The National Unit Against Corruption at the Swedish Prosecution Authority has launched a preliminary investigation into suspected election fraud in Osby Municipality, Skåne. The case is one of a total of 17 ongoing investigations into suspected irregularities in connection with this year’s election, which is more than after the previous election.

The ongoing investigations concern suspected incidents in several parts of the country, including Borlänge, Svalöv, Halmstad, Malung-Sälen, Osby, Landskrona, Tranemo, and Karlstad. In Västerås and Sigtuna, two separate cases are being investigated each, while Gothenburg has three ongoing investigations.

In addition, there is a case involving both Stockholm and the internet and another case linked to the internet. The suspicions in Osby concern the crime of improper influence during voting, which can, among other things, involve attempts to influence voters in an unlawful manner.

However, the prosecutor leading the preliminary investigation does not wish to provide any information about what is suspected to have occurred or how many people may be involved. The reason is that the information is covered by preliminary investigation secrecy.

Researchers Downplay the Investigations

The fact that the number of investigations is higher than after the previous election surprises election researcher John Högström, Associate Professor of Political Science at Mid Sweden University. He points out that the increase can partly be explained by the authorities being required to report anomalies in this year’s election.

“We don’t know what the outcome will be yet. Is it election fraud that has been committed, or are there administrative errors, or perhaps no mistake at all?” says Högström.