Published: 9 September 2026
Find answers to frequently asked questions about elections, voting, results, political parties and the Swedish Election Authority. If you cannot find the answer, contact us.
Answers to frequently asked questions about voting cards and the right to vote.
You will get your voting card when early voting starts at the latest. That’s 18 days before election day. If you have a digital mailbox, you will receive your voting card digitally. If you don’t have a digital mailbox, we will send your voting card to you on paper by post.
If you’re a Swedish citizen living abroad, you will receive your voting card earlier. At the latest 50 days before election day.
A digital voting card is the same type of voting card as the paper version, but we send it to your digital mailbox rather than by post.
They both include the same details – such as the elections in which you have the right to vote, and where and when you can vote.
No. you don’t need to bring your voting card with you. This applies whether you vote early or on election day. You only need to show your ID such as your ID card, driving licence or passport.
Yes. To be eligible to vote, you must be at least 18 years old on election day.
No. Individuals who have a coordination number are not eligible to vote in Swedish elections.
Population registration in Sweden is the basis for the right to vote in Sweden. You must either be currently listed in the Swedish Population Register, or have been at some point. Everyone who is listed is given a personal identity number, which you need in order to vote.
You can find out more about coordination numbers and personal identity numbers on the Swedish Tax Agency’s website, skatteverket.se.
As a Swedish citizen living abroad (if you’ve emigrated), you can vote in elections to the Riksdag. However, you need to register every 10 years to remain on the electoral roll, and in order for your vote to be counted.
If you’re living abroad on a temporary basis only, and are still listed in the Swedish Population Register, you have the right to vote, just as if you were in Sweden.
All voters who have registered a digital mailbox, and have agreed to receive mail from government agencies, will receive their voting card digitally.
This will happen automatically, so you don’t need to do anything.
If you haven’t received your voting card, you can order one from your municipality or the Swedish Election Authority.
You don’t need to bring your voting card with you in order to vote. You can just show your ID such as your Swedish passport, or your Swedish or local ID card.
Yes, the electoral roll is accessible to the public. Each municipality maintains an electoral roll. In order to be granted access to a particular electoral roll, you must contact the municipality in question.
A voting card is sent to everyone who has the right to vote. Your voting card includes details of the elections in which you have the right to vote. It also includes the address of your assigned voting location and its opening times. You don’t need your voting card to vote. You only need ID, so you should bring your ID card, driving licence or passport with you.
No, you don’t need to show any type of voting card in order to vote. You only need to bring your ID with you (your ID card, driving licence or passport).
If you have a Swedish digital mailbox, but you would like to receive a voting card on paper anyway, you have the following two options to choose from:
Please do this as early as possible before 30 days before election day, which is when the Swedish Election Authority establishes people’s right to vote. If you pause mail delivery from the Swedish Election Authority as a sender before this date, you will receive your voting card on paper by post.
Yes. Your digital mailbox is a secure service for mail from government agencies. To view your digital voting card, you must log in to your digital mailbox using your Swedish BankID. You are therefore the only person who can view it.
If you stop mail from government agencies being sent to your digital mailbox, you will receive your voting card on paper for the next election. This change will continue to apply unless you reactivate your service for mail from government agencies.
If you’re a Swedish citizen living abroad and you’ve emigrated from Sweden, you’ll receive an international voting card on paper with your postal voting materials, which we will send to your registered address abroad.
If you have a Swedish digital mailbox, you will also receive a digital international voting card.
Answers to frequently asked questions about when and where you can vote early.
You can vote early at any early voting location in Sweden 18 days before election day up to and including election day.
We will publish a list of all early voting locations in Sweden as the next election approaches.
You need to bring ID such as your ID card, driving licence or passport. If you do not have any ID, another person who has ID can confirm your identity.
Your vote will be sent to your local voting location. It will be counted after the voting location closes on election day.
Yes. You can vote again at your local voting location on election day. Only your most recent vote will be counted.
No, your voting card is not required.
