Sveriges Radio draws attention to immigrants who have lived in Sweden for a long time but are not allowed to vote in the parliamentary elections because they lack Swedish citizenship. One of them is “Johannes,” who says he feels excluded from society.

Ahead of the September 13 election, Sveriges Radio reports on foreign-born individuals who have lived in Sweden for a long time without being able to vote in the parliamentary elections. The reason is that they do not have Swedish citizenship.

According to Statistics Sweden (SCB), about 193,000 foreign-born people have lived in Sweden for over 10 years without becoming Swedish citizens. One person interviewed by the public broadcaster is “Johannes,” who has lived in Sweden for 13 years but has had his citizenship application rejected three times because he cannot prove his identity.

“Yes, I am disappointed that I cannot choose who my leader can be,” he says to the public radio, and continues.

“I don’t feel included even though I try to integrate. But I feel that the system is trying to push me out of integration.”

Historian Martin Ericsson at Lund University says that it is very uncommon for countries to let non-citizens vote in national elections. Sweden thus adheres to an internationally established principle: anyone who wants to vote in the parliamentary election must be a citizen of the country.

Elections to municipalities and regions, however, are not subject to the same law; it is enough for an immigrant to have been registered in Sweden for three years for them to have voting rights.

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