voters / turnout			4,498,004	66.7
Source: Ministry of Justice

Results by constituency

Constituencies	Sauli Niinistö		Pekka Haavisto		Laura Huhtasaari		Paavo Väyrynen		Matti Vanhanen		Tuula Haatainen		Merja Kyllönen		Nils Torvalds
	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%
Helsinki	195.354	54.8	91,233	25.6	17,362	4.9	12,596	3.5	5,507	1.5	13.007	3.6	13,320	3.7	8,384	2.4
Uusimaa	350,342	66.5	68,972	13.1	34,279	6.5	22,593	4.3	12,029	2.3	16,663	3.2	11,467	2.2	10,798	2.0
Varsinais-Suomi	175,708	65.4	33,335	12.4	18,275	6.8	12,761	4.8	7,583	2.8	8,689	3.2	8,048	3.0	4,074	1.5
Satakunta	80,334	64.4	9,187	7.4	12,615	10.1	7,596	6.1	4,970	4.0	5,380	4.3	4,292	3.4	428	0.3
Åland	7,879	61.1	2.184	16.9	99	0.8	157	1.2	81	0.6	418	3.2	82	0.6	2,000	15.5
Malice	136.379	66.5	20,406	10.0	16,385	8.0	11,929	5.8	6.277	3.1	7,559	3.7	5,148	2.5	988	0.5
Pirkanmaa	181,615	63.1	38,631	13.4	21,462	7.5	15,791	5.5	7,669	2.7	10,559	3.7	10,378	3.6	1,808	0.6
Southeast Finland	167.901	67.6	21,411	8.6	17,882	7.2	15,247	6.1	11,195	4.5	8,999	3.6	4,481	1.8	1,185	0.5
Savo Karelia	139,811	63.8	20,621	9.4	15,088	6.9	15,971	7.3	13.163	6.0	7,293	3.3	6,400	2.9	870	0.4
Vaasa	152.289	62.8	15,246	6.3	18,887	7.8	17,481	7.2	16,404	6.8	6.113	2.5	4.023	1.7	12,088	5.0
Central Finland	92,464	61.2	18,711	12.4	10,824	7.2	11.002	7.3	7,402	4.9	5,387	3.6	4,654	3.1	681	0.5
Oulu	140.970	56.5	22,755	9.1	17,732	7.1	26,135	10.5	23,569	9.4	4,844	1.9	12,578	5.0	1.002	0.4
Lapland	53,288	54.5	8,131	8.3	6,285	6.4	15,885	16.3	6,472	6.6	2,344	2.4	4,945	5.1	355	0.4
Source: Ministry of Justice

Reactions

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier congratulated Niinistö on his re-election and drew attention to the long partnership and the friendly relationship between Germany and Finland.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also wrote a letter to Niinistö congratulating Niinistö and thanking him for his efforts in promoting Russian-Finnish relations. Putin personally wished Niinistö physical health and good luck and success in continuing his duties as President of Finland.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker congratulated Niinistö on Twitter and is looking forward to further cooperation between Finland and the European Union .

