1962 Finnish presidential election

Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1962. 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 81.5%.[3]

1962 Finnish presidential election

1962

Nominee Urho Kekkonen Paavo Aitio Party Centre People's Democratic Electoral vote 199 62 Popular vote 1,394,886 451,750

President before election Urho Kekkonen Agrarian Elected President Urho Kekkonen Centre

Background

Since Kekkonen's extremely narrow victory in the 1956 Finnish presidential elections, his political opponents had planned to defeat him in the election of 1962.

In the spring of 1961, the Social Democrats, National Coalition Party and Swedish People's Party and People's Party , Small Farmers' Party and Liberal League nominated former Chancellor of Justice Olavi Honka as their presidential candidate.

The Honka League's goal was to receive a majority of the 300 presidential electors, and thus defeat President Kekkonen.

At the end of October 1961, the Soviet government sent a diplomatic note to the Finnish Government, claiming that neo-fascism and militarism were growing so much in West Germany that Finland and the Soviet Union were in danger of being attacked by that country or by some other NATO members states.

Thus the Soviet Union asked Finland to negotiate on possible joint military co-operation under the Finno-Soviet Treaty articles.

The Note Crisis alarmed many Finnish people, politicians and ordinary voters alike. In late November 1961, Honka dropped his presidential candidacy. Kekkonen then travelled to the Soviet Union where the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, briefly negotiated with him and assured the audience in Novosibirsk that Finland and the Soviet Union continued to have good relations, although some Finns tried to worsen them, and that joint military exercises were not needed, after all.

Following the Note Crisis, Kekkonen's popularity soared, as many Finnish voters believed him to be more capable than his opponents of defending Finland's neutrality and security. Kekkonen was easily re-elected President [4][5][6]

Results

Popular vote

Alliance or party		Votes	%	Seats
Electoral Union of Urho Kekkonen	Agrarian League	698,199	31.7	111
	People's Party of Finland	165,489	7.5	21
	Swedish People's Party	35,599	1.6	6
	Others	75,961	3.4	7
Electoral Union of KOK and KP	National Coalition Party	288,912	13.1	37
	People's Party of Finland	11,087	0.5	1
	Liberal League	7,898	0.4	1
Finnish People's Democratic League		451,750	20.5	63
Social Democratic Party		289,366	13.1	36
Swedish People's Party		111,741	5.1	15
Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders		66,166	3.0	2
Others		36	0.0	0
Invalid/blank votes		9,237	–	–
Total		2,211,441	100	300
Source: Nohln & Stöver

Electoral college

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Urho Kekkonen	Agrarian League	199	66.3
Paavo Aitio	Finnish People's Democratic League	62	20.7
Rafael Paasio	Social Democratic Party	37	12.3
Emil Skog	Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders	2	0.7
Total		300	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p630
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p624
4. Vihavainen, Timo (1987). Hyvinvointi-Suomi, osio teoksesta Suomen historian Pikkujättiläinen (in Finnish). Porvoo: WSOY. pp. 840–842.
5. Virrankoski, Pentti. Suomen historia (in Finnish). Porvoo: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. pp. 957–959.
6. Hannu Rautkallio (1992). Novosibirskin lavastus (in Finnish). Helsinki: Tammi.