The 2023 Finnish Sámi parliamentary election took place between 4 September and 2 October 2023 to elect 21 members and four deputy members to the Sámi Parliament of Finland.

On 27 March 2024, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland ruled that the election had been conducted unlawfully due to the exclusion of 72 individuals from the electoral register, despite their eligibility as determined by prior court rulings. The election results were invalidated and a rerun was ordered to be held later in 2024.

Overview

Electoral system Unlike elections to the Sámi Parliament of Norway, elections to the Sámi Parliament of Finland are non-partisan. Candidates are nominated by voter associations of at least three Sámis who are eligible to vote under the Sámi electoral roll.

The four municipalities of the Sámi Domicile Area elect three members (as well as one deputy member) each: Enontekiö, Utsjoki, Inari and a portion of Sodankylä. The remaining nine members and three deputies are elected among the candidates who received the highest share of the votes, regardless of which municipality they live in or whether they live outside the Sámi homeland.

Procedure Elections to the Sámi Parliament are administered over a four-week period, beginning on the Monday of the first full week of September. Voting concludes on 2 October 2023.

Voter eligibility and registration Under Section 3 of the Act on the Sámi Parliament, a person is eligible to register for the Sámi electoral roll if they identify as Sámi and: They, or one of their parents or grandparents was native Sámi speaker, or They are descended from a person in the mountain, forest, or fisher Lapp Sámi register, or At least one of their parents are, was, or could have been, eligible to vote in the elections to the Sámi Parliament of 1995 or the Sámi Council of 1973. Any Sámi wishing to participate in the election had to apply to be entered in to the electoral roll by 31 December 2022 at 4 p.m. local time (EEST).

Campaign The election comes at a time of tense relations between the Sámi community and the government of Finland. Reforms to the Sámi Parliament Act, which would enshrine the right of the Sámi to self-determination and amend the Sámi heritage requirements for voting in Sámi Parliament elections, had been under consideration for several years but failed to come to fruition. The most recent attempt to reform the act was shot down by the Parliament of Finland's Constitutional Law Committee on 24 February 2023.

Candidates The final list of candidates was announced at a meeting of the Sámi Assembly Election Board on 9 August. A total of 34 candidates were approved to run in the elections: Candidate Home town Palonoja Armi Tuulikki Sodankylä Nuorgam Mirva Anne Marjatta Utsjoki Ljetoff Tauno Juhani Inari Pieski Pentti Ilmari Utsjoki Hirvasvuopio Janne Kalervo Espoo Lukkari Sammol Antti Utsjoki Pekkala Aslak Timo Inari Tapiola Nilla Samuli Utsjoki Magga Ellen Ulla-Maarit Enontekiö Semenoff Tinja Sofia Rovaniemi Aikio Matti Ville Gabriel Sodankylä Kiprianoff Maarit Ulla Katariina Helsinki Katajamaa Marko Tapio Inari Avaskari Anu Aino-Sisko Maarit Inari Niittyvuopio Inga Anni-Sofia Utsjoki Länsman Asko Tapani Utsjoki Porsanger Markku Eelis Utsjoki Suoninen Anne Margareetta Inari Näkkäläjärvi Pirita Susanna Inari Koivisto Anni Kaisa Inari Guttorm Kari Tapani Utsjoki Aikio Leo Jouni Olavi Inari Musta Inka Maria Susanna Helsinki Niittyvuopio-Jämsä Leena-Maaret Kaarina Utsjoki Lukkari Kari Toivo Kirkkonummi Alakorva Juha Petteri Sodankylä Gauriloff Mari (Minna Marianne) Helsinki Niittyvuopio Veijo Uula Tapani Helsinki Hetta Karen-Anni Sodankylä Feodoroff Veikko Armas Inari Aikio Marjaana Inari Juuso Tuomas Aslak Enontekiö Valkeapää Niko-Mihkal Enontekiö Keskitalo Pigga Päivi Kristiina Enontekiö

Results +Results of the 2023 Sámi Parliament of Finland electionCandidateVoteMandateElected?Area Avaskari Anu Aino-Sisko Maarit198 Inari Koivisto Anni Kaisa186 InariMusta Inka Maria Susanna163At-largeJuuso Tuomas Aslak150EnontekiöAikio Leo Jouni Olavi148Inari Länsman Asko Tapani134 Utsjoki Nuorgam Mirva Anne Marjatta132 UtsjokiKeskitalo Pigga Päivi Kristiina132Enontekiö Näkkäläjärvi Pirita Susanna124 At-large Magga Ellen Ulla-Maarit119 EnontekiöNiittyvuopio-Jämsä Leena-Maaret Kaarina111Utsjoki Pekkala Aslak Timo110 At-large Hirvasvuopio Janne Kalervo109 At-large Tapiola Nilla Samuli105 At-large Ljetoff Tauno Juhani97 At-largeFeodoroff Veikko Armas94At-large Katajamaa Marko Tapio89 At-largeLukkari Kari Toivo87At-largeHetta Karen-Anni85Sodankylä Pieski Pentti Ilmari 81Deputy UtsjokiGauriloff Mari (Minna Marianne)78 colspan="2" Valkeapää Niko-Mihkal65DeputyEnontekiöNiittyvuopio Veijo Uula Tapani65 colspan="2" Niittyvuopio Inga Anni-Sofia 58 colspan="2" Porsanger Markku Eelis 55 colspan="2" Aikio Marjaana55DeputyInari Guttorm Kari Tapani 48 colspan="2" Palonoja Armi Tuulikki46 SodankyläAlakorva Juha Petteri45Sodankylä Semenoff Tinja Sofia 42 colspan="2" Kiprianoff Maarit Ulla Katariina 30 colspan="2" Aikio Matti Ville Gabriel 27Deputy Sodankylä Lukkari Sammol Antti 25 colspan="2" Suoninen Anne Margareetta 26 colspan="2"

Turnout by area Turnout was highest among voters in Utsjoki and lowest among registered voters outside of Finland. +AreaVotes castRegisteredTurnoutSámihomelandEnontekiö19628868.06%Inari7991,45255.03%Sodankylä14626854.48%Utsjoki33946173.54%Rest of Finland1,6493,22451.15%Overseas voters8736723.71%Total3,1296,06051.63%

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