Published: 30 March 2021

Advance voting

Advance voting means that you cast your vote in a different location than your polling station. You can vote early in your own municipality or in another municipality.

Advance voting starts approximately three weeks before election day and continues up to and including election day.

In order to vote early, you must bring your voting card and identity document.

How to vote in advance in an election to the Riksdag, municipal and region assemblies

  1. Choose your ballot papers.
  2. Take vote envelopes.
  3. Step behind a voting screen and prepare your vote. Place an ‘x’ next to a candidate named on the ballot paper if you wish to cast a personal vote.Then, insert a ballot paper into each respective vote envelope and seal the envelope.

    If you do not see your party’s ballot paper, take a blank ballot paper and write your party’s name on it. You can also cast a personal vote by writing your party name and the name of the candidate you wish to vote for. If you have a party ballot paper, you may write your candidate’s name on it.
  4. Give your vote envelope, your voting card, and your identity document to the voting clerk.
  5. The voting clerk checks your identity and makes a note that you have voted.
  6. Then, the voting clerk places the vote envelope and the voting card in a window envelope. The window envelope is sealed and placed in a collection box.

How to vote in advance in an election to the European Parliament

  1. Choose your ballot papers.
  2. Take a vote envelope.
  3. Step behind a voting screen and prepare your vote. Place an ‘x’ next to a candidate named on the ballot paper if you wish to cast a personal vote.Then, insert the ballot paper into the vote envelope and seal it.

    If you do not see your party’s ballot paper, take a blank ballot paper and write your party’s name on it. You can also cast a personal vote by writing your party name and the name of the candidate you wish to vote for.
  4. Give your vote envelope, your voting card, and your identity document to the voting clerk.
  5. The voting clerk checks your identity and makes a note that you have voted.
  6. Then, the voting clerk places the vote envelope and the voting card in a window envelope. The window envelope is sealed and placed in a collection box.

Your voting card and vote envelope will be sent to your polling station

In a voting place for advance voting, there is no electoral roll to check off that you have voted. Therefore, your vote envelope(s) are sent to your polling station on election day, along with your voting card.

At your polling station, it will be marked in the electoral roll that you have voted, and your voting card will be separated from your vote envelope. This means that your vote envelope(s) cannot be traced to your voting card when the votes are counted.