When 25-year-old Maja Larsson went to vote in Stockholm, election officials discovered that someone had already checked her off in the electoral roll. Even though she herself had not voted, she was therefore unable to cast her vote. Now her only legal option may be to appeal the election.

For Maja Larsson and her partner, election day started like it did for millions of other Swedes. They went to the polling station, picked up their ballots, and prepared their voting envelopes.

The problem arose when Larsson was about to submit her envelopes to the election officials. The staff reacted and asked if she was really at the correct polling station.

She was. She also had not voted earlier. However, when the staff checked the electoral roll, it became clear what had happened: Maja Larsson was already checked off as if she had voted.

Sent Home from the Polling Station

The election officials asked her to step aside while they tried to sort out the situation. A colleague contacted the election committee, and according to Larsson, the staff repeatedly apologized. But she was still not allowed to vote. Instead, she had to go home and await information about whether the mistake could be corrected.

Later, she was contacted again and received more apologies, but also the news that the election committee, at that stage, could not allow her to vote. For Larsson, the mistake meant she felt that her opportunity to participate in the election was taken away.

– One of them said verbatim, “This must not happen, this is the worst thing that can happen.”

What caused the erroneous check-off was still not fully clear as of Sunday.

Incorrect Check-Off Prevents Voter

Eva Debels, head of administration at the election committee, confirms to Expressen that it is about an incorrect marking in the electoral roll. According to her, such mistakes happen in every election.

The problem is that the rules are designed so that a person who is already checked off cannot be allowed to vote again. This applies even when there is reason to suspect that the check-off was a mistake. Debels also points to the digital voting cards as a possible contributing factor to this type of error.

– Right now, it looks like unfortunately she will be denied the opportunity to vote. It’s incredibly serious to be denied one’s civic right to vote in general elections.

The election committee tried during the afternoon to trace what went wrong by contacting those voters directly above and below Larsson in the electoral roll. One possibility is that another voter was accidentally checked off on her line.

Since polling stations were open until 8 PM, there was still a chance to resolve the situation before closing, but according to Debels, the prospects did not look particularly good.

May Be Forced to Appeal the Entire Election

If the error cannot be resolved before the polling station closes, there is no simple way to retroactively give Larsson the vote she lost. The remaining legal avenue is much more drastic — she can appeal the election on the basis of the error in the election process. When Expressen asked if this means she can appeal the election itself, Debels replied:

– Yes, that’s what she can do, that’s the legal possibility she has.

Meanwhile, the election committee continued during the final hours of election day to try to clarify who actually should have been checked off in the electoral roll — and whether the mistake could be corrected in time so that Larsson could still exercise her right to vote.

Voting Without ID

At the end of August, Samnytt tested how it works to vote without identification. This involved visiting a polling station and having one’s identity confirmed by another person, without showing any ID themselves.

READ ALSO: Samnytt tests: How easy it is to vote without ID

In practice, this means that the person standing before the election official could be someone other than the person whose name is in the electoral roll. See our report below.