Elections in Sweden: voting rights and parties

In Sweden, the people choose their politicians in general elections. You vote for a party. You can also vote for one person in the party.

Which elections are there in Sweden?

There are four general elections. You elect:

• the Riksdag (riksdagen), the Swedish parliament;
• the regional council (regionfullmäktige), the region's elected assembly;
• the municipal council (kommunfullmäktige), the municipality's elected assembly;
• the European Parliament, the EU's elected assembly.

The first three elections take place on the same day every four years, in September. The European Parliament election is held every five years.

The Swedish Election Authority (Valmyndigheten) runs the elections. It is the government agency responsible for elections.

Who can vote in Sweden?

The right to vote is called rösträtt. In all elections you must be 18 or older on election day. Folkbokförd means that the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) lists you as living in Sweden, in the Swedish Population Register.

Election	Who can vote?
Riksdag	Swedish citizens who are, or once were, registered in Sweden.
Region and municipality	Swedish citizens. Citizens of other EU countries, Iceland and Norway. Citizens of other countries and people without citizenship. Both groups must have been registered in Sweden for three years in a row before election day. Everyone must be registered in the region or municipality of the election.
European Parliament	Swedish citizens who are, or once were, registered in Sweden. Citizens of other EU countries who are registered here. These EU citizens must also have signed up for the electoral roll (röstlängd) at least 30 days before election day. The roll is the list of voters.

Swedish citizens who have moved away from Sweden and are no longer registered here are called utlandssvenskar (Swedes abroad). They can vote in the Riksdag and European Parliament elections. They cannot vote in the municipal and regional elections.

Equal, free and secret elections

• Equal: every voter has one vote, and all votes count the same.
• Free: nobody may control how you vote. Voting is voluntary.
• Secret: nobody can demand that you tell them which party you chose.

How do you vote?

On election day you vote at your voting location (vallokal). Your voting card shows which voting location you belong to. You do not have to bring the card. But you must be able to show who you are, for example with an ID document.

Each election has a different colour of ballot paper:

Election	Colour of the ballot paper
Riksdag	Yellow
Region	Blue
Municipality	White
European Parliament	White

You must be alone behind a voting screen (valskärm) when you prepare your vote. For each election you put one ballot paper in an envelope. Do not fold the ballot paper. Seal the envelope.

The voting location has polling staff (röstmottagare), who receive the votes. If you have a disability or something similar, they can help you. You can also bring your own helper, but polling staff must always be present. They have a duty of secrecy, so they may not tell anyone what you voted for.

Personal votes and blank votes

You always vote for a party first. There are three kinds of ballot papers:

• Name ballot paper: the name of the party and a list of the party's candidates.
• Party ballot paper: only the name of the party.
• Blank ballot paper: a ballot paper with no print, where you write the party's name yourself.

For a personal vote (personröst), put a cross next to one candidate on a name ballot paper. You can also write the candidate's name on a party ballot paper. On a blank ballot paper, write the party and the candidate. If you mark nobody, your vote counts only for the party.

In the Riksdag election, personal votes can move a candidate up the list. This can happen with personal votes from at least 5 percent of the party's voters in the constituency.

Voting blank is something different. You put an empty ballot paper in the envelope. This vote is invalid and does not change how the seats are shared. The number of blank votes is still reported.

Early voting and other ways to vote

Voting before election day is called early voting (förtidsrösta). In the September elections, you can do this from 18 days before election day, anywhere in the country. Bring an ID document.

There are more ways to vote:

• By messenger: another person hands in your vote for you. This is for example for people who are ill, elderly or have a disability.
• From abroad: at many Swedish embassies and consulates, or by post.

How are the seats shared after the election?

A seat in the Riksdag or in a council is called a mandat. Sweden has a proportional voting system. Seats are shared according to the votes. A party with a quarter of the votes should get about a quarter of the seats.

The Riksdag has 349 seats. Of these, 310 are fixed constituency seats. They are given out in each constituency (valkrets), an area that elects members. The other 39 are adjustment seats. They make each party's share of the seats match the votes in the whole country as closely as possible.

The threshold (spärr) is the share of the votes a party must get to win seats:

Election	Threshold
Riksdag	4 percent of the votes in the whole country, or 12 percent in one constituency (then only seats there)
European Parliament	4 percent
Regional council	3 percent
Municipal council	3 percent if the municipality has several constituencies, otherwise 2 percent

More about the Riksdag: How Sweden is governed.

What do the parties do?

The parties make lists of candidates for the elections and send them to the Swedish Election Authority. A candidate must be allowed to vote in the election and agree to be on the list.

A party can register its name and symbol with the Swedish Election Authority. No other party may then use a similar name. The application needs signatures from voters: 1,500 for the Riksdag, 100 for a region and 50 for a municipality. A party that already has seats in the assembly needs no signatures. Only a registered party can have a closed list (låst lista). Then you can only vote for the candidates that the party has registered.

In the Riksdag, members of one party form a party group, led by a group leader. The groups usually meet on Tuesdays to discuss what the party thinks about different issues. Members mostly vote as the party does, but they may vote as they wish.

How many people vote in Sweden?

Turnout (valdeltagande) is the share of eligible voters who vote. In the 2026 Riksdag election, turnout was 84.9 percent. In total, 6,834,413 people voted.

More about the test: what the citizenship test contains.

Words to know

Word	Meaning
Rösträtt	The right to vote
Folkbokförd	Registered as living in Sweden
Valsedel	Ballot paper
Personröst	A vote for one candidate
Förtidsrösta	To vote early
Mandat	A seat in the Riksdag or a council
Valkrets	An area, often a county, that elects members
Spärr	The smallest share of votes needed to win seats
Valdeltagande	The share of eligible voters who vote