Tuesday is the last day to nominate candidates for this spring’s parliamentary elections in Finland.
Parties and voter associations must submit their lists of candidates to the electoral district boards by 4pm. They must also file official notices of any electoral alliances or joint lists.
Each candidate will be assigned an election number at the end of next week, when the electoral boards confirm the candidate lists.
On Tuesday the Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet listed some of the best-known candidates who have thrown their hats into the ring so far. They include Jarno Limnell, Professor of Practice at Aalto University (NCP), Nasima Razmyar, an Afghan-born Deputy Mayor of Helsinki (SDP), former foreign minister and perennial presidential candidate Paavo Väyrynen (Cen), MEP Laura Huhtasaari (Finns), former Olympic speed skater Mika Poutala (CD) and basketball coach Henrik Dettmann (SPP).
Uusimaa holds biggest electoral pot
Finland's largest constituency is Uusimaa, where voters will elect 37 MPs. The smallest constituency on mainland Finland is Lapland, with six representatives.
During the last parliamentary elections in 2019, nearly 2,500 candidates ran for the 200-seat legislature.
Early voting for the parliamentary elections starts a month from now, on Wednesday, 22 March. Election day proper is Sunday, 2 April.
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