The Instrument of Government of Sweden (1994, as amended 2015) (excerpts related to elections) (English)
The Instrument of Government
(excerpts)
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Chapter 3. The Riksdag
Formation and composition of the Riksdag
Art. 1.
The Riksdag is appointed by means of free, secret and direct elections.
Voting in such elections is by party, with an option for the voter to express a
personal preference vote.
Art. 2.
The Riksdag consists of a single chamber comprising three hundred and forty-nine
members. Alternates shall be appointed for members.
Ordinary elections
Art. 3.
Ordinary elections to the Riksdag are held every four years.
Right to vote and eligibility to stand for election
Art. 4.
Every Swedish citizen who is currently domiciled within the Realm or who has
ever been domiciled within the Realm, and who has reached the age of eighteen, is
entitled to vote in an election to the Riksdag.
Only a person who is entitled to vote may be a member or alternate member of the
Riksdag.
The question of whether a person has the right to vote is determined on the basis of
an electoral roll drawn up prior to the election.
Constituencies
Art. 5.
The Realm is divided up into constituencies for the purpose of elections to the
Riksdag.
Distribution of seats among constituencies
Art. 6.
Of the seats in the Riksdag, 310 are fixed constituency seats and 39 are adjustment
seats.
The fixed constituency seats are distributed among the constituencies on the basis
of a calculation of the relationship between the number of persons entitled to vote
in each constituency, and the total number of persons entitled to vote throughout
the whole of the Realm. The distribution of seats among the constituencies is
determined for four years at a time.
Distribution of seats among parties
Art. 7.
The seats are distributed among parties that have done a notification of their
participation in accordance with regulations in law.
Only parties which receive at least four per cent of the votes cast throughout the
Realm may share in the distribution of seats. A party receiving fewer votes,
however, participates in the distribution of the fixed constituency seats in a
constituency in which it receives at least twelve per cent of the votes cast.
Art. 8.
The fixed constituency seats in each constituency are distributed proportionately
among the parties on the basis of the election result in that constituency.
If a party in the distribution of fixed constituency seats in accordance with the first
paragraph has received more seats in the whole country than what corresponds a
proportionate representation in the Riksdag for that party, excessive seats shall be
reversed and distributed amongst the other parties in accordance with law.
The adjustment seats are distributed among the parties in such a way that the
distribution of all the seats in the Riksdag, other than those fixed constituency seats
which have been allocated to a party polling less than four per cent of the national
vote, is in proportion to the total number of votes cast throughout the Realm for the
respective parties participating in the distribution of seats. If, in the distribution of
the fixed constituency seats, a party obtains seats which exceed the number
corresponding to the proportional representation of that party in the Riksdag, then
that party and the fixed constituency seats which it has obtained are disregarded in
distributing the adjustment seats. The adjustment seats are allocated to
constituencies after they have been distributed among the parties.
The odd-number method is used to distribute the seats among the parties, with the
first divisor adjusted to 1.4.
Art. 9.
One member is appointed for each seat a party obtains, together with an alternate
for that member.
Electoral period
Art. 10.
Each election is valid for the period from the date on which the newly-elected
Riksdag convenes to the date on which the Riksdag elected next thereafter
convenes.
The newly-elected Riksdag convenes on the fifteenth day following election day
but no sooner than the fourth day after the result of the election has been declared.
Extraordinary elections
Art. 11.
The Government may decide that an extraordinary election to the Riksdag is to be
held between ordinary elections. An extraordinary election is held within three
months from the decision.
After an election to the Riksdag has been held, the Government may not hold an
extraordinary election until three months from the date on which the newly-elected
Riksdag first convened. Neither may the Government decide to hold an
extraordinary election while ministers remain at their posts, after all have been
formally discharged, pending assumption of office by a new Government.
Rules concerning an extraordinary election in a particular case are laid down in
Chapter 6, Article 5.
Appeals against election results
Art. 12.
Appeals against elections to the Riksdag shall be lodged with an Election Review
Board appointed by the Riksdag. There is no right of appeal against a decision of
the Board.
A person who has been elected a member of the Riksdag exercises his or her
mandate even if the election result has been appealed. If the result of the election is
revised, a new member takes his or her seat immediately after the revised result has
been declared. This applies in a similar manner to alternate members.
The Election Review Board consists of a chair, who is currently, or has been
previously, a permanent salaried judge and who may not be a member of the
Riksdag, and six other members. The members are elected after each ordinary
election, as soon as the result of the election becomes final, and serve until a new
election for the Board is held. The chair is elected separately.
Further rules
Art. 13.
Further rules concerning matters under Article 1, paragraph three and Articles 3 to
12 and concerning the appointment of alternates for members of the Riksdag are
laid down in in law.
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