The Swedish elections of 1988

Abstract

National, regional and local elections are held in Sweden every three years. Registered immigrants who have been living in Sweden for at least 3 years have, since 1976, been granted the right to vote in county councils’ regional elections (landsting) and in the local government councils’ municipal elections (kommunfullm~tige). All Swedish citizens who are 1X years of age and included in the register of voters are granted the right to vote. The number of eligible voters in 1988 was 6,330,023. The three elections take place on the same day, the third Sunday in September, but voters may cast their votes at the post office, which accepts ballots 24 days before the elections, ‘Post office voting’, as it is called, is an increasingly popular alternative. It was introduced in the 1970 election. By 1985 37 per cent of ail voters chose this alternative. The impact of post office voting on the planning of electoral campaigns by the politicai parties and on the more legal aspects of the elections has not been discussed in depth. Before 1970, when unicameralism was introduced, elections to the Riksdag were not held in the same years as municipal and regional elections. Voter turnout was high in both elections. The advantages and disadvantages of the new electoral system are debated periodically. Also there has been some discussion about the length of the electoral periods, with the basic issue being the proper balance between time in office and accountability to the voters. Many commentators believe that the three year electoral period is too short. Prior to the autumn parliamentary election they wondered whether the voters would decide that a six year period in office (two electoral periods) offered a better alternative for the public to assess government performance and vote a new government into office. The hypothesis was generated on the basis of the results from the elections to the Riksdag held after the 1970 parliamentary reform: the Social Democrats ruled from 1970 to 1976; the nonsocialists from 1976 to 1982; and the Social Democrats again from 1982. The hypothesis was not verified in the 1988 election.