2006 Finnish presidential election

none Finland presidential 2000 Finnish presidential election 2000 2012 Finnish presidential election 2012 15 January 2006 (first round)29 January 2006 (second round) 70.82% (first round)74.05% (second round) Tarja Halonen 2003.jpg Tarja Halonen Social Democratic Party of Finland 1,630,980 51.79% Sauli Ninisto (cropped).jpg Sauli Niinistö National Coalition Party 1,518,333 48.21% 200px First round results 200px Second round results 2 Halonen: #D13131 40–45% #C31818 45–50% #B40000 50–55% #AA0000 55–60% #900000 65–70% Niinistö: #006DFF 50–55% #0060E4 55–60% #0053C9 60–65% Vanhanen: #70D4D0 35–40% #61CAC5 40–45% President Tarja Halonen Social Democratic Party of Finland Tarja Halonen Social Democratic Party of Finland Presidential elections were held in Finland on 15 and 29 January 2006 which resulted in 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 10 January.adv Finnish citizens voting abroad could vote from the 4th to the 7th of January.abroad An advantage to advance voting is that those doing so have a wider choice of polling stations (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 List of Finland's presidential candidates by political party List of Finland's presidential 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 Kallis (Christian Democrats) Sauli Niinistö (National Coalition Party) Timo Soini (True Finns) Heidi Hautala (Green League) Henrik Lax (Swedish People's Party) Matti Vanhanen (Centre Party); the incumbent Prime Minister of Finland, Arto Lahti (independent) Tarja Halonen (Social Democratic Party; also supported by the Left Alliance); the current incumbent The law states that candidate numbers start from the number 2. There are various justifications for this, 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. Campaign 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 League'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 Organization (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" nor "right-wing work" but only Finnish work for Finnish welfare. Conan O'Brien American late night talk show host Conan O'Brien endorsed re-election for Tarja Halonen on his show due to a long-standing joke about his resemblance to incumbent president Halonen.Ritter Karl Conan O'Brien's mock endorsement of Finnish president is no joke to her opponents https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/conan-obriens-mock-endorsement-of-finnish-president-is-no-joke-to-her-opponents/ 14 May 2021 The Seattle Times 14 January 2006 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 brief delay). Markku Jääskeläinen, Halonen's campaign manager, noted that the frequent mention of Halonen's name was positive for their campaign, and the running bits on the show attracted international attention to the election.Conan's Finnish Twin https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Entertainment/story?id=1510176 ABC News 14 May 2021 en 17 January 2006The Women of the World: Liberia and Chile Elect Female Leaders https://www.spiegel.de/international/the-women-of-the-world-liberia-and-chile-elect-female-leaders-a-395516.html Der Spiegel 14 May 2021 en 16 January 2006O'Brien meets Finnish 'lookalike' https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4714004.stm BBC News 14 May 2021 14 February 2006 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 electionMTV3 16-18/01HS 16–17/013 Sauli Niinistö45 %47 %9 Tarja Halonen55 %53 % first roundYle 10–11/01 poll1MTV3 weeks 52, 1 and 2 poll2HS 05–07/01 poll3HS 27–29/12 poll4AL 12–29/12 poll5HS 07–17/12 poll6Yle 09/12 poll7HS 05/11 poll8Yle 05/11 poll92 Bjarne Kallis1 %1 %2 %2 %1,4 %2 %1 %1 %1 %3 Sauli Niinistö20 %19 %21 %20 %20,3 %20 %18 %24 %19 %4 Timo Soini4 %3 %3 %2 %1,4 %2 %1 %1 %1 %5 Heidi Hautala4 %3 %3 %2 %2,3 %2 %2 %3 %1 %6 Henrik Lax1 %1 %1 %1 %1,0 %1 %1 %1 %1 %7 Matti Vanhanen18 %17 %18 %18 %16,5 %19 %19 %18 %15 %8 Arto Lahti1 %< 1%< 1%1 %0,9 %1 %na7na8na99 Tarja Halonen52 %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 Taloustutkimuspoll1 7 a and Suomen Galluppoll3 9 a 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. Results thumb|400px|right|The candidate in plurality in each municipality of Finland on the first (left) round (represents the geographical distribution but not population of supporters in plurality) and the candidate in majority on the second round (right). Voting 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 station. 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. A second round run-off was held on 29 January 2006 between Tarja Halonen (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 Niinistöoldpoll. 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 was supported by both the Social Democrats and Left Alliance. Tarja Halonen Social Democratic Party 1397030 1630980 Sauli Niinistö National Coalition Party 725866 1518333 Matti Vanhanen Centre Party 561990 Heidi Hautala Green League 105248 Timo Soini True Finns 103492 Bjarne Kallis Christian Democrats 61483 Henrik Lax Swedish People's Party 48703 Arto Lahti Independent 12989 8805 14354 4272537 4272537 IFES, IFES First round results by region ProvinceTarja Halonen Sauli NiinistöMatti Vanhanen Heidi Hautala Timo SoiniBjarne KallisHenrik Lax Arto Lahti ElectorateVotes Valid votes Invalid votes South Savo41,93917,44824,9441,8902,9141,766187343129,07991,81291,431381North Savo62,27623,96440,1283,1585,4262,251332513197,683138,352138,048304North Karelia41,81215,60525,2742,2444,5201,682177351132,82591,94291,665277Kainuu19,6596,38016,0017251,7847068417267,54545,62945,511118Uusimaa366,169253,63571,82345,38922,34514,28116,9913,6021,025,287796,461794,2352,226Eastern Uusimaa24,35212,2926,7392,1761,1591,0235,47520869,68853,54353,424119Southwest Finland130,95373,29636,7419,8018,7543,9904,3721,196355,961269,907269,103804Kanta-Häme49,18324,50015,8602,3303,0381,758276440131,35997,66497,385279Päijät-Häme55,88429,57017,0262,8194,3702,279347624156,066113,212112,919293Kymenlaakso53,59225,47217,0552,2694,5791,957450583146,922106,412105,957455South Karelia36,59317,96017,6621,7342,9921,361206481107,94979,23078,989241Central Finland75,32827,23934,8304,7406,0883,449342552209,443153,025152,568457Southern Ostrobothnia33,09123,10745,9891,2824,8813,184160317150,707112,339112,011328Ostrobothnia47,28815,46612,1922,5081,9466,29415,133227132,754101,359101,054305Satakunta71,63328,33926,7932,5125,1472,184357897185,999138,255137,862393Pirkanmaa134,06772,35237,06310,79510,8195,5931,0021,237364,658273,777272,928849Central Ostrobothnia 13,3225,36614,9046081,5293,6548709253,66040,43040,34585Northern Ostrobothnia 82,34236,59567,2305,6327,4332,806386741280,672203,656203,165491Lapland49,52416,29333,2822,1393,7501,113153393145,532106,957106,647310Åland8,023987454497181521,4032019,60311,64411,55490 Second round results by region thumb|Finnish presidential election 2006 candidate posters thumb|Wristband with the inscription Niinistö distributed as a promotional item for the 2006 election Province Tarja Halonen Sauli NiinistöElectorateVotes Valid votes Invalid votes South Savo47,65147,329129,07995,49694,980516North Savo73,38570,060197,683144,124143,445679North Karelia49,88745,744132,82596,11795,631486Kainuu23,88123,12667,54547,24247,007235Uusimaa429,938401,4661,025,287834,807831,4043,403Eastern Uusimaa28,34827,20569,68855,76455,553211Southwest Finland149,753130,990355,961282,047280,7431,304Kanta-Häme55,57746,649131,359102,734102,226508Päijät-Häme63,59556,272156,066120,343119,867476Kymenlaakso60,88050,666146,922112,085111,546539South