Gabriela Rendón and Laura Körkkö are voting for the first time in parliamentary elections – These things determine how they will pick their candidate

Get up and vote! Among JHL members there are many people who will be voting in the parliamentary elections for the first time. Data analyst Gabriela Rendón is a recent Finnish citizen, and she is now eagerly acquiring information about the candidates. Laura Körkkö on the other hand already knows who will get her vote. Körkkö earned the right to vote when she reached the age of majority.

1 Environmental values

Who should I vote for? Now is the time to make that decision: Advance voting in the parliamentary elections started on 22 March, and election day (Sunday 2 April) is around the corner.

Right now, 4.5 million people with a right to vote are living in Finland – more than ever before. Some of them are voting for the first time because they’ve reached the age of majority. Some people on the other hand get to vote because they’ve been granted the Finnish citizenship. There is a record number of them, too – about 130,000.

Now, two JHL members voting for the first time talk about the key aspects in who gets their vote.

Gabriela Rendón works for the City of Helsinki as a data analyst. She got the Finnish citizenship in December 2022. For her, it’s obvious to vote in the parliamentary elections.

– It’s a way for me to participate in making decisions. I try to find the candidates who think like I do and then select the one for me, JHL member Rendón explains.

Rendón, 36, moved to Finland from Mexico in August 2016. She was brought here by an au pair job and a desire to visit Moominworld. Rendón fell for the country and decided to stay. She is especially attracted by the greenness of cities. For Rendón, eco-friendliness is one important criterion when selecting her candidate in the parliamentary elections.

– If the construction in green areas continues, there will soon be no parks left.

Gabriela Rendón’s decision to vote was made easier by the fact that she already speaks Finnish quite well. She learned the basics during integration training. Since then, she’s updated her language skills on adult education centre language courses.

2 Status of low-pay employees

Another definite must is that the candidate needs to have a desire to impact the situation in low-pay sectors. Rendón reminds that the population is getting older and there is an even greater need for skilled healthcare employees. In addition, day care centres are suffering from a shortage of employees because the sector is not attractive.

Rendón has become more alert to problems in low-pay sectors, especially when getting to know other JHL members. She’s an active in her local branch and in an immigrant network. She’s also a person in charge of youth activities.

3 Good ideas

Gabriela Rendón has yet to make her final selection out of the mass of candidates. She wants to know as much as possible about the candidate, such as where they have previously worked and served. In Mexico, there was only a handful of potential candidates. In Finland however, there are hundreds of candidates in Helsinki electoral district alone.

– There are so many candidates that it’s difficult to choose. If a candidate is interesting, I’ll read more about them. I try to limit the possible candidates down to three. I will then select the final candidate out of those three.

She will make her selection purely based on values.

– Gender or age has no impact on my decision. The only important thing is that the candidate has good ideas, she says.

Several Facebook groups offer information about the elections and candidates in many languages and also in plain Finnish. Rendón praises JHL’s immigrant network for its informative Facebook community and also for the fact that the network is active outside social media as well: During the elections, the network gets to for instance get acquainted with the Finnish Parliament and the work of MPs.

In addition, Rendón’s circle of acquaintances helps her get information.

– When my friends talk, I listen.

4 The keys to activating people of immigrant descent

People of immigrant descent are underrepresented among decision makers. Rendón thinks it’s fair that there are such people among decision makers and candidates. Those with an immigrant or foreign background can also encourage voters with different backgrounds to vote more actively.

So far, the number of foreign-language voters has been lagging behind the majority population. Parliamentary elections see a higher voting turnout compared to other elections because the Finnish citizenship brings with it the right to vote, which increases people’s interest. In seven years, Rendón has learned fluent Finnish. However, at first she had to rely on foreign-language information. According to her, there’s information available but it’s difficult to reach.

– You need to do a lot of research and find everything yourself.

Another challenge is to make people understand that their vote really matters in Finnish democracy.

– For a Mexican, politics usually mean that there won’t be any change. The state is corrupted and agreements on decision makers have been made somewhere else.

Rendón administers a site called “Finlandia en español” on Facebook and Instagram. There she provides information in Spanish about studying, working and daily life in Finland.

5 Right kind of values

In the run-up to the elections, party representatives get together for televised debates. Gabriela Rendón doesn’t watch TV but follows the media, especially on Instagram. Occasionally, she listens to Yle news in plain Finnish.

– And if a candidate gives me a brochure on the street, I’ll try to read it.

