Candidates for election to all 293 local councils in mainland Finland have filled in their answers to Yle's election compass, offering a useful tool for those looking to find out more about the elections.
Almost everyone resident in Finland can vote in the local elections regardless of citizenship. You can check your own eligibility using this online tool.
The compass allows anyone to answer a series of questions, and see how their answers match up with candidates. The programme calculates which candidates think like the voter about a range of hot political topics, ranking parties and candidates accordingly.
The compass was formulated by Yle's Finnish language news and current affairs unit, and translated by Yle News.
In total there are more than 30,000 candidates standing for election, and more than 15,000 have submitted their answers to the election compass.
The compass includes 26 claims or questions, with 21 national claims and five specific to the locality. Some of the questions ask users to rank policy measures in order of priority.
Each of the nearly 300 local councils therefore has a distinct election compass. The compass will even suggest where you might like to move, if you want candidates that are more closely aligned with your own political opinions.
Candidates also have the chance to explain three election promises and three things they would like to defend, and they name a figure who serves as their political role model.
You can use the election compass here.
The All Points North podcast asked why it's important to vote in local elections. You can listen to the full podcast using the embedded player here or via Yle Areena, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your usual podcast player using the RSS feed.
Article continues after audio.
The election compass has long been among Yle's most-popular election content. During the 2019 parliamentary election campaign some two million people used the compass. It is possible that during the municipal election that number may even grow, as voters are likely to be less familiar with the candidates — the majority of them are not regularly cited by news media.
The compass is therefore a product for the mass audience, but it is especially important for certain groups. According to a recent study by Tampere University, young people and those who don't follow politics so closely are particularly reliant on election compasses.
These groups are more likely to utilise the compass to help find their own candidate, whereas older people tend to use election compasses for fun.