Answers to frequently asked questions about voting on election day, the voting location, and how you can get help with voting if you need it.
Details of your assigned voting location are shown on your voting card. The name and address of the voting location are stated here.
Your assigned voting location is determined according to which electoral district you belong to. It is determined geographically, based on your home address and the way in which your municipality has chosen to divide up the electoral districts.
Alternatively, you can search for voting location details on val.se closer to the elections.
No. You can only vote at the voting location that’s shown on your voting card.
However, you can vote at an early voting location if you’re away from home – even on election day. At least one early voting location is open in each municipality on election day.
Assigned voting locations are only open on election day. All assigned voting locations are open between 08.00 and 20.00.
Yes, you can vote even if you’re away from home on election day. You can go to any early voting location in Sweden. On election day, at least one early voting location is open in each municipality.
Please keep in mind that significantly fewer early voting locations are open on election day than before that date. You might therefore need to travel further if you wish to vote on election day, depending on where you’re situated.
If you know that you’ll be away from home, it’s best to vote early.
Answers to frequently asked questions about voting from abroad.
Anyone who has the right to vote in Sweden and is out of the country during the election period.
Yes, anyone who has the right to vote can send a postal vote from abroad. Please note: the postal vote must be sent from abroad. It must not be posted in Sweden because that would make it invalid.
It will not be counted.
No. Your voting card is not required. However, if it’s included in the cover window envelope for postal voting, it will make your vote easier to process.
45 days before election day.
Your vote is processed by the municipality in which you were registered most recently. A note will be made of it in the electoral roll there.
In order to check whether your vote has arrived and been counted, you need to request access to the electoral roll for the electoral district in question.
When you vote by post, two witnesses must be present and watch you prepare your vote. This rule is stated in the Swedish Elections Act. It’s a way of making the postal voting process as secure as possible, and similar to voting at a voting location.
Your witnesses do not need to be Swedish citizens and are not required to speak Swedish. But they must write their personal data and signatures on the outer envelope.
When you vote by post, your personal data is separated from your ballot envelopes before your votes are counted.
The ballot envelopes are placed in the ballot boxes together with the other votes, so it’s not possible to see who has voted for each party.
No. Your postal vote is sent to the municipality in which you were registered most recently. If there are several votes from you at the vote count, they will all be rejected.
The only way to withdraw your vote is to vote at your assigned voting location in Sweden on election day.
Early voting abroad takes place from 24 days before election day at the earliest. Each Swedish embassy or consulate has its own opening times.
No. You can’t vote abroad on election day.
Before an election, we publish a list on val.se of embassies and consulates where you can vote.
The embassies’ own websites provide more detailed information about opening days and hours.
If you are a Swedish citizen living abroad and you have a Swedish digital mailbox, you will receive an international voting card. But you will also receive an international voting card on paper. In order for you to receive materials by post from us, your current address details must be registered with the Swedish Tax Agency.
If you are listed in the Swedish Population Register and you have a Swedish digital mailbox, your voting card will be sent to you digitally.
If you have not registered for a Swedish digital mailbox, your voting card will be sent to you on paper (as for previous elections) if you have the right to vote.
You can use your Swedish passport, or your Swedish or local ID card. If you do not have any ID, another person can confirm your identity. They must be over 18 years old and must have their own ID with them.
If you can’t get to an early voting location, you can send a postal vote from abroad instead.
Early votes from abroad must be received in time to be counted. The polling staff are responsible for ensuring that your vote is sent to Sweden. However, if you vote towards the end of the voting period, your vote may arrive late due to the postal delivery time. You should therefore vote as early as possible.
Yes, if you're listed in the Swedish Population Register. You can then vote in the elections to the Riksdag and regional and municipal councils. You can also vote in the elections to the European Parliament.
If you’re a Swedish citizen living abroad and you’ve emigrated from Sweden, you can vote in the elections to the Riksdag and the European Parliament.
Voting cards are used when voting at Swedish embassies and consulates abroad. If you haven't received your voting card, the polling staff member can help you print one at the voting location.
