Political participation and integration
Voter turnout among immigrants in the 2017 Finnish municipal elections
Keywords:
immigrants, political participation, voter turnout, municipal elections, integrationAbstract
This article examines voter turnout of Russian, Estonian, Somali and Swedish-origin immigrants in the 2017 Finnish municipal elections by employing register data. The main focus is on how various social background factors, such as gender, age, occupational status, personal income, marital status and citizenship influenced voter turnout in different groups. The main finding is that the more secure one’s social status was, the more likely s/he voted. However, Somali-origin voters constituted an exception, for they had a high voter turnout despite of their low socioeconomic status. This finding suggests that Somali-origin voters’ turnout was primarily affected by other factors, which were likely connected to strong co-ethnic group consciousness as well as the structures creating and maintaining it. This article sheds light to voter behaviour of foreign-origin groups and, thus, contributes to research on immigrants’ political inclusion in Finland.
