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Elections in Sweden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Elections in Sweden gives information on elections and election results in Sweden.
Sweden elects on national level a unicameral legislature. The Riksdag (Diet) has 349 members, elected every four years (every three years between 1970 and 1994) by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. County Council and Municipal Council elections take place at the same time. There is a barrier rule intended to prevent very small parties from gaining representation in Parliament. A party must thus receive at least 4 % of the votes in the entire country or 12 % in a single electoral district to qualify for any seats. Every five years there is also an election to the European Parliament. Sweden has a multi-party system, with numerous parties which seldom receive a simple majority of votes in parliament, and parties must therefore work with each other to form coalition governments.
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The unicameral parliament has 349 members, out of which 310 are elected on a proportional system in each of the 29 national electoral districts. The remaining 39 seats are awarded on a national basis to further secure a proportional representation.
In the election the voter chooses between the different running parties. Eligible to vote and stand for elections are Swedish Citizens who turn 18 years old no later than on the day of the election.
There are three types of ballots. The first type has the name of a party and a list of their candidates. The second type has the name of a party only. The third type is blank. In other countries, the ballot contains the name of all parties in the election. In Sweden, each party has a separate ballot. If the voter wants to vote for a particular candidate, the first type is selected and a mark made next to the candidate. If the voter wants to vote for a particular party, the second type is selected. The third type is for write-ins. After the ballot is selected and filled in if necessary, it is sealed in an envelope and handed to electoral officers [1].
The government pays for the ballots if a party receives in this election, or has received in one of the last two Riksdag elections more than one percent of the votes in the whole of Sweden.
A party must also pass a set limit of 4 % nationally, or 12 % in one of the 29 electoral districts, in order to be awarded seats in parliament. Elections are held on the third Sunday of September every four years. The next elections are the September 19th 2010 elections.
In 2006, the social democrats did their worst election since 1920, while the moderates did their best in modern times. As a result the center-right alliance won the election for the first time since 1991.
| Year | (v) | (s) | (mp) | (fp) | (c) | (m) | (kd) | Various | Others | Participation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 5.2 | 35.0 | 5.2 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 26.2 | 6.6 | 5.7 | 81,99% | |
| 2002 | 8.4 | 39.9 | 4.6 | 13.4 | 6.2 | 15.3 | 9.1 | 3.1 | 80,11% | |
| 1998 | 12.0 | 36.4 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 22.9 | 11.8 | 2.6 | 81,4% | |
| 1994 | 6.2 | 45.3 | 5.0 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 22.4 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 86.4% |
| 1991 | 4.5 | 37.6 | 3.4 | 9.1 | 8.5 | 21.9 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 1.2 | 86,7% |
| 1988 | 5.8 | 43.2 | 5.5 | 12.2 | 11.3 | 18.3 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 85,96% | |
| 1985 | 5.4 | 44.7 | 1.5 | 14.2 | 10.1 | 21.3 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 89,93% | |
| 1982 | 5.6 | 45.6 | 1.7 | 5.9 | 15.5 | 23.6 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 91,44% | |
| 1979 | 5.6 | 43.2 | 10.6 | 18.1 | 20.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 90,72% | ||
| 1976 | 4.8 | 42.7 | 11.1 | 24.1 | 15.6 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 91,76% | ||
| 1973 | 5.3 | 43.6 | 9.4 | 25.1 | 14.3 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 90,84% | ||
| 1970 | 4.8 | 45.3 | 16.2 | 19.9 | 11.5 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 88,3% | ||
| 1968 | 3.0 | 50.1 | 14.3 | 15.7 | 12.9 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 89,3% | ||
| 1964 | 5.2 | 47.3 | 17.0 | 13.2 | 13.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 83,3% | ||
| 1960 | 4.5 | 47.8 | 17.5 | 13.6 | 16.5 | 0.1 | 85,9% | |||
| 1958 | 3.4 | 46.2 | 18.2 | 12.7 | 19.5 | 0.0 | 77,4% | |||
| 1956 | 5.0 | 44.6 | 23.8 | 9.4 | 17.1 | 0.1 | 79,8% | |||
| 1952 | 4.3 | 46.1 | 24.4 | 10.7 | 14.4 | 0.1 | 79,1% | |||
| 1948 | 6.3 | 46.1 | 22.8 | 12.4 | 12.3 | (sp) | 0.1 | 82,7% | ||
| 1944 | 10.3 | 46.7 | 12.9 | 13.6 | 15.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 71,9% | ||
| 1940 | 3.5 | 53.8 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 18.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 70,3% | ||
| 1936 | 3.3 | 45.9 | 12.9 | 14.3 | 17.6 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 74,5% | ||
| 1932 | 3.0 | 41.7 | 11.7 | 14.1 | 23.5 | 5.3 | 0.7 | 68,6% | ||
| 1928 | 6.4 | 37.0 | 15.9 | 11.2 | 29.4 | 0.1 | 67,4% | |||
| 1924 | 5.1 | 41.1 | 16.9 | 10.8 | 26.1 | (ssv) | 0.0 | |||
| 1921 | 4.6 | 36.2 | 19.1 | 11.1 | 25.8 | 3.2 | 0.0 | |||
| 1920 | 6.4 | 29.7 | 21.8 | 14.2 | 27.9 | 0.0 | ||||
| 1917 | 8.1 | 31.1 | 27.6 | 8.5 | 24.7 | 0.0 | ||||
| 1914 | 36.4 | 26.9 | 0.2 | 36.5 | 0.0 | |||||
| 1914 | 30.1 | 32.2 | 0.0 | 37.7 | 0.0 | |||||
| 1911 | 28.5 | 40.2 | 31.2 | 0.1 |
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Swedish general elections
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Elections for the European Parliament held in Sweden.
- European Parliament Election 2004
- European Parliament Election 1999
- European Parliament Election 1995 (Extra election)
- MEPs for Sweden 2004 - 2009
- MEPs for Sweden 1999 - 2004
- MEPs for Sweden 1995 - 1999
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It so happens that the words election and whale are homonyms in Swedish (the Swedish word being val), and because of that, every day of election, Göteborgs Naturhistoriska Museum (Gothenburg's nature-historic Museum) opens up their great whale (Malmska valen), into whom visitors may walk.
- Swedish Election Authority - Official site (English)
- Valmyndigheten - Official site (Swedish)
- Statistics Sweden: Elections 1910-2005 - Official site (Swedish)
- United States Department of State - Sweden (English)
- Adam Carr's Election Archive (English)
- Parties and Elections in Europe (English)
- European Democracies - Electoral Reform Society briefing (.pdf format) (English)