Karelia41,43341,057107,94982,87082,490380Central Finland88,66870,495209,443159,952159,163789Southern Ostrobothnia39,75874,467150,707114,867114,225642Ostrobothnia55,38649,347132,754105,162104,733429Satakunta80,98563,292185,999144,915144,277638Pirkanmaa156,183130,229364,658287,706286,4121,294Central Ostrobothnia16,95223,99053,66041,15840,942216Northern Ostrobothnia100,860110,871280,672212,613211,731882Lapland59,52151,045145,532111,195110,566629Åland8,3394,03319,60312,47012,37298 References adv Advance voting in Finland list of polling stations. abroad Voting by Finns living abroad. electorate People entitled to vote- whole country. (2006), Ministry of Justice Finland. Retrieved 01 Feb 2006. firstres firstres 3 a First round results. secondres Second round results oldpoll Poll showing Tarja Halonen's large level of support in October 2005. poll1poll1 7 a Conducted via telephone for YLE by Taloustutkimus on January 10 and 11, and the sample size was 1582 people. The margin of error is ± 2.5 percentage points. poll2 Conducted for MTV3 by Research International during the weeks 52, 1 and 2. The sample size was 1200 people (500 on weeks 52 and 1, 200 on week 2). The margin of error is ± 2.5 percentage For Halonen and ± 3 for Niinistö and Vanhanen. poll3poll3 9 a Conducted via telephone for Helsingin Sanomat by Suomen Gallup between January 5 and 7, and the sample size was 1500 people living in mainland Finland. The margin of error is ± 2.5 percentage For Halonen and ± 2 for Niinistö and Vanhanen. poll4 Conducted for Helsingin Sanomat by Suomen Gallup between December 27 and 29, and the sample size was 1401 people. The margin of error is ± 2.5 percentage points for the three major candidates. poll5 Conducted for Aamulehti and Turun Sanomat by MC-Info between December 12 and 29, and the sample size was 150 people. The margin of error is ± 1.55 percentage points for the three major candidates. poll6 Conducted for Helsingin Sanomat by Suomen Gallup between December 7 and 17, and the sample size was 1400 people. The margin of error is ± 2.5 percentage points. poll7 Conducted for YLE by Taloustutkimus, released December 9, and the sample size was 1400 people. The margin of error is ± 2.5 percentage points. Arto Lahti wasn't an option in this poll. poll8 Conducted for Helsingin Sanomat by Suomen Gallup, released November, and the sample size was ?, The margin of error is ± ? percentage points. Arto Lahti wasn't an option in this poll. poll9 Conducted for YLE by Taloustutkimus, released early November, and the sample size was 1452 people. The margin of error is ± 2.5 percentage points. Arto Lahti wasn't an option in this poll. Constitution of Finland, originally published as Nr. 731/1999 in the Statute Book of Finland, later amended. External links Tarja Halonen wins the 2006 presidential election in Finland Presidential Elections 2006 at the Ministry of Justice's website Results, to be posted at a later date. Vaalit 2006 (YLE), presidential election pages provided by the national broadcaster YLE MTV3 vaalikone, website helping to select the best candidate, provided by the commercial broadcaster MTV3 Presidentinvaalit 2006 (HS), the election website provided by Helsingin Sanomat, the biggest Finnish daily newspaper Foreign media and candidates in page of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Campaign pages Tarja Halonen https://web.archive.org/web/20210615085128/https://www.tarjahalonen.fi/ 2021-06-15 Heidi Hautala https://web.archive.org/web/20060113074506/http://www.heidi2006.fi/ 2006-01-13 Bjarne Kallis Arto Lahti https://web.archive.org/web/20190807191804/https://artolahti.com/ 2019-08-07 Henrik Lax Sauli Niinistö Timo Soini Matti Vanhanen 2006 Finland 2006 Category:January 2006 in Europe