Central Finland

Central Finland is one of the 13 electoral districts of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. The district was established as Vaasa Province East in 1907 when the Diet of Finland was replaced by the Parliament of Finland. It was renamed Central Finland Province in 1960 and Central Finland in 1997. It is conterminous with the region of Central Finland. The district currently elects 10 of the 200 members of the Parliament of Finland using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2023 parliamentary election it had 226,335 registered electors. History Vaasa Province East was one 16 electoral districts established by the Election Act of the Grand Duchy of Finland (Suomen Suuriruhtinaanmaan Vaalilaki) passed by the Diet of Finland in 1906. It consisted of the hundreds (kihlakunta) of Kuortane and Laukaa in the province of Vaasa. The district's borders were redrawn in 1960 to be conterminous with the newly created Central Finland Province. The district was renamed Central Finland Province at the same time. The district was renamed Central Finland in 1997. Kuhmoinen municipality was transferred from Central Finland to Pirkanmaa in 2021. Electoral system Central Finland currently elects 10 of the 200 members of the Parliament of Finland using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. Parties may form electoral alliances with each other to pool their votes and increase their chances of winning seats. However, the number of candidates nominated by an electoral alliance may not exceed the maximum number of candidates that a single party may nominate. Seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method.