The candidate’s home municipality will be a decisive factor for voters in electing representatives to the new health care councils in Finland’s first provincial elections.
According to a survey commissioned by Yle on key factors affecting voters, about 39 per cent of respondents said they would prefer to vote for a candidate in their own municipality.
In contrast, less than one in three respondents, or 30 per cent, said they would vote on the basis of party or group affiliation.
The results of the survey come as no surprise Elina Kestilä-Kekkonen, Professor of Political Science at the University of Tampere.
"There is nothing wonderful about that. We are used to thinking about decision-making at the municipal level, especially with regard to social and health care," he told Yle.
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However, he pointed out that this way of thinking can lead to problems.
"In the regions, a lot of ideological decisions are made about the use of private services, service strategy and management culture. Therefore, the choice of party should be important," Kestilä-Kekkonen said.
According to a researcher at the University of Helsinki Jenni Karimäki, local issues are often at the forefront of voter ideas in such elections.
"Such a voting decision seeks to safeguard the voter’s own local services as far as possible. Certainly a kind of tactical vote is seen in this regard. On the other hand, it must be remembered that today a huge proportion of voters are swing voters, I mean those who do not necessarily have a well-established party affiliation. They may change from one party to another candidate from one election to another," Karimäki explained.
According to Yle’s survey, about 16 percent of respondents would like to vote for a candidate they know.
Researcher: Downtown at home
The Coalition Party (NCP) is a clear favorite at the top of the polls in this election Petteri Orpoled the party in last year’s municipal elections.
According to a poll by Yle voters, 22.4 per cent of respondents planned to vote for the NCP in this election, which elevated the opposition party four percentage points ahead of its nearest rival, the prime minister. Sanna MarinSocial Democratic Party (SDP).
Both university researchers interviewed by Yle said that NCP’s goal of topping the poll in this election is driven by the likelihood of low turnout, their position as the main opposition party, and some election themes such as taxation. and the border between the public and private sectors.
"The strength of the NCP has always been consistently reliable voters," Professor Kestilä-Kekkonen added.
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One of the significant results of Yle’s party survey was that Keskusta rose to third place in the league table and ousted the Basic Finns from there. According to Kestilä-Kekkonen, however, this was to be expected, as the Center is well at home in the provincial elections.
"Basic Finns are more interested in national themes, especially immigration. For the city center, these are their elections, as Helsinki is not involved and small municipalities vote much more actively. That’s where the center has the most support," Kestilä-Kekkonen said.
According to Karimäki, an election result similar to Yle’s voter survey, 17.7 per cent, would be a significant victory for the Center and the director. Annika Saarikko, and it would be a clear improvement on the result of the municipal elections, when the party received 14.9 percent of the vote.
"It would be the kind of tonic the party must have been waiting for," Karimäki said.
This week’s All Points North podcast looked at how voters can decide who to vote for in Sunday’s regional election. You can listen to the entire podcast on the embedded player here, through Yle Arena, Spotify, Apple podcasts or on your regular podcast player using an RSS feed.
Source: The Nordic Page