Answers to frequently asked questions about the assistance you can get with voting if you have a disability, voting by messenger, and getting help from the polling staff.
Yes. You can ask the polling staff for help at the voting location. We will publish a list of voting locations in June. You can then check for details about accessibility.
If you are unable to get to a voting location, you can vote from home.
You can’t vote on a relative’s behalf, but you can help them to vote by messenger. This means that you can be their messenger and bring their vote to their assigned voting location or an early voting location.
Special materials and a witness are required in order to vote by messenger.
Find out more about how your relative can get help with voting from home:
A personal assistant or someone else can accompany you if you need support. But if you need assistance at the voting booth or at the ballot paper display rack, a member of the polling staff must also be present. Polling staff have a duty of secrecy.
Answers to frequently asked questions about how votes are counted, who counts them, and how the election results are produced.
The preliminary results of elections are published on val.se on election night. The results are then updated as municipal election committees count votes that did not arrive in time for election day.
The final results are usually ready the weekend after election day, once the County Administrative Boards have completed the final vote count.
Preliminary results come from the vote count at voting locations on election day and the collection count carried out by the municipal election committee on the Wednesday after the election. This includes late early votes.
Final results are compiled by the County Administrative Boards. They recount all votes, including personal votes, and assess whether votes are valid or invalid. The final result is the official result once it has been decided by the Swedish Election Authority.
On val.se, you can view results for the whole country, each region and each municipality. In the election presentations, select the type of election – Riksdag, regional, municipal or European Parliament– and then choose the region or municipality you want to view.
The full result presentation is available in Swedish.
The vote count continues after election night. Late early votes and votes from abroad are counted, and all votes are checked.
This may result in slight changes to parties’ vote shares and seat allocation before the final results are ready.
On val.se, election results are available in table format for all elections. You can download the results in Excel format or as open data.
Data is also available on the number of votes per party, per electoral district and for personal votes.
Yes. Results from previous elections are available on val.se. You can compare how support for political parties has changed between election years, both nationally and locally.
The preliminary results are published on val.se on election night. No results may be published until all voting locations across the EU have closed. This is usually at 11 p.m.
The final result is decided around one week after election day, once the County Administrative Boards have completed the vote count.
On val.se, you can see how votes are distributed between parties across the country. You can also download tables with statistics and raw data from the vote count.
Sweden has 21 seats in the European Parliament. The number of members each party receives depends on how many votes it wins in the election.
Yes. Results from previous European Parliament elections are available on val.se, including statistics on votes, seats and personal votes for each election year.
Seats are allocated proportionally – the more votes a party receives, the more seats it receives.
The method used is the modified Sainte-Laguë method.
On election night, polling staff count the votes at voting locations as a preliminary count. Municipal election committees then carry out a preliminary collection count on the Wednesday after election day.
The County Administrative Boards carry out the final vote count, and the Swdish Election Authority decides and publishes the final result.
Answers to frequently asked questions about us and what we do.
The Swedish Election Authority is responsible for ensuring that elections and referendums in Sweden are conducted securely, correctly and in an accessible way.
We coordinate the entire election organisation and produce the election materials used across the country.
Yes, the Election Authority is a government agency.
We work together with County Administrative Boards, municipalities and other authorities before and during elections.
The Swedish Election Authority has overall responsibility for ensuring that general elections function across the country.
Municipalities are responsible for vote reception, and the County Administrative Boards are responsible for the final vote count.
The Election Authority works with County Administrative Boards, the Swedish Tax Agency and municipalities. Together, we ensure that elections are conducted safely and in accordance with the law.
In matters relating to preparedness and security, we also work closely with the Police, the Swedish Security Service, the Psychological Defence Agency and the Swedish Civil Defence and Resiliance Agency.
We also work with the Agency for Digital Government (Digg) to deliver digital services, including digital voting cards for the 2026 elections.
You can contact the Election Authority via our email form or by telephone.
You can also find answers to frequently asked questions about voting and election results on val.se.
