Chapter 7. General provisions concerning elections within the Riksdag
Part 1. Applicability of provisions
Article 1
The rules in Articles 2 to 12 apply to elections held by the Chamber and the rules laid down in Articles 13 and 14 to elections within a committee or other Riksdag body elected by the Chamber in whole or in part.
Part 2. Nominations Committee
Article 2
Unless otherwise prescribed by the Riksdag, elections held by the Chamber shall be prepared by a special Nominations Committee appointed from within the Riksdag.
The Nominations Committee is appointed at the first meeting of the Chamber in the electoral period to serve to the end of the electoral period. Each party group which corresponds to a party which obtained at least four per cent of the national vote at the election to the Riksdag shall have a seat on the Nominations Committee. A further ten seats are distributed proportionately among the same party groups. Members are appointed applying the procedure set out in Article 12, paragraph one.
Supplementary provision 7.2.1
The Speaker determines how many members each party group shall appoint to the Nominations Committee. In making the proportional distribution, the basis of calculation set out in Article 4, paragraph three, shall be applied.
Supplementary provision 7.2.2
The Nominations Committee does not prepare the election of a Regent, a Deputy Regent, a person who shall hold office as a Regent ad interim, the Speaker, the Deputy Speakers, the Secretary-General of the Riksdag, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen or Deputy Ombudsmen, the Auditors General, or elections to the Ministerial Remunerations Board or the Board for the Remuneration of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Auditors General.
Provisions relating to the preparation of elections are laid down, in the case of the Secretary-General of the Riksdag in Supplementary provision 9.1.1; in the case of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and Deputy Ombudsmen in Supplementary provision 8.11.2; in the case of the Auditors General in Supplementary provision 8.12.1; in the case of members of the Ministerial Remunerations Board in Supplementary provision 8.4.1; and in the case of members of the Board for the Remuneration of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Auditors General in Supplementary provision 8.5.1.
Supplementary provision 7.2.3
The Nominations Committee convenes for the first time on the same day as it is appointed, in response to a summons from the Speaker. The Committee convenes thereafter at the summons of its chair.
The provisions of Chapter 4, Article 13, paragraph one, sentence one, and paragraph two, and Supplementary provisions 4.12.1, paragraph two, and 4.12.2 to 4 apply also to the Nominations Committee.
Part 3. Elections by acclamation
Article 3
At elections of two or more persons, the Nominations Committee may present an agreed list. The list shall contain as many names as there are persons to be elected and shall be approved by all the members participating in the meeting of the Nominations Committee or by all save one.
The Speaker moves adoption of the agreed list and, if it is adopted, declares the persons listed to be elected. Election shall however be by secret ballot, if so requested by at least as many members as correspond to the figure obtained if the sum total of members entitled to vote is divided by the number of persons to whom the election relates, increased by one. If the figure obtained is not a whole number, it is rounded up to the next higher whole number. This election shall be held at a later meeting.
If it is prescribed that the incumbent of a particular post shall be elected separately, the election shall be held by acclamation. The election shall be held by secret ballot, however, if a member so requests. If the body or group responsible for preparing the election has put forward a unanimous proposal, the election by secret ballot shall not be held until a later meeting.
Part 4. Elections by secret ballot
Article 4
Elections are held by secret ballot unless otherwise prescribed in Article 3 or some other principal provision of this Act.
If two or more persons are to be elected by secret ballot, the seats are distributed proportionately among all the groups of Riksdag members participating in the election under a particular designation.
The seats are distributed between the groups by allocating them one by one to the group with the highest comparison figure on each occasion. The comparison figure is identical with the number of votes obtained by the group as long as it has not been allocated a seat. The comparison figure is calculated thereafter by dividing the votes obtained by the group by the number of seats the group has already been allocated, increased by one. When the comparison figures are tied, the matter is decided by lot.
If only one person is to be elected, that person is elected who obtains the most votes, unless otherwise prescribed by the Riksdag in a principal provision of this Act. In the event of a tied vote, the election is decided by lot.
Supplementary provision 7.4.1
Ballot papers shall be single sheets, folded and unmarked, and shall be identical in size, material and colour. They may include information concerning the election to which they relate. A ballot paper is invalid if it carries any distinguishing mark clearly placed upon it with deliberate intent. If a member submits more than one ballot paper in an election, these ballot papers are invalid. If, however, the ballot papers are identical in content, one ballot paper shall be deemed valid in the count.
