In elections, each voter has one vote. To check that each vote has only been counted once, you can compare the number of ticked off voters with the number of ballot envelopes and ballot papers. If the numbers match, everything is correct.
SVT’s review of the vote count in the latest EU election shows that this is far from always the case. In almost half of the electoral districts audited, 196 out of 410, the figures do not match. In more than one in three districts, for example, the number of votes is either too many or too few in relation to the number of envelopes. In total, there are 213 “errors”, which corresponds to more than every thousand votes.
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– That there will be some minor errors can be expected, but that there were so many surprises me, says political scientist John Högström.
Missed ballots
More votes than envelopes is the most common deviation, and in several protocols from the polling stations the difference is explained by the fact that duplicate ballots in envelopes have probably been missed. Something that means it is too late to remedy – the County Administrative Board, which does the final vote count, cannot possibly know which the extra ballots are if they have been sorted incorrectly in the polling station.
– Double ballots should be detected before the vote ends up in the ballot box or when you take the ballots out of the ballot envelope, says John Högström.
In 100 out of 410 electoral districts, the number of marked voters does not match the number of envelopes either.
Example of a comment about missed duplicate ballots from a voting protocol at the EU election. Photo: SVT
Alarm clock for the Electoral Authority
Although the errors did not affect the outcome of the election, John Högström thinks that the extent is alarming and that it should serve as a wake-up call for the Electoral Authority.
– If voters feel that the risk of error is high, it can lead to them withdrawing from going and voting. Here’s how to act before trust in the electoral system is damaged.
SVT has applied to the Swedish Electoral Authority, which does not want to appear for an interview.