The General Council is TEK’s highest decision-making body, elected by member vote every three years. The delegates for the 2023–2026 term will be elected in the upcoming Council election in the spring 2023. The General Council has 70 members, of which 66 represent the Tekniikan Akateemiset ry association and 4 represent the Tekniska Föreningen i Finland r.f. association (Finnish Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers, TFiF). 

TEK General Council members decide how the interests of TEK members are promoted in the labour market, what kinds of member services are provided to them, and how the profession makes an impact on society. The council elects the board and decides on financial matters, such as membership fees.

A seat on the General Council gives you an excellent vantage point into the Finnish labour market as well as access to a broad network of TEK members in the profession. The council usually meets twice a year. Read more about the council's autumn meeting and decisions here.

In addition to council meetings, the General Council members attend their own groups’ meetings and maintain contact with their groups. For example, the groups prepare initiatives for the council about emphasis and changes in TEK’s activities. 

We asked the chairs of the current council groups for their views on the future of TEK and the successes of the past council term. Read more in TEK Magazine's article.

You must either accept or decline the offer to stand for election by 6 February 2023 at 12.00. The electoral alliances can add candidates to their lists during the candidate registration, between 10 January 2023 at 9.00 and 6 February 2023 at 12.00. 

If the electoral alliance uses the electronic candidate registration tool, you will get a message about your candidacy from that tool. You can accept or decline your candidacy via the link in that message. 

If the electoral alliance registers candidates on paper, you must inform a representative of the electoral alliance whether you accept or reject the candidacy. 

When a candidate accepts their candidacy, we consider this as acceptance of the processing and publication of their personal data as described in the privacy statement for TEK's General Council elections.

When registration of candidates ends, the TEK office will verify the candidates’ details, and the Election Committee will confirm those at its meeting on 10 February 2023. Successfully registered candidates will receive confirmation of their candidacy on 13 February 2023. If a person's candidacy is declined, TEK will contact them personally. 

If you are registered as a candidate, you will get to introduce yourself in the electoral engine and your information will be published in the compilations list of candidates compiled by TEK. 

You can withdraw your candidacy during the candidate registration complaint period, 13 February–27 February, 12.00, by contacting the TEK office: vaalit@tek.fi. The candidacy cannot be withdrawn using the electronic candidate registration tool after the end of the candidate registration period. 

The Election Committee will confirm the final list of candidates at its meeting on 27 February 2023. After this date, no changes may be made to candidacy status or candidate details. 

When a candidate accepts their candidacy, we consider this as acceptance of the processing and publication of their personal data as described in the privacy statement for TEK's General Council elections. 

Candidate details mean each candidate’s electoral district, electoral area (in the TA district), the candidate number assigned by the Election Committee, as well as the candidate’s first name, surname and municipality of residence. 

The candidate details are printed on the compilation list of candidates sent to all members eligible to vote. The candidate details are also used in other electoral communications. 

Candidates must check their details are accurate no later than 27 February 2023 at 12.00. We will email all candidates their candidate details on 13 February. If you want to update your name or municipality of residence, you can do so on the OmaTEK member portal. If you have not received a message or you want to change other details regarding you, please contact us as soon as possible: vaalit@tek.fi. Please note that changes made to your municipality of residence do not affect your electoral area, i.e. which area's candidates you can vote for. Eligibility to vote is determined by the situation on January 1, 2023.

The Election Committee will confirm the final list of candidates at its meeting on 27 February 2023, after which candidate details may not be changed. The Election Committee assigns candidate numbers at the same meeting. All candidates will be sent information about the candidate numbers. 

The candidate decides for themselves on publication of information other than the candidate details described above in channels such as the electoral engine.

When the election results are announced, the names of all the elected members and deputy members and, separately, the names and votes received by each candidate, the votes received by electoral alliances and electoral coalitions and the comparative indexes by electoral district and electoral area will be published. 

In addition, the names of the elected delegates will be updated on TEK's General Council page for the duration of the council term. 

Read more about personal data processing and published information on the privacy statement for TEK's General Council elections

An online electoral engine to help voters will go live on 13 March 2022. We encourage all candidates to answer the electoral engine questions and give a presentation of themselves to the electoral engine. If you wish, you can supplement the existing candidate details on the electoral engine with information such as your title, workplace, degree, contact details and age. You can upload a photograph and description of yourself. In the electoral engine, you can talk about the issues you want to advance in TEK. 

You can answer the questions and fill in information on the electoral engine between 28 February 2023 at 12.00 and 13 March 2023 at 12.00. We will send all candidates a personalized electoral compass link on 28 February. If you do not receive an email, contact us: vaalit@tek.fi. 

You can read the electoral engine questions in advance. Download questions here. 

During the election, the TEK communications team will observe electoral quarantine in all TEK social media channels as follows: 

• TEK will not engage with/share/like any TEK election-related contact posted by a person or account. 

• From 6 February, we will not engage with/share/like any candidates’ or candidate accounts’ content, regardless of whether the content is election-related. 

• Exceptions to the above are clear questions, which we answer at our discretion. 

• We will not remove factual comments related to TEK's elections on TEK's posts. 

• The TEK Facebook groups are not intended to be electoral platforms; therefore, we will remove all election-related posts other than posts by TEK in the following groups: TEK Pohjoinen, TEK in English, TEKin Yrittäjäklubi, SusTech, Tekniikan etiikka, Työkirja. 

• The groups of TEK regional societies/clubs can decide on their own groups’ content independently. This applies to the following groups: Ldiary, Turun DI-kerho, HellYEA, TREngineers, AboaTEK. 

During the TEK election, data protection legislation and data protection principles of instruments such as the General Data Protection Regulation will be observed.

Read the privacy statement for TEK's General Council elections