by Helena Brogren
The Swedish EMB is best described as a decentralised institution divided into three levels that are separate from each other – central, regional and local. The structure of electoral administration corresponds to the structure of institutions of governance in Sweden in general.
Institutional structure
Sweden has a decentralised electoral management system. The three different levels of EMBs each have their tasks and responsibilities.
In each of the 290 municipalities there is an election committee (valnämnd) which is the local EMB. The local EMB is responsible for recruiting and training polling station officials, for setting up and equipping polling stations and for the first count of votes which takes place in the polling stations.
The regional EMB, the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen), is responsible for the final counting of votes from the whole region, which takes place at counting centres. The regional EMB is also responsible for the declaration of the results of elections to the county councils and municipal assemblies, and administrates party orders of ballot papers. There are 21 regional EMBs.
The Election Authority (Valmyndigheten) is the central EMB. The overall objective of the central EMB is to plan and coordinate elections and national referendums. The central EMB has a range of responsibilities, including the (voluntary) registration of political parties’ names, deciding the number of parliamentary seats in each constituency, and to declare the results of elections for the national Parliament (the Riksdag) and the European Parliament. It is also responsible for the preparation of electoral rolls, voting cards, ballot papers, and other electoral materials. The central EMB develops and provides IT support to the computerised part of the electoral system and informs the public of when, where and how voting will take place.
The tasks carried out by the local or regional EMBs are not supervised by the central EMB, but are laid down in the Elections Act and its associated regulations.
The indigenous people of Sweden, the Sami, elect members to their own regional parliament. These elections are managed by one of the regional EMBs, together with the central EMB and the staff of the Sami authority, as specified in the law governing the Sami Parliament.
Historical Background
During the first half of the 20th century, elections were administered by local and regional
authorities under the supervision of the Ministry for Internal Affairs. Very few staff worked
with electoral administration, and most of them also had other responsibilities. The civil
register, which still provides the basis of the electoral register, was produced by the Board
for Civil Registration and Tax Collection (Centrala Folkbokföring och Uppbördsnämnden).
When the National Tax Agency (Skatteverket) was set up and took over responsibility for the civil register in 1971, it was practical to centralize electoral management at the same time. This was reinforced by a change in the electoral system, introducing adjustment seats in parliamentary elections, and therefore making it difficult for regional authorities to perform the distribution of seats for the national Parliament.
After almost 30 years as a small office incorporated within the National Tax Agency, at
the end of the 1990s the Electoral Office initiated discussions aiming at changing the central electoral management structure. Three main reasons for the proposed change were cited. First, the Electoral Office was working under the rules of the National Tax Agency, and was not able to work with the freedom, speed and versatility that its work demanded. Second, with the development and increased use of new and Internet-based technology, the Electoral Office identified the need to establish its own lines of communication. Third, it was argued that the issues involved in managing elections are of such a different and particular character that they should be managed by a separate body.
The central electoral management structure of Sweden was changed by the Swedish Parliament in January 2001. The new central EMB (Election Authority) was in place and fully functional by July 2001, as a compliment to regional and local EMBs, and the first election to take place under the new EMB structure was the general elections of 2002.
The Election Authority established on 1 July 2001 and replaced the National Tax Board as the state agency in charge of elections.
The Legislative Framework
There are no provisions for EMBs in the constitution. They are, however, mentioned in the Elections Act (Vallag 2005:837, chapter 3, sections 1, 2 and 3), which specifies that there shall be a central EMB, regional EMBs and local EMBs. It does not specify whether these bodies should be independent, or affiliated to any other authority or institution.
The constitution outlines general principles of equal and universal suffrage, of periodic
elections, electoral districts, the Election Review Board and the electoral system. The Elections Act specifies the tasks of:
- the local, regional and central EMBs;
- the polling station officials; and
- the Election Review Board.
The Elections Act also specifies in detail the division of tasks between the EMBs, and defines provisions relating to:
- electoral districts and boundary delimitation;
- procedures regarding the registration of political parties and candidates;
- the production and design of ballot papers;
- procedures for voting, including advance voting and absentee voting;
- vote counting and distribution of seats;
- how new members and substitutes are appointed if members or substitutes resign during the period of the election;
- how to appeal against election results;
- voting rights for European Parliament and special rules applicable for elections to the European Parliament. Sweden has incorporated those rules and regulations laid down for elections to the European Parliament in European Union legal instruments into its Elections Act.
Provisions concerning suffrage and eligibility for local and regional elections are stipulated in the Swedish Local Government Act.
The Sami Parliament Act and the Act on Local Referenda regulate the role and responsibilities of EMBs for elections to the Sami Parliament and local and regional referenda.
Financing and accountability
The central EMB is financed through the state budget.
The regional EMB receives its funding from two sources: its own general budget as the County Administrative Board, which covers permanent costs such as staff and premises, and the budget of the central EMB, which covers specific additional costs that relate to elections.
The funding of the local EMBs is provided from two sources: from the municipalities own budget for all voting tasks except advance voting and through a government grant for their duties regarding advance voting within the boundaries of the municipality. The central EMB has the task to provide this grant to the local EMBs.
The cost of meeting high technical standards is reflected in EMB budgets. The local and regional EMBs form part of existing administrations, the central EMB is established with the status of a separate authority, and adequate resources appear to be assured.
The central EMB is not fully institutionally independent from the executive branch of government. The Election Authority is required to keep records and prepares and submits annual reports and budget to the government. In some cases the central EMB is expected to consult with the Minitrsy of Justice. The public administration in Sweden is structured so that all statutory authorities fall within the area of work of a government ministry, even though they may not be subject to direct supervision. The major channel of the relationship with the ministry lies in the submission of the annual report, which in turns forms the basis of financial review by the State Auditors (Riksrevisionen). The central EMB is independent in its application of law. The central EMB does not establish government policy.
