elections in sweden

Elections in Sweden gives information on election and election results in Sweden. Sweden elects on national level a legislature. The Diet (Riksdag) has 349 members, elected every four years by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. County Council and Municipal Council elections take place at the same time. There is a barrier rule intended to prevent very small parties from gaining representation in Parliament. A party must thus receive at least 4 percent of the votes in the entire country or 12 percent in a single electoral district to qualify for any seats. Every five years there is also an election to the European Parliament. Sweden has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

Riksdag elections

The unicameral parliament has 349 members, out of which 310 are elected on a proportional system in each of the 29 national electoral districts. The remaining 39 seats are awarded on a national basis to further secure a proportional representation. In the election the voter chooses between the different running parties. Each party is represented by a ballot listing their candidates. On the ballot the voter can indicate his or her preference for a particular candidate. Eligible to vote and stand for elections are Swedish Citizens who turn 18 years old no later than on the day of the election. A party must also pass a set limit of 4 percent nationally, or 12 percent in one of the 29 electoral districts, in order to be awarded seats in parliament. Elections are held on the third Sunday of September every four years. The next elections are due on September 17, 2006.

Election results

Election results in percent 1911-2002

Year	(v)	(s)	(mp)	(fp)	(c)	(m)	(kd)	Various	Others
2002	8.3	39.9	4.5	13.3	6.2	15.1	9.1	(nyd)	3.6
1998	12.0	36.4	4.5	4.7	5.1	22.9	11.8	0.2	2.4
1994	6.2	45.3	5.0	7.2	7.7	22.4	4.1	1.2	1.0
1991	4.5	37.6	3.4	9.1	8.5	21.9	7.1	6.7	1.2
1988	5.8	43.2	5.5	12.2	11.3	18.3	2.9		0.7
1985	5.4	44.7	1.5	14.2	10.1	21.3	2.3		0.5
1982	5.6	45.6	1.7	5.9	15.5	23.6	1.9		0.2
1979	5.6	43.2		10.6	18.1	20.3	1.4		0.8
1976	4.8	42.7		11.1	24.1	15.6	1.4		0.4
1973	5.3	43.6		9.4	25.1	14.3	1.8		0.6
1970	4.8	45.3		16.2	19.9	11.5	1.8		0.4
1968	3.0	50.1		14.3	15.7	12.9	1.5		2.6
1964	5.2	47.3		17.0	13.2	13.7	1.8		1.8
1960	4.5	47.8		17.5	13.6	16.5			0.1
1958	3.4	46.2		18.2	12.7	19.5			0.0
1956	5.0	44.6		23.8	9.4	17.1			0.1
1952	4.3	46.1		24.4	10.7	14.4			0.1
1948	6.3	46.1		22.8	12.4	12.3		(sp)	0.1
1944	10.3	46.7		12.9	13.6	15.9		0.2	0.4
1940	3.5	53.8		12.0	12.0	18.0		0.7	0.0
1936	3.3	45.9		12.9	14.3	17.6		4.4	1.6
1932	3.0	41.7		11.7	14.1	23.5		5.3	0.7
1928	6.4	37.0		15.9	11.2	29.4			0.1
1924	5.1	41.1		16.9	10.8	26.1		(ssv)	0.0
1921	4.6	36.2		19.1	11.1	25.8		3.2	0.0
1920	6.4	29.7		21.8	14.2	27.9			0.0
1917	8.1	31.1		27.6	8.5	24.7			0.0
1914		36.4		26.9	0.2	36.5			0.0
1914		30.1		32.2	0.0	37.7			0.0
1911		28.5		40.2		31.2			0.1

**Table Key**
(v) - Left Party, formerly Communist Party (s) - Social Democrat Party (mp) - Green Party (fp) - Liberal Party (c) - Centre Party, formerly Peasants League (m) - Moderate Party, formerly Right-wing Party (kd) - Christian Democrat Party	(nyd) - New Democracy (sp) - Socialist Party (ssv) - Social Democratic Left Party of Sweden