Learn Hardcore Finnish: Äänestyksen tulos näytetään taululla, jotta jokainen näkee sen. - The result of the vote is shown on the board so that everyone sees it.

So äänestyksen tulos literally means “the result of the vote”.
This is a very common way in Finnish to show a relationship like English “X of Y” → Y:n X.

Why is it äänestyksen tulos and not a single word like äänestystulos?

Both are possible Finnish, but they’re slightly different in style and nuance:

äänestyksen tulos = the result of the vote
- more literal, transparent structure
- good in explanatory or neutral text
äänestystulos = election result / voting result (compound noun)
- feels a bit more compact and “terminological”
- often used in news, headlines, etc.

In this sentence, äänestyksen tulos is a natural choice, but äänestystulos näytetään taululla would also be grammatically fine.

What grammatical form is näytetään, and why is there no subject?

Näytetään is the Finnish passive / impersonal form of näyttää (“to show”).

näytetään ≈ is shown / is being shown / they show / we show
No explicit subject is used. The doer is unspecified (people in general, officials, staff, etc.)

So:

Äänestyksen tulos näytetään taululla
≈ “The result of the vote is shown on the board”
(literally: “(They) show the result of the vote on the board.”)

This is how Finnish often expresses an action with no specific subject, where English uses the passive or “they/people”.

Is äänestyksen tulos the subject or the object in this sentence?

In terms of meaning, “the result” is what gets shown, so it’s an object.

Grammatically, in the passive:

A total object of a normal noun phrase appears in the nominative (no -n ending).
That’s why we get tulos (not tuloksen).

So:

Äänestyksen tulos is a total object in nominative.
The verb näytetään is passive and has no overt subject.

Why is it taululla and not taulussa or tauluun?

These are three different local cases:

taululla = on the board (surface) → adessive (-lla)
taulussa = in the board (inside it) → inessive (-ssa)
tauluun = onto the board (movement to it) → illative (-un)

Here the meaning is that the result is shown on the surface of the board, so taululla is the natural choice.

What exactly does jotta mean, and how is it different from että?

jotta introduces a purpose clause: so that, in order that.

Äänestyksen tulos näytetään taululla, jotta jokainen näkee sen.
→ “The result is shown on the board so that everyone sees it.”

Differences:

että = that (neutral content clause)
- Hän sanoi, että tulos näytetään taululla.
  “He said that the result is shown on the board.”
jotta = so that / in order that (goal or purpose)
- Tulos näytetään taululla, jotta jokainen näkee sen.
  “The result is shown on the board so that everyone sees it.”

Using että here would make the purpose less clear and sound off; jotta is the correct conjunction for expressing intention.

Why is there a comma before jotta?

Finnish normally separates a main clause and a subordinate clause with a comma.

Main clause: Äänestyksen tulos näytetään taululla
Subordinate clause (purpose): jotta jokainen näkee sen

So you write:

Äänestyksen tulos näytetään taululla, jotta jokainen näkee sen.

This comma is standard in Finnish punctuation whenever a subordinate clause (introduced by words like että, koska, vaikka, kun, jos, jotta etc.) follows the main clause.

Is jokainen singular or plural, and why is the verb näkee (singular)?

Jokainen is grammatically singular, even though it refers to “everyone / each (person)”.

jokainen = he/she/it, each one → requires 3rd person singular verb
näkee is 3rd person singular of nähdä (to see)

So:

jokainen näkee = “each (person) sees”
Not jokaiset näkevät.

If you wanted a true plural subject, you’d use kaikki:

kaikki näkevät sen = “everyone (all) sees it”

What does sen refer to, and why not se or sitä?

sen is the object form of the pronoun se (“it”) and refers back to äänestyksen tulos.

Forms of se:

se = nominative (subject)
sen = genitive / accusative (used for a total object)
sitä = partitive (used for a partial/ongoing object, or with certain verbs)

Here, “everyone sees it” as a complete object, so we use sen:

jokainen näkee sen = “everyone sees it (entirely / as a whole result)”

Using sitä would imply a different aspect or be ungrammatical here; se cannot be used as the full object form in this position.

Why is the result first named as äänestyksen tulos and then later just sen?

This is a common pattern:

First, the noun phrase is introduced in full:
- Äänestyksen tulos näytetään taululla…
Then it’s referred to again with a pronoun:
- …jotta jokainen näkee sen.

This avoids repeating the whole phrase äänestyksen tulos:

Acceptable but heavier:
Äänestyksen tulos näytetään taululla, jotta jokainen näkee äänestyksen tuloksen.
More natural:
…jotta jokainen näkee sen.

English does something similar with “the result … so that everyone sees it.”

Could I use kaikki instead of jokainen? What’s the difference?

You can, but there is a nuance:

jokainen = each person, every single one
- Slight focus on individuals
kaikki = all, everyone as a group
- Focus on the group as a whole

Possible variants:

…jotta jokainen näkee sen.
→ “so that each person sees it.”
…jotta kaikki näkevät sen.
→ “so that everyone (all) sees it.”

Both are grammatically correct; the original just chooses jokainen.

Could I say “Äänestyksen tulos näkyy taululla” instead of “näytetään taululla”?

You could, but the meaning changes slightly:

näytetään taululla
→ “(It) is shown on the board”
→ Emphasises someone actively displaying it.
näkyy taululla
→ “(It) is visible / can be seen on the board”
→ Focus on the state of being visible, not on the action of showing.

In the context of deliberately presenting results, näytetään is more precise, because it highlights the intentional action (“we show it on the board so that…”).