1968 Finnish presidential election

Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1968. On 15 and 16 January the public elected presidential electors to an electoral college.[1] They in turn elected the President. The result was a victory for Urho Kekkonen, who won on the first ballot.[2] The turnout for the popular vote was 70.2.[3]

1968 Finnish presidential election

15.–16 January 1968

Nominee Urho Kekkonen Matti Virkkunen Party Centre National Coalition Electoral vote 201 66 Popular vote 1,221,078 482,693   Nominee Veikko Vennamo Party Rural Party Electoral vote 33 Popular vote 231,959

President before election Urho Kekkonen Centre Elected President Urho Kekkonen Centre

Kekkonen's two opponents, the centre-right National Coalition Party's candidate Director of the National Commercial Bank Matti Virkkunen and the populist Finnish Rural Party's leader Veikko Vennamo, criticized him for governing Finland in a too autocratic way.

Vennamo in particular accused Kekkonen of pursuing a too dependent and servile foreign policy towards the Soviet Union. Since almost thirty per cent of the eligible Finnish voters abstained from voting, there was some underlying discontent with the presidential candidates, or Kekkonen's wide lead over his two opponents. Notably, the National Coalitioners and Ruralists - both opposition parties at the time - gained clearly higher percentages of the popular vote than in the 1966 Finnish parliamentary elections. This foreshadowed their major gains in the 1970 Finnish parliamentary elections. Although during this presidential campaign, Kekkonen promised not to run for president again (see, for example, Timo Vihavainen, "The Welfare Finland" (Hyvinvointi-Suomi), pp. 859–861 in Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen. Helsinki: WSOY, 2003; Pentti Virrankoski, A History of Finland / Suomen historia, volumes 1&2. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura), 2009, p. 961; Martti Häikiö, The Election of President / Presidentin valinta, p. 96. Porvoo: WSOY, 1993; What-Where-When: A Citizen's Yearbook (Mitä-Missä-Milloin - Kansalaisen vuosikirja) 1969, p. 140. Helsinki: Otava Ltd., 1968), however, he extended his presidential term in 1973 and ran nearly unopposed in 1978.

Results

Popular vote

Alliance or party		Votes	%	Seats
Electoral Union of Urho Kekkonen	Centre Party	421,197	20.7	65
	Finnish People's Democratic League	345,609	17.0	56
	Social Democratic Party	315,068	15.5	55
	Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders	46,833	2.3	6
	Swedish People's Party	2,568	0.1	0
	Independents	21,425	1.1	1
Electoral Union of Matti Virkkunen	National Coalition Party	432,014	21.2	58
	Independents	6,787	0.3	2
Electoral Union of Veikko Vennamo		231,282	11.3	33
Electoral Union of SFP	Supporters of Urho Kekkonen	68,378	3.4	9
	Supporters of Matti Virkkunen	43,892	2.2	6
	Supporters of Veikko Vennamo	677	0.0	0
Electoral Union of LKP		102,831	5.0	9
Others		31	0.0	0
Invalid/blank votes		10,410	–	–
Total		2,049,002	100	300
Source: Nohln & Stöver

Electoral college

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Urho Kekkonen	Centre Party	201	67.0
Matti Virkkunen	National Coalition Party	66	22.0
Veikko Vennamo	Finnish Rural Party	33	11.0
Total		300	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p. 606 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p. 630
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p. 624