Supplementary provision 7.4.2
At a proportional election, the ballot paper shall designate in words a particular group of Riksdag members. The names are listed consecutively, one after the other, following this designation.
A ballot paper is invalid:
- if it lacks a designation of a members’ group;
if it carries more than one such designation; or if it lacks the name of an eligible candidate.
A name on a ballot paper shall be regarded as null and void:
- if the candidate is not eligible;
if the name has been crossed out; if it is not clear who is intended; or if the order of precedence between that name and another name on the ballot paper is not clearly apparent.
The order of precedence between candidates’ names in each members’ group shall be determined by calculating comparison figures for the candidates applying the method laid down in Chapter 14, Article 10 of the Elections Act (SFS 2005:837). If several candidates obtain the same comparison figure, the election is decided by lot.
Supplementary provision 7.4.3
When one person is being elected, there shall be one name on the ballot paper.
A ballot paper is invalid if:
- it contains the names of two or more candidates;
it contains the name of a candidate who is not eligible; the name has been crossed out; it is not clear who is intended; or it contains the designation of a members’ group.
Provisions concerning the outcome of an election relating to one person are laid down in Chapter 8, Articles 1 to 3, 11 and 12; and in Chapter 9, Articles 1 and 5.
Supplementary provision 7.4.4
At an election by secret ballot the Speaker shall call upon five members to join him or her at the Speaker’s table. Of these, three shall assist at the opening and examination of the ballot papers and two record the votes. The members are called up in the manner prescribed in Supplementary provision 5.6.2. When a member’s name is called, he or she proceeds to the Speaker’s table and hands his or her ballot paper to the Speaker.
When all the ballot papers found to be valid have been read out by the Speaker and have been recorded by the Clerk of the Chamber currently on duty and the two members, their notes are compared. The Speaker establishes the result of the election and announces it to the Chamber.
Supplementary provision 7.4.5
If two or more elections are to be held by secret ballot, the Speaker may determine that the ballot papers for all the elections shall be delivered before a count is taken in any of the elections, unless otherwise requested by a member.
Part 5. Appeals against elections by secret ballot
Article 5
Appeals against elections by secret ballot may be lodged by a member of the Riksdag with the Election Review Board. The election is valid irrespective of any appeal.
Supplementary provision 7.5.1
Written appeals against elections are lodged with the Election Review Board. The appeal shall be delivered to the Secretariat of the Chamber within five days from the day on which the result of the election was announced in the Chamber. As soon as the appeal period has expired, the Speaker shall notify a meeting of the Chamber of all the appeals received. The Speaker determines the period during which comments concerning the appeals may be submitted to the Election Review Board. When the period during which comments may be submitted has expired, the Speaker forwards the appeal documents to the Election Review Board forthwith. The Speaker should also submit promptly to the Election Review Board his or her own opinion concerning the appeals.
Supplementary provision 7.5.2
The Election Review Board shall declare an election null and void and order a re-election if it finds in its examination of an appeal that a provision of Article 4 or of Supplementary provisions 7.4.1 to 5 has been set aside in the election. A re- election shall however be ordered only if it can be assumed with justification that what occurred has affected the result of the election. If the error can be rectified by means of a recount or any other less radical measure, the Election Review Board shall however instead direct the Speaker to effect the necessary rectification.
Supplementary provision 7.5.3
Ballot papers and other election material shall be held in safe keeping until the election result takes effect.
Part 6. Times and validity of elections
Article 6
Elections relating to a period corresponding to the electoral period of the Riksdag are held as soon as possible after the start of the electoral period and are valid until the Riksdag holds a new election in the next electoral period, unless otherwise prescribed by the Riksdag.
Part 7. Re-elections
Article 7
If a new member has taken his or her seat in the Riksdag due to the revision of a Riksdag election result on appeal, elections held by the Riksdag earlier in the electoral period shall be held again if so requested by at least ten members of the Riksdag.
