Ballot Sabotage Against the Sweden Democrats – Ballots Rearranged

Several incidents involving ballots have been reported from polling stations in Norrtälje during election day. Ballots have been moved and, in one case, ballots were removed from voting booths. The incidents are now being investigated by the election organization. At the same time, the election results show that the Sweden Democrats increased their share in the municipality and received 22.7 percent of the votes.

The Sweden Democrats performed poorly in 285 of the country’s 290 municipalities in the parliamentary election. There is much speculation about the reasons behind the weak election results.

Explanations put forward include the more than 200,000 citizenships that have been granted, the large number of people who vote red-green, and the fact that SD failed to engage their voters, who instead chose to stay home or cast support votes for other parties.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged of election sabotage in several places. Ballots are said to have disappeared from polling stations around the country and, in some cases, been moved or rearranged in ways that could mislead voters. Ballots being rearranged have been noted in Norrtälje municipality in northern Greater Stockholm.

The reported incidents are said to have happened at the Sports Center and Norrtälje City Library. According to reports, Sweden Democrat ballots were on several occasions placed in front of other parties’ ballots. This could lead a voter to think they are picking up the ballot for their intended party when, in fact, they end up with another.

Conny Andersson (S), chairman of the Election and Democracy Committee, says the incidents may have been deliberate.

“Some people have taken a political stand and wanted to express it in the voting booths,” Conny Andersson (S) told the Norrtelje newspaper.

Many Norrtälje residents gathered to listen to Jimmie Åkesson during the election campaign. Photo: Facsimile Facebook

“Regrettable What Has Happened”

At the Sports Center, SD’s ballots were moved twice so that they ended up in front of other parties’ ballots. Andersson describes the actions as intentional but emphasizes that the investigation is still ongoing.

The election organization has also received reports of disturbances at the city library. There, ballots were rearranged in a similar way. Additionally, bundles of ballots disappeared from voting booths.

In addition to SD ballots being placed in misleading ways, entire bundles of SD ballots were also removed. It is still unclear exactly when the incidents occurred and how long they lasted. The election organization is now working to get a clearer picture of the scope.

Andersson does not rule out that more polling stations may have been affected, or that ballots from other parties may also have been subjected to similar actions. He regrets what happened and says the incidents will be documented and reported.

“It is regrettable that this has happened. We want people to respect each other and not try to influence or disrupt the election. We will file incident reports to the Election Authority and then assess the extent,” he told the Norrtelje newspaper.

Still the Big Winner of the Election

At the same time, the Sweden Democrats became the major winners in Norrtälje municipality. The party received 22.7 percent of the votes, an increase of 3.5 percentage points. This means SD overtook the Moderates, who dropped by as much as 4.2 percentage points to 20.9 percent.

The Social Democrats also lost ground, decreasing by 1.1 percentage points to 26.7 percent in the municipality.

Despite SD’s gains, the red-green bloc appears likely to retain power in Norrtälje if the Liberals continue to side with them. Together, the red-green parties and the Liberals command 31 of the municipal council’s 61 seats.

The reason the Liberals in Norrtälje left their Tidö allies in the previous term was a dispute about the Sweden Democrats, after TV4’s reporting on the so-called troll factories.

“It feels good. It’s as if a weight has been lifted from our shoulders and we can now look forward,” said Liberal leader Robert Beronius to national radio at the time, adding:

“It will be a boost for issues of gender equality, democracy, and climate and environmental work. I look forward to that.”