There are elections in Sweden every four years. There are 349 seats up for grabs in the national parliament (Riksdag) and registered voters will also choose the next politicians to make up 21 county councils and 290 municipal assemblies. You have to be a Swedish citizen aged 18 or over to vote in national elections. But if you’re from the EU, Iceland or Norway and you’re registered as living in Sweden, then you can have a say in municipal and county council elections. People from outside Europe who have been in Sweden for more than three years may also be allowed to vote locally. In total around seven million people are eligible to go to the polls.
If you’re allowed to vote, you should get a voting card in the post, giving you the details of your nearest polling station. Don’t forget to take along your ID. Some municipal buildings and libraries allow you to vote in advance. Swedes living abroad can vote by post. If you’re sick, disabled or elderly, you can send someone else to vote for you.
Sweden uses multi-coloured ballot papers. Yellow is for the Riksdag election, white is for municipal elections and blue is for county council elections.
Once you’ve worked out what colour you need, you can then choose from three different types of ballot paper. One allows you to pick from a list of candidates, another simply identifies the party you want to select and the third is blank for you to write down your preference in your own words.
Full Article: Sweden elections: How do they work? – The Local.