In Finland, candidate selection engines play a large role during election time. Voters frequently use various candidate selection engine platforms when comparing candidates. Many people make their final decision on the basis of a candidate selection engine.

In the Kamppi district of Helsinki, election tents of parties invite voters to learn about their options.

The candidate selection engines are in Finnish. Voting in municipal elections is not tied to citizenship, and Rendón tried out a candidate selection engine during the 2021 municipal elections. The engine gave her a list of potential candidates. After that, she went to read their replies one by one. She especially paid attention to what the candidates had replied to the question about the necessity of labour immigration.

– I don’t necessarily trust the candidate selection engine results outright, but I read the candidates’ own replies.

Rendón’s interest in politics stems from her childhood family: Her father’s side of the family has several politicians, and every Saturday there was intense talk in her home about matters related to society. She doesn’t rule out the possibility of one day getting into Finnish politics herself.

– But not yet. I feel I need to learn more about Finnish society and the structures of politics.

Laura Körkkö was checking out election posters in the centre of Oulu.

6 Use simple terms when talking to young people

There’s room for improvement in young people’s voting turnout, too. The 2019 parliamentary elections gave a reason to be optimistic: The voting turnout of 18–24-year-olds increased compared to the previous parliamentary elections. Still, it was lagging at 55 per cent. According to a recent survey conducted by market research company Kantar by commission of the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, only every third young person will certainly vote.

Young people need to be explained in simple terms how one can make an impact by voting. This is what Laura Körkkö, 20, thinks. She’s a bioanalytics student living in Oulu. She earned the right to vote upon reaching the age of majority.

–  Sadly, few people know what voting actually makes an impact on, Körkkö says regretfully.

She feels that youth affairs need to be talked about in tangible terms. Furthermore, one should eliminate the idea that politics is difficult. When common issues are addressed by using difficult jargon, young people don’t understand what the issues have to do with their daily lives.

Körkkö praises the election debates targeted for young people and the no-nonsense debate about young people’s malaise and violence. But still:

–  There have been promises about improving young people’s status, diminishing their overload and improving their access to mental health services, but there haven’t been tangible promises about actions.

According to Körkkö, the circle of youth malaise requires a preventive investment in mental health services.

– People should get treatment on time. I hope that there will now be a change to this, and that some tangible promises will be made.

Laura Körkkö doesn’t rule out the possibility of trying to get into municipal politics herself, too.

7 Solutions to worker and student issues

Laura Körkkö’s interest in making a difference stems from her family, too. She’s a member of JHL’s Nuorisofoorumi (youth forum) and an active young social democrat. As with Gabriela Rendón, she too wants debate about the status of employees and the health and social services sector’s situation.

Furthermore, she wants debate about how student income is largely based on taking a loan, and about the sufficiency of student financial aid.

– The benefits given to us students are strongly based on the fact that we either need to take a loan or have a full-time job in addition to studying full time. This leads to becoming overburdened and to weakened learning results. Why are students the only social class forced to this?

According to Körkkö, young people are overburdened. In addition to their studies, they are experiencing enormous pressures at the start of their careers, and even afterwards. She also thinks that candidates should talk more about the income of workers and how employees could cope better at work.

8 Young people should decide about youth affairs

Laura Körkkö found her candidate at the beginning of the year. The selection was sealed by the candidate’s knowledge of working life, and the fact that the candidate is looking for solutions to young people’s problems. Social media and candidate selection engines made Körkkö certain that she’s on the same wavelength with the candidate. The decision was also made easier by getting to know the candidate personally.

Features such as gender or ethnic background don’t affect Körkkö’s selection of a candidate. However, age is an important feature for her. Her candidate is around the same age as she is. So far, there haven’t been all that many people in their twenties active in national politics.

– Young people are needed for decision making.

Who should get my vote? During election time, there’s no shortage of candidates trying to make themselves known.

How to vote in parliamentary elections

• You have the right to vote if you’re a Finnish citizen who has turned 18.
• Advance voting in Finland will take place on 22–28 March and abroad on 22–25 March 2023.
• You can cast your vote in advance at any voting location in Finland. All you need is a personal ID.
• Election day is Sunday 2 April. On election day, you can vote at your own voting location.
• To see your voting location and the candidate lists, visit Vaalit.fi.
• Are you still trying to decide who to vote for? Go talk to candidates at campaign tents. Visit the election panels of your region. If you have questions, you can send them to candidates by e-mail.
• Watch election debates and answer to candidate selection engine statements!