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Facts about nominated and elected candidates

For elections to the European Parliament, the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament), county councils and municipal councils, Statistic Sweden presents statistics on nominated, elected and non-elected candidates in the general elections.

The statistics cover information on the candidates, e.g. party affiliation, sex, age, income, education, place of birth and country of citizenship. Furthermore, statistics on elected candidates’ resignations are also produced. The information regarding nominated and elected candidates is an important source for studies on the social representation of popularly elected candidates. The main users of these statistics are the political parties, the mass media, the social scientists and the politically-interested general public.

Eligible to vote and eligible for election at the general elections

A person who has the right to vote in parliamentary, county council and municipality elections is also eligible for election. According to the Election Law the following applies:

Election to the Riksdag

Eligible to vote in the parliamentary elections are Swedish citizens if they are aged 18 years at the latest by the election date and are registered or at some point have been registered in Sweden.

Elections to the County Councils and Municipal Councils

Eligible to vote in the elections to the County Councils and Municipal Councils are, in addition to Swedish citizens who are registered in Sweden, foreign citizens who are:

  • citizens of the EU member states, Iceland and Norway, who are aged 18 years not later than on election day and who are registered in Sweden.
  • other foreign citizens, who are aged 18 years not later than on election day and who have been registered residents in Sweden for a continuous period of three years before election day.

How the statistics are produced

Statistics Sweden receives registers regarding the nominated and elected candidates from the Election Authority. Using these registers, together with background variables gathered from Statistics Sweden's different registers, Statistics Sweden produces statistics on nominated, elected and non-elected candidates. Historical data are based on earlier published electoral statistics.

The results presented in the tables are definitive and based on the election results. The circumstances might change due to substitutes of other sex, age, country of birth etc. and will consequently influence the distributions. Such changes are not covered by the results presented by Statistics Sweden.

Some definitions

Age

Age refers to age at the end of the year of election.

Country of birth

The information regarding country of birth has been gathered from the population register that is based on information from national registration.

Until 1947, all persons born outside of Sweden were considered to be foreign-born. Since 1947 children of mothers who, at the time of birth, were registered in Sweden are not considered as foreign-born even if they are born outside of Sweden. Note that in the accounts given for the elections to the County and Municipal Councils, foreign citizens may be included in the group foreign-born.

Year of latest immigration

The year of latest immigration refers to the year of the last registered immigration.

Country of citizenship

The information regarding country of birth has been gathered from the population register that is based on information from the national registration. The quality of the information about citizenship is good in all respects except one. When new states are formed persons living in Sweden can change citizenship from the old to the new state, for example, from Yugoslavia to Slovenia. But it is not always the case that the national registration receives information regarding these changes. This has a negative effect on the quality of the statistics.

Educational attainment

The information about educational attainment has been gathered from Statistics Sweden’s Swedish Register of Education, which contains information about highest attained education for persons 16-74 years old. The information comes from the register version established on the first of January each election year. The classification of educational attainment is in accordance with the Swedish Educational Terminology (SUN). Since 2001 the standard SUN 2000 has been used, and is presented in more detail in Reports on Statistical Co-ordination for the Official Statistics of Sweden (MIS) 2000:1.

Income

Income refers to the total income from employment and business, capital income is not included. The information about the income comes from administrative registers. The income classes are based on percentiles and are presented in the following categories: 0-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-100. They are calculated on the basis of the entire Swedish population aged 18 years or over. Accordingly, persons presented in the income category 0-20 are among the 20 percent of the population, aged 18 or over, who have the lowest incomes. Persons who have no declared income or for other reasons have not declared any income are presented in a separate category. The information refers to incomes in the year prior to the election year according to taxation in the election year.

Resignations

Statistics regarding elected candidates who have left their seats before the end of the term are based on those candidates who were originally elected at time of the election. Resignations can also occur among those candidates who have been elected as substitutes.

Useful information

Changes in publishing

From 2006 and onwards, the information regarding the nominated, elected and non-elected candidates will be published as tables at Statistics Sweden's website and in statistical databases. The results are also presented in a chapter in Statistics Sweden’s publication Genereal elections, part 4. A Statistical Report is no longer published.

Other statistics

Following elections to the European Parliament, the Riksdag, county councils and municipal councils, Statistics Sweden also presents statistics on persons entitled to vote, election results, electoral participation and electoral behaviour. Similar presentations are made after national referenda (not regarding nominated and elected candidates).

The Election Authority also produces statistics on nominated and elected candidates in the European Parliament elections.

The Election Authority