Editing Elections in Sweden (section)

===Voting===
[[File:Ballot-distribution-swedish-election-1936.jpg|thumb|A typical feature of Swedish elections is the handing out of party ballot papers by activists of the different parties outside polling stations on election day. Photo from the [[1936 Swedish general election|1936 election]].]]
[[File:Swedish election ballots 2014.jpg|thumb|Swedish polling station with an assortment of ballots for different parties.]]
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 list]]s 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.{{sfn|Cox|1997|p=61}} A single preference vote may be indicated as well.{{sfn|Elections|p=12}}

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 name followed by a list of candidates (which can continue on the other side). A voter using this ballot can choose (but is not required) to cast a personal vote by entering a mark next to a particular candidate, in addition to voting for their political party. Alternatively, a voter can take a ''blank ballot paper'' and write a party name on it.{{sfn|Elections|p=7}} Finally, if a party has not registered its candidates with the election authority, it is possible for a voter to manually write the name of an arbitrary candidate. In reality, this option is almost exclusively available when voting for unestablished parties. However, it has occasionally caused individuals to be elected into the city council to represent parties they do not even support as a result of a single voter's vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nyheter24.se/nyheter/politik/729889-jimmy-akesson-kan-tvingas-representera-sd|title=Jimmy Åkesson kan tvingas representera SD|date=25 October 2012}}</ref>

The municipalities and the national election authority have the responsibility to organise the elections. On the election day, voting takes place in a municipal building such as a school. It is possible to do [[early voting]], also in a municipal building which is available in day time, such as a library. Early voting can be performed anywhere in Sweden, not just in the home municipality.

Long-standing Swedish election policy of always displaying the ballot papers for voters to select in public has been criticised as undemocratic and is arguably in contravention of Protocol 1, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights ([[European Convention on Human Rights|ECHR]]) which stipulates that elections must be ''free'' and ''by secret ballot''. There has been a common practice of masking by selecting multiple ballot papers. In 2014, a German citizen, Christian Dworeck, reported the lack of secrecy to the European Commission<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=3993&artikel=6131583 |title=EU-kommissionen kräver svar om Sveriges val är hemliga nog |last=Radio |first=Sveriges |website=sverigesradio.se |date=2 April 2015 |language=sv |trans-title=EU Commission questions Sweden on the insufficient secrecy of its voting system |access-date=2020-02-08}}</ref> and from 2019 ballot papers are selected behind a screen.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=110&artikel=7214917 |title=Skärmar införs i EU valet – EU-valet 2019 |last=Radio |first=Sveriges |website=sverigesradio.se |date=11 May 2019 |language=sv |trans-title=Screens introduced in the EU election |access-date=2019-06-05}}</ref> This measure has now been implemented in Swedish parliamentary and local elections as was seen in the Swedish General Election of 2022 (a picture can be seen in the linked reference).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Michael |date=2022-08-01 |title=Concern potential election day queues may affect voter turnout |language=en |work=Sveriges Radio |url=https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/concern-potential-election-day-queues-may-affect-voter-turnout |access-date=2022-09-15}}</ref>