Part 8. Election of deputy members
Article 8
If two or more persons are to be elected, at least as many deputy members as there are ordinary members shall also be elected, unless otherwise prescribed by the Riksdag. The provisions relating to the election of ordinary members apply also to elections of deputy members. When the Riksdag has held an election for a Riksdag body and has appointed deputy members in this connection, it may approve a change in the number of deputy members of the body, provided the deputy members are no fewer in number than the ordinary members. An alternate member of the Riksdag who has been summoned to take up duty may be appointed a deputy member of a committee of which the absent member is a member, without increasing the number of deputy members of the committee. In such a case, the procedure laid down in Article 12, paragraph one, applies.
Supplementary provision 7.8.1
A question of an increase in the number of deputy members to exceed the number originally elected is prepared by the Nominations Committee. Elections of deputy members necessitated by an increase in the number of deputy members shall be held as soon as possible.
Supplementary provision 7.8.2
Unless otherwise prescribed or specially determined, the same number of deputy members shall be appointed as there are ordinary members.
Supplementary provision 7.8.3
Provisions concerning deputy members are laid down, in the case of the Riksdag Board in Supplementary provision 1.5.2; in the case of the Ministerial Remunerations Board in Chapter 8, Article 4; in the case of the Board for the Remuneration of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Auditors General in Chapter 8, Article 5; in the case of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs in Chapter 8, Article 8; in the case of the Parliamentary Council of the National Audit Office in Chapter 8, Article 14; and in the case of the War Delegation in Chapter 8, Article 15.
Part 9. Attendance by deputy members
Article 9
Unless otherwise prescribed by the Riksdag, an elected member of a Riksdag body shall be replaced in his or her absence by a deputy member belonging to the same party group. If this is not possible, deputy members have precedence in the order in which they were elected, or, if the election was held using an agreed list, in the order in which their names were listed.
Part 10. Ineligibility
Article 10
Unless otherwise prescribed by the Riksdag, a person elected by the Chamber to a post for which membership of the Riksdag is a prerequisite shall resign the appointment if he or she leaves the Riksdag or is appointed Speaker of the Riksdag or a minister.
Supplementary provision 7.10.1
Provisions concerning eligibility for membership of various bodies are laid down, in the case of the Speaker in Chapter 10, Article 12 of the Instrument of Government and in Chapter 1, Article 5, and Chapter 8, Article 15 of this Act; in the case of a member of the Riksdag who is also a minister in Chapter 8, Article 15 of this Act; and in the case of a member who has left the Riksdag in Supplementary provision 8.6.2 of this Act.
Part 11. Eligibility and obligation to accept an appointment
Article 11
Only a Swedish citizen may hold a post appointed by election of the Riksdag. Provisions on the requirement of Swedish citizenship for the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Auditors General are laid down in Chapter 12, Article 6 of the Instrument of Government.
A person appointed to such a post by election of the Riksdag may not refuse the appointment without the Riksdag’s consent.
Part 12. Successors
Article 12
If a person who has been elected to a body which at the start of the electoral period was appointed by means of an election of two or more persons resigns his or her appointment ahead of time, the party group or groups for which he or she was elected shall notify the Speaker of the name of a successor. The Speaker shall declare the person nominated as a successor to be elected. If no name is put forward, or if more than one person is nominated, the Speaker appoints a successor. If a seat becomes vacant ahead of time and the original election related to only one person, the same procedure is applied in a supplementary election for the remaining period as was applied in the case of the original election. The provisions of this rule apply unless otherwise prescribed by the Riksdag.
Part 13. Elections of chairs
Article 13
A body whose members are appointed by the Chamber in whole or in part shall elect from among its members a chair and one or more deputy chairs, unless otherwise prescribed.
Supplementary provision 7.13.1
Provisions concerning elections of chairs and deputy chairs are laid down, in the case of the Election Review Board in Chapter 3, Article 12 of the Instrument of Government and in Chapter 8, Article 2 of this Act; in the case of the Ministerial Remunerations Board in Chapter 8, Article 4 of this Act; in the case of the Board for the Remuneration of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Auditors General in Chapter 8, Article 5; in the case of the Parliamentary Council of the National Audit Office in Chapter 8, Article 14; and in the case of the Riksdag Appeals Board in Chapter 9, Article 5 of this Act.
Part 14. Elections within Riksdag bodies
Article 14
Elections within a body under Article 13 are held by acclamation or by secret ballot, if a member so requests.
Supplementary provision 7.14.1
Ballot papers shall be single sheets, folded and unmarked, and shall be identical in size, material and colour. If the vote is tied, the election shall be decided by lot.
