Voter turnout in vulnerable areas and among those born abroad has decreased drastically in recent years. This is shown by new figures produced by Järvaveckan Research.
– This means that they are politically underrepresented, says Zohreh Khoban, democracy researcher at Uppsala University
In the Rinkeby district just north of Stockholm, turnout in last year’s parliamentary elections was low – here only 60 percent of those eligible to vote went to the polling stations. The corresponding figure for the entire country is 85.7 percent.
Rinkeby is one of the 19 residential areas that the police class as particularly vulnerable – and the low voter turnout can be seen in all such areas.
In particularly vulnerable areas, the turnout among women is 59.5 percent and 63.5 percent among men.
The political scientist: “Underrepresented”
According to Zohreh Khoban, democracy researcher at Uppsala University, underrepresentation can have very serious consequences in the long run.
– This means that they become politically underrepresented, that their interests are not represented. These are groups that are worse off in many ways, they have poorer health, shorter lifespans, poorer housing standards, the fact that they vote in a smaller range risks deepening these injustices, she says.
Swedish Somalis stand out
Järvaveckan Research, which produced the figures, has also looked at how voter turnout has changed within different groups of foreign-born people since the 2018 and last year’s parliamentary elections.
The biggest difference was among people born in Somalia – there the turnout had decreased by 12.2 percentage points. Among people born in Syria, turnout had decreased by 11.9 percentage points and among those born in Eritrea by 10.8 percentage points.
The corresponding figure for the entire country is 2.8 percentage points.
– Democracy means people’s rule, it also includes that we have one person one vote, so that we are equal within that system, it is central that we get equal political influence, says Zohreh Khoban.