Study title

The survey explored the attitudes and opinions of Swedish-speaking Finns in relation to the municipal elections and more broadly to referendums. The data was collected as part of the Citizen Panel of Swedish-speaking Finns (Barometern), which is part of The Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO). First, respondents were asked how important they consider certain social issues to be from the perspective of Swedish-speaking Finns. They were then asked whether they had voted in the 2017 municipal elections and whether they intended to vote in the 2021 municipal elections. In addition, reasons for not voting were asked, as well as which party the respondent would vote for and whether the party or the candidate was more important. Further questions were asked about interest in local politics and general attitudes to referendums. Finally, questions were asked about voting activity and the share of votes cast for individual candidates. Background variables included the respondent's NUTS3 region of residence, level of education, age and gender.