September Blog

I have received my election papers from Sweden now. Have you?

I hope all readers who have Swedish citizenship will vote in the general election. The election authorities in Sweden have some 130 000 Swedish citizens with foreign addresses on their register. All these citizens but even those who are not registered have the opportunity to vote at embassies and consulates or send in their votes by mail so that they are counted in the September 19 election.

Sadly, only 29 percent of registered voters abroad cast their vote in the last election, as compared to 82 percent participation in Sweden itself. Furthermore the 125 000 registered Swedes were only a fraction of the estimated half a million Swedes living abroad (according to the organization Svenskar i Världen) so in fact voter participation among this group was in all likelihood an embarrassing single digit figure.

If you live in Sweden you are constantly reminded of the election and you are well informed about the voting process. When it comes to Swedes living abroad, it is only the registered voters who receive the pertinent voting information. Swedish Press is attempting to keep you informed, but we have not been getting much help from the election authorities in Sweden. You would think that reminding Swedes of their right to vote in the only Swedish monthly in North America would be a non-brainer, but no. (I contacted the embassies and the Swedish Election Authority without getting any response. When I finally got hold of a bureaucrat in Sweden over the phone I was told that the authorities had no mandate to advertise the election abroad.)

When I first came to North America it was during the Social Democratic reign in Sweden. During election time I was told that the dearth of information about the elections here could be attributed to the Social Democrats not expecting much support from Swedes abroad. If that was true the Alliance should be more interested in getting in the votes from abroad.

General elections are at the heart of democracy and a low voter participation is an indication that it is not working. In Sweden there have been discussions about lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 years to establish a voting pattern early in life and in that way increase future voter participation. In all likelihood this will not happen until voter participation drops even further.

I hope you will find all the information about the election in this issue useful and if you are a Swedish citizen, make use of your democratic right and make your voice heard in this exciting election.

Have a nice September

Anders