On its own initiative the central EMB compiles a report after each election on its experience with suggestions for improvement. The report is submitted to the Government and published on the Election Authority website. The central EMB regularly carries out internal development projects in order to make operations more efficient and less vulnerable.
The local EMB is accountable to the board of the municipality, which is an elected body.
The framework of Swedish election contains no explicit provisions on access for election observers. Election observers can, however, access and monitor the electoral process under the general rules that apply to the transparency of the election. The electoral law includes specific provisions to ensure transparency and openness during the voting, the counting process and the announcement of results. All these processes are public. There are also a number of rules that regulate the handling of personal data. The regulations apply to all levels of EMBs.
The responsibility for electoral justice processes
The right to appeal a Riksdag election to the Election Review Board is outlined in the Instrument of Government. The same constitution also states that decisions of the Elections Review Board can not be appealed. The process of appealing is further regulated in the Elections Act.
The EMB which has taken a decision that is appealed, must receive the appeal and send it to the Election Review Board. Decisions that can be appealed include for example decisions to determine the outcome of an election and of rectification of an electoral roll.
The deciding authority shall expeditiously express its views on appeals to the Election Review Board. EMBs and others who assisted in connection with the election shall provide the Election Review Board with the information and statements requested by the Board.
The composition and appointment methods of members of the EMBs
The administrative director of the central EMB is appointed by the government. The central EMB is a small organization with 15 full-time employees. The Election Authority is governed by a Board consisting of a chairman and four members. The Government appoints the Election Authority Board for a specific time period. The appointments are non-political.
The administrative director in turn employs other officials of the central EMB based on merit and competence.
At local level, local EMBs are appointed after each municipal election. The local EMBs are in turn responsible for recruiting officials for the polling stations and advance voting places.
At regional level, between one and three members of staff are responsible for managing elections, and have other tasks within the County Administrative Boards during other times. As the regional EMBs are responsible for the final counting of votes, they recruit additional temporary staff for this purpose.
The members of the Election Review Board is appointed by Parliament immediately after an election.
The Professionalism of Electoral Officers
There are no official education programmes or courses in electoral administration in Sweden. The training in electoral matters provided to staff members is designed internally within the election administration. The central EMB provides training for staff of regional EMBs and produces manuals and other training material for regional and local EMB to use in their training of election staff.
There are provisions in the Penal Code concerning questions of integrity. The provisions concern, for exampel, bribery and improper rewards before, during or after employment.
The Parliamentary Ombudsmen has the right to investigate public complaints made against acts done by staff of all government employees.
The Principle of Public Access permits anyone to get access to all official documents held by public authorities, including EMBs. The right of access to official documents can only be limited by confidentiality when such limitations protect vital interests.
Relations with the media
The Elections Act does not regulate parties' election campaigns or EMBs contacts with media. EMBs are not responsible in any way to control parties' participation in media or media reporting on elections.
The central and local EMBs in particular advertise in media about when, where and how to vote. As time and resources permit, all EMBs participate in interviews and assist media with information about the election.
Relations with Other Institutions and Agencies
Relations and cooperation with other institutions are key to the work of the central EMB. The central EMB complies an electoral roll before each individual election event based on information from the civil register. Since the National Tax Agency is responsible for civil registration, these two institutions cooperate continuously.
The central statistical office, Statistics Sweden (Statistiska Centralbyrån) supplies survey data for electoral purposes, while the Election Authority provides the election results data to Statistics Sweden for publication.
Swedish missions abroad are also active authorities in the electoral process, as external voting is part of their function.
The Ministry of Justice remains an important partner of the central EMB, and have close and regular contact.
The Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority (Lantmäteriet) assists in the work of boundary delimitation. The authority provides data on maps and land units that are used when persons entitled to vote are connected to an electoral district.
New technologies
The central EMB administrates the common IT-platform of the election administration.
Users of the IT-platform are EMBs, Swedish missions abroad, parties and the printing houses that print ballot papers.
Two trials with optical scanning of ballot papers during final count at the regional EMB have been conducted.
In 2011 a parliamentary committee was set up with the task to investigate certain electoral processes. One of the questions to investige is the possibility to introduce electronic voting. The committee will submit its final report in March 2013.
Electoral Reform Management
The political environment in Sweden is comparatively stable. Election results and the work
done by the EMBs are not often criticised or disputed, and EMB recommendations are usually treated with respect.
The central EMB is, however, able to suggest changes and improvement to electoral legislation or practices through the Ministry of Justice, and regularly does so. There have been cases when the central EMB has been the catalyst for change, while at other times it simply acts as a participant, or makes suggestions to the Ministry of Justice, on issues that need consideration.
On a regular basis, committees, parliamentary or expert, investigate the electoral system.
Opportunities and Constraints
The ways EMBs in Sweden are strucured have certain advantages. One is that each level is fully responsible and accountable for all decisions within its jurisdiction. Another is that the decision-making can be quick and easily accessed, especialy on local level where the local EMB has close contact with voters.
However a structure of many independent EMBs makes it a challenge that all regulations are applied equally by all EMBs. In its coordinating role, the central EMB can only give guidelines, but not issue regulations, within regional and local EMBs areas of responsibility. There is no authority which has the overall responsibility for monitoring the work of the EMBs.
A second challenge is that it is difficult to sum up the total cost of elections.
The society changes and new technologies open new possibilities within the electoral field and election administration.
