Suffrage and electoral rolls

The right to vote in elections

- to the Riksdag

The right to vote in elections to the Riksdag and the European Parliament is possessed by Swedish citizens who attain the age of 18 years not later than on election day and who are or at some time have been registered residents in Sweden.

- to the European Parliament

The right to vote in elections to the European Parliament is possessed by Swedish citizens who attain the age of 18 years not later than on election day and who are or at some time have been registered residents in Sweden. The right to vote is also possessed by citizens of other member states of the European Union (citizens of the union) who attain the age of 18 years not later than on election day. It is a precondition that they must be registered residents in Sweden and that they must hand in a notification to be listed on the electoral roll. They may not then vote in any other member state.

- to county council assemblies and municipal assemblies

The right to vote in elections to county council assemblies and municipal assemblies is possessed by Swedish citizens who attain the age of 18 years not later than on election day and who are registered for population purposes within the county council area or municipality concerned. Citizens of the Union and citizens of Iceland and Norway also have the right to vote subject to the same conditions. Other foreign citizens have the right to vote if they have been registered residents in Sweden for a continuous period of three years before election day.

Who is eligible?

A person who has the right to vote is also eligible for election.

Electoral roll

To be allowed to vote, a person must be on an electoral roll. An electoral roll is drawn up for each electoral district and used in the polling stations.

The electoral roll is compiled 30 days before each election and contains only those persons who have the right to vote in the election concerned. When more than one election is held at the same time the electoral roll is common for all elections. It is the particulars in the population registration database of the Swedish Tax Agency that determine who has the right to vote and where. This means that voters resident in Sweden are entered as entitled to vote in the electoral district where they were registered residents 30 days before election day.

Voting cards are sent to all voters

All persons included on the electoral roll receive a voting card by mail. When advance voting begins 18 days before the election, the voting card should have reached all voters. The voting card contains the address and hours of opening of the voter’s polling station, the name of the electoral district