Published: 25 April 2023
Public access and election observation
All vote reception and vote counting is open to public scrutiny. Read on to find out what that means.
Any member of the public is allowed to come and observe how vote reception and vote counting are carried out. However, vote reception and vote counting must not be disrupted.
Poll clerks are responsible for maintaining order at voting locations. Anyone who is in the voting location or in an adjacent area must comply with the instructions given by the poll clerks in order for vote reception to be carried out.
Public access applies to:
- vote reception in advance voting locations
- vote reception in polling stations on election day
- vote counting in polling stations on election night
- preliminary vote counting by municipal election committees on the Wednesday and Thursday after election day
- vote counting by county administrative boards
Election observation in Sweden
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional forum with 57 participating states.
Facts about OSCE 
External link.
Election observation has been carried out by the OSCE in Sweden as follows:
OSCE report on the 2009 European Parliament elections External link.
Election observation in other countries
The Folke Bernadotte Academy is a Swedish public authority that recruits, trains and deploys Swedish personnel to take part in international election observation missions worldwide on behalf of the EU and the OSCE.