Elections in Sweden
|This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Elections to determine the makeup of the legislative bodies on the three levels of administrative division in the Kingdom of Sweden are held once every four
Elections in Sweden
|This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Elections to determine the makeup of the legislative bodies on the three levels of administrative division in the Kingdom of Sweden are held once every four years. At the highest level, these elections determine the allocation of seats in the Riksdag, the national legislative body of Sweden. Elections to the 20 county councils (landsting) and 290 municipal assemblies (kommunfullmäktige) – all using roughly the same electoral system – are held concurrently with the legislative elections on the second Sunday in September (with effect from 2014; until 2010 they had been held on the third Sunday in September).
Sweden also holds elections to the European Parliament, which unlike Swedish domestic elections are held in June every five years, although they are also held on a Sunday and use an almost identical electoral system. The last Swedish general election was held on 14 September 2014. The last Swedish election to the European Parliament was held on 25 May 2014.
- 1 Electoral system
- 2 Riksdag elections
- 3 County Council elections
- 4 Municipal elections
- 5 Elections to the European Parliament
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Elections to Sweden's county councils occur simultaneously with the general elections on the second Sunday of September. Elections to the municipal assemblies also occur on the second Sunday of September. Elections to the European Parliament occur every five years in June throughout the entire European Union; the exact day of the election varies by country according to local tradition, thus in Sweden all European parliament elections occur on a Sunday.
To vote in a Swedish general election, one must be:
- a Swedish citizen,
- at least 18 years of age on election day,
- and have at some point been a registered resident of Sweden (thus excluding foreign-born Swedes who have never lived in Sweden)
To vote in Swedish local elections (for the county councils and municipal assemblies), one must:
- be a registered resident of the county or municipality in question and be at least 18 years of age on election day
- fall into one of the following groups:
- Swedish citizens
- Citizens of Iceland, Norway, or any country in the European Union
- Citizens of any other country who have permanent residency in Sweden and have lived in Sweden for three consecutive years
In order to vote in elections to the European Parliament, one must be 18 years old, and fall into one of the following groups:
- Swedish citizens who are or have been residents of Sweden
- Citizens of any other country in the European Union who are currently residents of Sweden; such citizens, by choosing to vote in European Parliamentary elections in Sweden, become ineligible to vote in European Parliamentary elections in any other EU member state
In general, any person who is eligible to vote is also eligible to stand for election.
Unlike in many countries where voters chose from a list of candidates or parties, each party in Sweden has separate ballot papers. The ballot papers must be identical in size and material, and have different colors depending on the type of election: yellow for Riksdag elections, blue for county council elections and white for municipal elections and elections to the European Parliament.
Sweden uses open lists and utilizes apparentment between lists of the same party and constituency to form a cartel, a group of lists that are legally allied for purposes of seat allocation. A single preference vote may be indicated as well.
Swedish voters can choose between three different types of ballot papers. The party ballot paper has simply the name of a political party printed on the front and is blank on the back. This ballot is used when a voter wishes to vote for a particular party, but does not wish to give preference to a particular candidate. The name ballot paper has a party nam