Voting at a voting location in Sweden as a Swedish citizen living abroad

Published: 10 June 2026

If you’ve emigrated from Sweden and you’re still on the electoral roll, you can vote at your assigned voting location on election day, 13 September 2026. Here’s a step-by-step guide to voting at your assigned voting location.

Date and opening times: when you vote on election daye

If you’re still on the electoral roll, you can vote in Sweden in the elections to the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) on election day, 13 September. Your assigned voting location is open between 08.00 and 20.00.

Here’s where you can vote in Sweden on election day

You can vote at your assigned voting location in Sweden. Contact the Swedish Election Authority to find out which is your assigned voting location.

Here’s what you need to bring with you

You need to bring ID such as your ID card, driving licence or passport.
You don’t need to bring your voting card with you.

Voting requirements for Swedish citizens living abroad

As a Swedish citizen living abroad, you can vote in the elections to the Riksdag if you:

  • are a Swedish citizen and have been listed in the Swedish Population Register at some point
  • have emigrated from Sweden.

You’re not considered to be a Swedish citizen living abroad if you’re:

  • studying, travelling, or on an assignment for work, but are still registered as living in Sweden.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to how to vote at a voting location in Sweden in the elections to the Riksdag as a Swedish citizen living abroad

If you’re a Swedish citizen living abroad, and you’re in Sweden on election day (13 September) and want to vote at a voting location, please use this guide.

Find out which voting location you can vote at

Your assigned voting location is stated on your international voting card. If you haven’t received an international voting card, you’re welcome to contact the Swedish Election Authority.

Choose your ballot paper alone

Ballot papers are displayed on a rack in a screened-off area at the voting location.

Take a yellow ballot paper for the elections to the Riksdag.

If you cannot find a ballot paper for the party for which you want to vote, select a blank yellow ballot paper. Write the name of the party on the blank ballot paper. If you want to vote for a specific candidate, you can write their name too.

Take a ballot envelope

When you’ve selected your ballot paper, a member of the polling staff will give you a ballot envelope. Alternatively, there will be envelopes on display, so you can take one yourself.

Go to an empty voting booth alone

You must be alone when you prepare your vote so that nobody can see or influence how you vote.

If you need assistance, a member of the polling staff can go to the voting booth with you. They have a duty of secrecy.

Prepare your vote

You prepare your vote at the voting booth.

Voting for a specific candidate as well as a party

If you want to vote for a specific candidate, you can choose one of the following options:

  • Put an “x” in the box by the name of that candidate.
  • Write that candidate’s name on a ballot paper on which only the name of a party is printed.
  • Write the names of a party and a candidate on a blank ballot paper.

You can only vote for one candidate.

If you only want to vote for a party, choose one of the following options:

  • Don’t put an “x” in a box by the name of a candidate on the ballot paper.
  • Use a ballot paper on which only the name of a party is printed.
  • Only write the name of a party on a blank ballot paper.

Put your ballot paper in the envelope

Put your ballot paper in the ballot envelope. Do this carefully, ensuring that there is only one ballot paper inside.

Close the envelope by tucking the flap down or sealing it.

Give the ballot envelope and your ID to a polling staff member

Give your closed ballot envelope to a member of the polling staff, and show them your ID.

There are various ways to prove your identity:

  • you can show your ID (ID card, driving licence, passport)
  • a polling staff member who knows you can confirm your identity
  • someone else who is at least 18 years old can confirm your identity (they must show their ID)

A member of the polling staff takes your ballot envelope, checks it, and verifies your identity.

The polling staff member places your vote in the ballot box

The polling staff member verifies your identity, checks your ballot envelope, makes a note on the electoral roll that you have voted, and then places your vote in the ballot box.

Now you have voted!

Film: Here’s how to vote at your assigned voting location

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Voting on election day

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Assistance with voting

You can be assisted in various ways when voting:

  • Assistance will be available to you if you need it, both outside and inside the voting location.
  • If it’s difficult for you to get to a voting location – for example, due to disability, illness or old age – you can get help with voting where you’re situated. The same applies if you’ve been admitted to hospital, a pretrial detention centre or a correctional institution.

Find out more about the various options available under “Assistance with voting” on this website.

Assistance with voting

Are you no longer on the electoral roll?

If you’re a Swedish citizen living abroad, and you’re no longer on the electoral roll, you can’t vote at a local voting location on election day. You can do this instead:

  • Vote at an early voting location (you can even do this on election day, which is a new option introduced for the 2026 elections). Your vote will also count as a request to be added to the electoral roll for elections over the next 10 years.

Voting early as a Swedish citizen living abroad

Other ways to get on the electoral roll

You can also get on the electoral roll in one of the following ways:

  • You can vote from abroad, either by post or at a Swedish embassy or consulate. You will then be added to the electoral roll. Your vote will be counted in the elections to the Riksdag if it reaches the Swedish Election Authority no later than the day before election day (12 September). Voting from abroad
  • Register your new address, and register to vote for the next 10-year period, regardless of whether or not the previous 10-year period has ended. You do this by filling in registration form SKV 7842, “New address/electoral roll for emigrants” (“Ny adress/röstlängd för utvandrad”). This form must be received by the Swedish Tax Agency no later than 30 days before election day. That’s 14 August at the latest for the 2026 elections to the Riksdag. Electoral roll registration form on the Swedish Tax Agency’s website.
    The registration form anmälan till röstlängden på Skatteverkets webbplats (in Swedish)

If you’re still on the electoral rol

If you’re still on the electoral roll, you can only register to vote for a new 10-year period by:

If you vote in elections while you’re still on the electoral roll (i.e., your current 10-year voter eligibility period has already started), your vote will be counted in those elections. However, it will not count as a registration to vote for a new 10-year voter eligibility period. In other words, you will be removed from the electoral roll when your current 10-year voter eligibility period ends, regardless of whether or not you vote in elections during this period. Electoral roll registration form on the Swedish Tax Agency’s website. The registration form anmälan till röstlängden på Skatteverkets webbplats (in Swedish)

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