Åland Representation in the Parliament of Finland

Though Åland, an autonomous region of Finland, has its own parliament, it also elects a representative to the Finnish parliament. Åland became its own Finnish electoral district (see Elections in Finland) in 1948. Åland had previously been a part of the same electoral district as Varsinais-Suomi. Of the fifteen Finnish electoral districts, Åland is the smallest with its single representative. Unlike the other districts, however, whose number of representatives are calculated for each parliamentary election based on the size of the population within the district, Åland always receives exactly one representative, regardless of the size of the population. Åland's electoral district also differs from the others in that it is the only one defined in the Finnish constitution; the others may be defined in legislation. The district is also defined in the Autonomy Act of Åland. The election for the Finnish parliament functions otherwise in the same manner as in the rest of Finland.
The mainland Finnish political parties are not present on Åland, and the Åland representative is instead elected from one of the political parties of Åland, who may form electoral alliances specifically for the Finnish parliamentary election.
The Åland representative typically caucuses with the Swedish People's Party in the Finnish parliament, though not necessarily; the candidates of the Åland Social Democrats often pledges to caucus with their Finnish counterparts.
As one would expect, the Åland representative typically engages in issues that affect Åland, for example in regard to the Åland autonomy and the Swedish language in Finland.
During other elections, such as presidential elections or elections for the European Parliament, the entire country of Finland, including Åland, forms a single electoral district.

Replacement election

In the event the Åland seat in the Finnish parliament becomes vacant, a replacement is chosen as in other electoral districts (using the d'Hondt method), with one key difference: if a replacement is not available, a new election for the seat must be held as soon as possible.

Åland representatives

External links

* [http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1998/19980714 Electoral legislation of Finland]