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1978 Finnish presidential election

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1978 Finnish presidential election

← 1968 15–16 January 1978 1982 →
 
Candidate Urho Kekkonen Raino Westerholm
Party Centre Christian League
Electoral vote 259 25
Popular vote 2,017,631 215,244

 
CPP
Candidate Veikko Vennamo Ahti M. Salonen
Party Rural Party Constitutional People's Party
Electoral vote 10 6
Popular vote 114,488 82,478

President before election

Urho Kekkonen
Centre

Elected President

Urho Kekkonen
Centre

Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1978. They were the first elections since 1968, as Parliament had extended Urho Kekkonen's term by four years.[1] The public elected presidential electors to an electoral college on 15 and 16 January.[2] The electors, in turn assembled in Helsinki on 15 February to formally elect the President. Urho Kekkonen, president since 1956, was re-elected on the first ballot by the electors.[1] The turnout for the popular vote was 64%.[3]

Kekkonen had in the spring of 1975 agreed to become the Social Democratic presidential candidate, and after that all the major Finnish political parties chose him as their candidate. Kekkonen's opponents, such as the Christian League's presidential candidate Raino Westerholm, claimed that Kekkonen's long presidency weakened the Finnish democracy. Over one-third of the Finnish voters abstained from voting, partly as a protest against Kekkonen's expected landslide victory.

The 77-year-old Kekkonen's health was already declining, although this was not easily noticeable in his public appearances.[4][5][6][7]

Results

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[edit]
Party or allianceVotes%Seats
Supporters of Urho KekkonenSocial Democratic Party569,15423.2574
Centre Party475,37219.4264
Finnish People's Democratic League445,09818.1856
National Coalition Party360,31014.7245
Swedish People's Party88,0543.6012
Liberals71,2322.918
Åland Coalition5,3310.221
Socialist Workers Party2,1870.090
Private Entrepreneurs' Party8930.040
Total2,017,63182.41260
Finnish Christian League215,2448.7924
Finnish Rural Party114,4884.6810
Constitutional People's Party82,4783.376
Finnish People's Unity Party18,5430.760
Total2,448,384100.00300
Valid votes2,448,38499.11
Invalid/blank votes21,9550.89
Total votes2,470,339100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,844,27964.26
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Electoral college

[edit]
CandidatePartyVotes%
Urho KekkonenCentre Party25986.33
Raino WesterholmFinnish Christian League258.33
Veikko VennamoFinnish Rural Party103.33
Ahti M. SalonenConstitutional People's Party62.00
Total300100.00
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p630 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p606
  3. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p624
  4. ^ Timo Vihavainen (2003) "The Welfare Finland" (Hyvinvointi-Suomi), pp883–884 in Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History, WSOY
  5. ^ Pentti Virrankoski (2009) A History of Finland, Finnish Literature Society, p963
  6. ^ Aarno Laitinen et al., eds. (1981) Tamminiemi's Inheritance Dividers, Journalists Ltd
  7. ^ Seeger, Murray (1 February 1978). "Finland's Kekkonen Seems Indispensable". Los Angeles Times. p. I-A-1.