Web links

• Official Site for choice (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ presidentti.fi
2. ↑ vm.fi
3. ↑ yle.fi
4. ↑ Sauli Niinistö hakee jatkokautta presidenttinä - mittauttaa suosionsa yhdistyksen avulla In: yle.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
5. ↑ niinisto.fi ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Petteri Orpo twiittasi heti Niinistön jatkokausi-ilmoituksen jälkeen: "Kokoomus on taysillä mukana" In: yle.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
7. ↑ IS-tutkimus: Niinistö ottaisi presidentinvaalissa rökälevoiton - Kotimaa - Ilta-Sanomat In: is.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
8. ↑ Oma ehdokas tulee, jyrähtää Soini Halla-aholle - HS esittelee Sauli Niinistön mahdolliset haastajat In: hs.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
9. ↑ Kristillisdemokraatit tukee presidentinvaaleissa Sauli Niinistöä. Retrieved August 21, 2017 (Finnish). 
10. ↑ Keskustelu on paikallaan In: satakunnankansa.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Keskustalta yllätysveto: Presidenttiehdokas jo kesällä - Sipilä kieltäytyy In: suomenmaa.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Vanhanen lähee presidenttikisaan ja luopuu keskustan eduskuntaryhmän johdosta In: hs.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
13. ↑ Matti Vanhasesta yksimielisesti keskustan presidenttiehdokas In: iltalehti.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
14. ^ Matti Vanhanen presidentiksi In: sites.google.com , accessed October 11, 2017.
15. ↑ Hänestäkö PS: n presidenttiehdokas? ”En missään nimessä sulje pois” In: Verkkouutiset.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
16. ↑ Timo Soini: En lähde enää presidenttiehdokkaaksi In: apu.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
17. ↑ Perussuomalaisten puheenjohtajaksi pyrkivä Sampo Terho väläytteli Suomeen EU-kansanäänestystä - ”Se voi olla kynnyskysymys” In: hs.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
18. ↑ Halla-aho's bid for Finns Party leadership boosts interest in party membership In: yle.fi , accessed October 11, 2017.
19. ↑ Perussuomalaiset lykkäsi presidenttiehdokkaan valintaa värikkäiden vaiheiden jälkeen In: aamulehti.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
20. ↑ Finns Party splinters, new group makes bid for government Sipilä In: yle.fi , accessed on 11 October 2017th
21. ↑ ^{a b} Kaksi perussuomalaista harkitsee presidenttiehdokkuutta In: Demokraatti.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
22. ↑ PS: n Tom Packalén harkitsee vakavasti presidenttiehdokkuutta: “Poliisikokemukseni myötä tunnen himisten erilaiset elämätilanteet” In: iltalehti.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
23. ↑ Perussuomalaiset aikovat asettaa kansanedustaja Laura Huhtasaaren presidenttiehdokkaaksi - Huhtasaari on yhdistelmä konservatiivisuutta, nationalismia ja suoraviivaisuutta . In: Helsingin Sanomat . August 4, 2017 ( hs.fi [accessed August 21, 2017]).
24. ↑ Finns Party breakaway group to be named Blue Reform In: yle.fi , accessed October 11, 2017.
25. ↑ iltalehti.fi
26. ↑ is.fi
27. ↑ Vihreiden Pekka Haavisto länee presidenttikisaan - ”Pitää katsoa eteenpäin seuraavaan sataan vuoteen” In: hs.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
28. ↑ Vihreille presidenttiehdokas vielä tänä vuonna In: yle.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
29. ↑ ^{a b} Europarlamentaarikko Merja Kyllönen suostuu vasemmistoliiton presidenttiehdokkaaksi In: hs.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
30. ↑ SDP vahvisti jäsenäänestykseen osallistuvat presidenttiehdokkaansa - yllätysnimiä ei tullut In: yle.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
31. ↑ Tuula Haatainen bp: n presidenttiehdokkaaksi . In: Ilta-Sanomat . September 2, 2017 ( is.fi [accessed September 12, 2017]).
32. ↑ RKP: n presidenttiehdokkaaksi valittiin europarlamentaarikko Nils Torvalds In: yle.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
33. ↑ Carl Haglund presidenttiehdokuudestaan ​​Ykkösaamussa: "Lievä ehkä" In: suomenmaa.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
34. ↑ Haglund jättää politiikan - siirtyy kiinalaisyritys Kaidille In: ksml.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
35. ↑ twitter.com
36. ↑ piraattipuolue.fi
37. ↑ Paavo Väyrynen neljättä kertaa presidenttiehdokkaana - jos löytyy riittävästi kannatusta In: yle.fi , accessed on October 11, 2017.
38. ↑ is.fi
39. ↑ hs.fi
40. ↑ yle.fi
41. ↑ suomenkuvalehti.fi
42. ↑ yle.fi
43. ↑ seinajoensanomat.fi
44. ↑ yle.fi
45. ↑ ts.fi
46. ↑ seurakuntalainen.fi
47. ↑ sdp.fi
48. ↑ yle.fi
49. ↑ yle.fi
50. ↑ suomenkuvalehti.fi
51. ↑ ksml.fi
52. ↑ kansalainen.fi
53. ↑ aamulehti.fi
54. ↑ ess.fi  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
55. ↑ suomenkuvalehti.fi
56. ↑ merja2018.fi ( memento of the original dated December 10, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
57. ↑ yle.fi
58. ↑ sfp.fi
59. ↑ yle.fi
60. ↑ yle.fi
61. ↑ aamulehti.fi
62. ↑ yle.fi
63. ↑ is.fi
64. ↑ demokraatti.fi
65. ↑ yle.fi
66. ↑ yle.fi
67. ↑ is.fi
68. ↑ yle.fi
69. ↑ yle.fi
70. ↑ mtv.fi
71. ↑ Presidenttiehdokkaat ensimmäisessä vaalitentissä ( finnish ) In: Ilta-Sanomat . October 30, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
72. ↑ Presidenttiehdokkaat kohtasivat Helsingin yliopistolla tentissä - IS seurasi hetki hetkeltä ( finnish ) In: Ilta-Sanomat . November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
73. ↑ yle.fi
74. ↑ hs.fi
75. ↑ yle.fi
76. ↑ yle.fi
77. ↑ yle.fi
78. ↑ mtv.fi
79. ↑ m.iltalehti.fi
80. ↑ svenska.yle.fi
81. ↑ is.fi
82. ↑ yle.fi
83. ↑ hs.fi
84. ↑ is.fi
85. ↑ iltasanomat.fi
86. ↑ is.fi
87. ↑ yle.fi
88. ↑ iltalehti.fi
89. ↑ iltalehti.fi
90. ↑ iltalehti.fi
91. ↑ bundespraesident.de
92. ↑ en.kremlin.ru
93. ↑ twitter.com