# 1978 Finnish presidential election

Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1978. They were the first elections since 1968, as Parliament had extended Urho Kekkonen's term by four years. The public elected presidential electors to an electoral college on 15 and 16 January. The electors, in turn assembled in Helsinki on 15 February to formally elect the President. Urho Kekkonen, president since 1956, was re-elected on the first ballot by the electors. The turnout for the popular vote was 64%.
Kekkonen had agreed to become the Social Democratic presidential candidate in April 1975, and after that all the major Finnish political parties chose him as their candidate. Kekkonen's opponents, such as the Christian League's presidential candidate Raino Westerholm, claimed that Kekkonen's long presidency weakened Finnish democracy. Over one-third of Finnish voters abstained from voting, partly as a protest against Kekkonen's expected landslide victory.
The 77-year-old Kekkonen's health was already declining, although this was not easily noticeable in his public appearances.

## Results
### Popular vote

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Social Democratic Party | 569,154 | 23.25 | 74 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Centre Party | 475,372 | 19.42 | 64 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Finnish People's Democratic League | 445,098 | 18.18 | 56 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | National Coalition Party | 360,310 | 14.72 | 45 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Swedish People's Party | 88,054 | 3.60 | 12 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Liberals | 71,232 | 2.91 | 8 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Åland Coalition | 5,331 | 0.22 | 1 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Socialist Workers Party | 2,187 | 0.09 | 0 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | | Private Entrepreneurs' Party [fi] | 893 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Supporters of Urho Kekkonen | Total | Total | 2,017,631 | 82.41 | 260 |
| | Finnish Christian League | Finnish Christian League | Finnish Christian League | 215,244 | 8.79 | 24 |
| | Finnish Rural Party | Finnish Rural Party | Finnish Rural Party | 114,488 | 4.68 | 10 |
| | Constitutional People's Party | Constitutional People's Party | Constitutional People's Party | 82,478 | 3.37 | 6 |
| | Finnish People's Unity Party | Finnish People's Unity Party | Finnish People's Unity Party | 18,543 | 0.76 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 2,448,384 | 100.00 | 300 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,448,384 | 99.11 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 21,955 | 0.89 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,470,339 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 3,844,279 | 64.26 | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver |||||||

### Electoral college

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Urho Kekkonen | Centre Party | 259 | 86.33 |
| | Raino Westerholm | Finnish Christian League | 25 | 8.33 |
| | Veikko Vennamo | Finnish Rural Party | 10 | 3.33 |
| | Ahti M. Salonen [fi] | Constitutional People's Party | 6 | 2.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | 300 | 100.00 |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver |||||