OBSERVATION MISSION

The Swedish General Elections September 9, 2018 – Observations and Recommendations

86 observers collected data from 422 out of 563 polling stations in Stockholm on Election Day. The total number of people enrolled in these polling stations was 564 870, which is 76% of the Stockholm voters. The polling stations were visited in groups of two, and each polling station was observed for approximately 20 minutes.

The observers came from Sweden, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Russia, the Netherlands and Georgia. Participants wore badges with their name and the text “Election Observer”. This report contains the group’s recommendations and observations.

The short-term objective of election observation mission is to alert authorities and the public about possible fraud and shortcomings in the electoral system, and to suggest measures to deal with those shortcomings. The long-term objective of electoral observation is to improve the electoral systems and thus citizens’ confidence in democracy.

Observers find that the elections were carried out in a democratic manner, and wish to congratulate Sweden for a successfully conducted election. However, observers noted some important shortcomings as specified in the recommendations in this report. The greatest concern is the lack of secrecy of the vote.

The findings of the observation mission were compiled by Alesia Rudnik, Carl Hedman, Max Valentin, Per Olsson, Azat Gabdulvaleev and Amanda Valentin, Silc. The recommendations where agreed on the 10th of September by the collective of observers.

En webbversion av rapporten finns att läsa här: