Sweden uses a party list proportional representation system. Seats are allocated based on how many votes a party gets, and they are allocated to parties first. The selection of who then sits in those seats then comes down to ”personröster” (literally “person-votes”, but I think they're conventionally translated as “preferential votes” or something like that), which are optional. Most voters do not put a cross next to their preferred candidate, they just put the party ballot paper in the envelope and the envelope goes in the box. And because they're optional, there's therefore a threshold for how many personröster a candidate has to receive to be elected. That threshold is 5% of voters in the particular electoral district. Only candidates that get more than 5% of votes are even considered in this process; if there's none (or not enough), then the candidates from the party list are taken.
The seat would have gone to the Left Party either way. But only this guy specifically got enough personal support to get elected. There's nothing that crazy about it. Participative democracy rewards those who choose to participate. In this case, it's a two-tier participation system. People who vote for a party, but not for a specific candidate, are letting the people who do vote for a specific candidate choose for them. And that's fine.
- There's an ongoing investigation into alleged election fraud, which has not yet proven anything
- The candidate himself is not even a suspect in that investigation
- The candidate is known to have had some contacts with Somali government officials in the past, but no relation to this election is alleged by said investigation
Given the user you are responding to is named “try-working” and is participating heavily in this post, arguing heavily on the side of “where there’s smoke there’s fire,” I think they might in fact be one such political opponent. Or at least politically opposed to the existence of Somali migrants in Sweden.
> I often find myself wonder if the world would be a saner place had Trump actually won in 2020
I've had this same thought.
The four year gap just allowed a lot of malicious planning to occur. Especially the Project 2025 whitepaper.
And on the subject of election fraud: I think sending a ramble horde to kick in the doors of the capitol building, _while_ the election results were being tallied, and calling the vice-president to order an alternate set of "electors", and calling on the state of Georgia to "find" additional votes, is clearly election fraud.
Because of all this, when the current administration claims there is election fraud in the US, he knows this to be true, because he committed it...
Yes, and he had meetings with Somali state representatives in Somalia and in Sweden before the election, discussing how the Somali population in Sweden should act in the election to further Somali interests.
With just 600 votes needed, seats to the Swedish parliament can be bought by foreign states for just $5,000 or so.
TL; DR There are allegations this source brought up which don't seem to have any official corroboration. TV4SE met with election observers, but I see no evidence any credible observers have said they will "invetigate" as no observers were sent to the election. The most ODIHR have said is that they would consider this when deciding whether to send observers in the future.
The direct translation of the article title is that they will "follow up" on election fraud reports, investigations etc.
All Swedish media have reported, and report several times per day about the ongoing investigations into election fraud in Sweden.
Here is a new article, where a specific case is being investigated by a special police force dedicated to threats against our democratic system:
'The police report concerns an incident alleged to have taken place at a polling station in Malmö on August 26. The case was registered on September 15 and is classified as suspected improper influence on voting.
The case has now also been transferred from the Malmö investigative duty unit to the unit for crimes threatening democracy (GDB).
This is a specialized police unit that handles crimes targeting—or risking an impact on—the democratic system.
According to the police, a preliminary investigation is underway, but due to confidentiality rules regarding such investigations, they are unwilling to disclose further details about the nature of the suspicions.
"In light of this ongoing investigation and applicable confidentiality regulations, we are unfortunately unable to provide further information regarding the content of the report or the status of the investigation at this stage," writes Fredrik Arvidsson, the former lead investigator, via the police press office.'
That's a lot of words to say nothing. Why would a police force and regulations designed to protect democracy choose to prioritize darkness, its known predator?
It looks like the OP is determined to push a certain narrative about election fraud being pivotal in the 2026 Swedish election.
I think in that context it should be pointed out that the 2026 election was not particularly remarkable. It went from a 2-seat majority for the liberal-conservative bloc to a 2-seat majority for the liberal-left bloc (there's two different liberal centrist parties, one in each bloc… Sweden's a funny place). There was a mere 0.67 percentage point increase in turnout from last election. Some of that may be from recently naturalised citizens, who according to polling are somewhat more likely to vote for the left-leaning parties (not strange given those parties are less hostile to immigrants). But the biggest change in this election is the 3.05 percentage point drop in support for the most right-wing anti-immigrant party. I don't think you need to resort to accusations of fraud to explain that one: the anti-establishment populists have been in power for the first time ever, and been forced to compromise. It's not surprising that voters become a bit less enthusiastic. But only marginally: this was an election won on a single-percentage-point swing. If there's been large-scale fraud here, it's very very subtle.
I reiterate how unusual, chaotic, and fraud-filled this election has been:
1. More than 5,000 Swedish citizens have made official appeals against the legitimacy of the election
2. More than 100,000 Swedish citizens have signed a petition for a re-election due to election fraud, interference, tampering etc: https://ettfolk.se/
3. On the same site above, you can read about 500 examples from Swedish voters of fraud, influencing, interference etc
4. Accused Somali candidates have held meetings with Somali officials in Sweden and in Somalia, discussing how the Somali population should act in the Swedish election to further Somali interests
5. In the 2022 election, a muslim party received about 20-30% of votes in the muslim areas. In this election, the same party received almost exactly 0.0% votes - instead, the incriminated leftist parties increased by the same amount and even more. All voters shifted to the same 1-2 parties in an organized manner.
None of this has ever happened before in Swedish history
1. More than 5,000 Swedish citizens have made official appeals against the legitimacy of the election
2. More than 100,000 Swedish citizens have signed a petition for a re-election due to election fraud, interference, tampering etc: https://ettfolk.se/
3. On the same site above, you can read about 500 examples from Swedish voters of fraud, influencing, interference etc
4. Accused Somali candidates have held meetings with Somali officials in Sweden and in Somalia, discussing how the Somali population should act in the Swedish election to further Somali interests: https://ledarsidorna.se/besok-pa-somalisk-ministerniva-i-bor...
5. In the 2022 election, a muslim party received about 20-30% of votes in the muslim areas. In this election, the same party received almost exactly 0.0% votes - instead, the incriminated leftist parties increased by the same amount and even more. All voters shifted to the same 1-2 parties in an organized manner.
let's be patient and see what the evidence in court tells us before jumping to certitudes
being investigated does not imply wrongdoing actually happened, many laws require accusations to be looked at or "investigated" at a minimal level to judge credibility for in depth investigation
Absolutely nothing point toward a shifting "organised" on some grand scale where all somalis move in unison on some leaders say-so. Ledarsidorna is a far-right conspiracy blogger, you should check your sources.
There's hundreds of reported cases of election fraud and interference. The Somali state meetings are fact, and the participating Somali candidates are being investigated for election fraud.
The special police force dedicated to guarding against threats against our democracy is involved in investigations.
In the US there were 185 reported cases of non-citizens voting in Nevada, selected by Department of Homeland Security from a list of nearly 16,000 potential illegal voters.
Turns out, every single one of those 185 reported cases concerned US citizens ho voted legally.
Also in the US, anti-Catholic bigotry caused people to distrust all Catholics, due to the potential influence of the Catholic Church, run out of the independent city-state of Vatican City, with the Pope in control over the bishops and priests who can tell their members how to vote.
"Prominent Protestant spokesmen, led by Billy Graham and Norman Vincent Peale, organized Protestant ministers [against the presidential candidate John F. Kennedy] by warning them that the pope would be giving orders to a Kennedy White House." "Catholics mobilized and gave Kennedy from 75 to 80 percent of their votes." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Catholicism_in_the_United...
So I think you'll understand why I, coming from a US perspective, can easily interpret the reported facts as arising from xenophobia in Sweden, which I understand is another threat against Swedish democracy.
Related article on the September election fraud, translated:
Chaos, bloc voting, pre-marked ballots smuggled into polling stations, and voters receiving instructions via telephone. The accounts from poll workers in Järva are shocking—and once again, they involve the Left Party.
Cheating. Straight-up election interference. Like the Middle East. A disaster. The election should be re-run. The worst thing I’ve ever seen.
Over the past week, I have held long conversations with several individuals who, in various capacities, worked on and oversaw early voting in the Järva area outside Stockholm. Not politicians, but poll workers—appointed by the Stockholm City Election Board. All of them possess extensive, solid experience. All have managed multiple previous elections in Järva’s vulnerable neighborhoods: Rinkeby, Tensta, and Husby.
The words in the introduction are excerpts from their accounts regarding the situation at the early voting stations where they worked for several weeks. Everything they describe, they witnessed firsthand. Some details they shared only with me. Others are documented in incident reports that they (and other poll workers) submitted to the Swedish Election Authority, as well as in daily reports sent to the Election Board’s secretariat.
Unfortunately, there are many more examples. However, there is not enough space to recount them all.
This article presents a few examples. Unfortunately, there are many more. However, there is not enough space to recount them all.
1. More than a hundred Eritrean women arrive in a group to cast early votes at the civic center in Husby. They are accompanied by two priests from their congregation. Everyone votes for the same party and marks the same candidate. The priests instruct the women on what to do. 2. A man is repeatedly ejected from the polling station at the Tensta library because he is instructing others on how to vote. On several occasions, he is caught handing out pre-marked ballot papers right outside the entrance.
3. In late August, there is a steady stream of early voters in Rinkeby. Many do not speak Swedish at all and have no idea how a polling station works or what to vote for. But they know one thing; they have been given a task, and they can say one phrase: "Number eight."
Ilyas Hassan, from Husby. A member of the Left Party’s executive board. A fellow countryman of theirs.
4. An elderly woman using a walker arrives at the early voting station accompanied by an employee from the adjacent municipal service center. When the elderly lady approaches the poll worker, her companion leaves the room. Just as the poll worker is about to place the ballot envelopes into the collection box, the woman suddenly exclaims, "Stop." She then explains that she actually wants to vote for a different party, but that she had needed help copying some documents at the service center, and the employee there would only assist her if she first went and voted for the Left Party.
5. A gray-haired man in Tensta appears to have made a habit of accompanying voters into the early voting station. He even attempts to follow them behind the voting screen to help them cast the pre-marked ballots he has provided. He is repeatedly ejected. When one of the poll workers walks to Tensta Square, they spot the man. He is sitting in the Left Party’s election booth, wearing a high-visibility vest bearing the party’s logo.
6. At all early voting stations in Järva, poll workers need to check the ballot displays several times an hour. Incidents occur more often than not. Ballots have been moved. Ballots have been hidden. And then there is the recurring issue: pre-marked ballots mixed in with the others—or left behind on the table. Usually, these are Left Party ballots, typically with a mark next to candidate number eight.
7. Poll workers—one source says it happened to them three times—are discreetly beckoned behind the voting screen by voters. The voters nervously whisper that they want help getting rid of pre-sealed ballot envelopes without anyone noticing, and that they want to choose for themselves who to vote for.
8. Remote guidance via mobile phones. Many early voters in Järva stand behind the voting screen with their phones. They pull up photos or written instructions sent to them to ensure they pick the right party and candidate. Others make video calls for help getting it right—though it is unclear who they are calling.
We will leave it there. As mentioned, there is much more to tell, and more to be found in the complaints and reports available upon request from various authorities. One of the poll workers I speak with believes these complaints are merely the tip of the iceberg, however, since reporting incidents required both time and energy—resources that were not always available.
One of the poll workers I speak with suggests that the reported incidents are merely the tip of the iceberg, as filing a report required both time and energy—resources that were not always available.
However, the worker emphasizes that many staff members did what they could. For instance, people arriving with pre-marked ballots were urged to take new ones. Yet, the situation often involved physically ushering out individuals who stood in groups inside the voting booths, or who shouted instructions to others in the room in Arabic and Somali. On several occasions, chaos, arguments, and scuffles broke out.
At the same time, there are limits to what poll workers can do. They cannot refuse to accept a person's vote, even if the voter arrives with pre-sealed envelopes, pre-marked ballots, or has clearly chosen a party based on instructions. Furthermore, fraud and violations are difficult to document; taking photographs or videos risks compromising the secrecy of the ballot. Staff authority is also limited to maintaining order inside the polling station—not on the street outside.
According to my sources, the election in Järva could be described as neither free nor fair. It was certainly not worthy of a democracy. "It’s the worst thing I’ve seen since I was an election observer in Uganda, where a candidate bribed voters with rice and seeds," says one poll worker. Another estimates that a majority of voters brought one or more other people into the voting booth with them—predominantly women. In many cases, staff could not intervene with the men accompanying them before it was too late.
And although incidents involving other parties did occur, the sources constantly return to one and the same party: the Left Party. According to Eva Debels, head of the secretariat for the Stockholm Election Board, the Järva area stands out in the reports and alerts received by the office during the early voting period. And the Left Party stands out within Järva—specifically Ilyas Hassan’s personal vote campaign, which, according to Debels, "got out of hand." On several occasions, Debels was forced to contact the Left Party’s Stockholm office and demand action.
She cannot say whether the party actually took such action. She primarily monitored the voting process from the office on Kungsholmen. However, the number of incident reports submitted by staff in the field did decrease over time.
My sources within the election organization all share the same analysis. The problems in Järva were largely centered on the Left Party and the Somali-language campaign mobilized to get Ilyas Hassan elected to Parliament. Ultimately, he received nearly 8,300 personal votes—the second-highest number of any Left Party candidate in Sweden. Only party leader Nooshi Dadgostar received more.
They also agree on the terms used to describe what they witnessed. "Clan-based voting, electoral interference, and voter fraud on a scale I have never seen before," says one of the poll workers. Another notes that it was obvious that clans and mosques were directing much of the voting, and that uninformed voters—predominantly women—were systematically misled and exploited.
"Clan-based voting, electoral interference, and voter fraud on a scale I have never seen before," says one of the poll workers.
However, they find it difficult to explain exactly how it was carried out. "In the heat of the moment, you’re focused on keeping things in order and making everything run as smoothly as possible—getting hold of missing materials, dealing with staff calling in sick. But looking back, I’ve thought a lot about what the hell actually happened. And that we probably should have closed the polling stations when things were at their worst," says one of them—though adding that even that could have been seen as interfering with the election.
"Should the police and prosecutors investigate what happened, and how?" I ask.
There is a pause before the answer comes.
"Yes," the person replies, "and I don’t want to be part of this anymore if things are going to be run this way."
When the Somali form of parliamentarism meets the Swedish electoral system, both friction and synergies arise. It was not the communist party's election committees or voters who elected their candidates or members. It was the Somali clan logic, parliamentary tradition and electoral college which decided which Swedish parties would become platforms to channel their representatives.
The article is written by Johan Westerholm, he used to work for the Swedish state foreign aid organisation SIDA and as such has a lot of experience in these matters.
[ also posted in the other thread, here for completeness' sake ]
It looks like credible evidence has been raised. But I see zero evidence any international organizations are investigating in the way that term is usually used. “Have taken note of” is more accurate.
Did you read the article and follow the sources? If not, why not? Also, why spout nonsense about this being an 'alt-right blog'? Westerholm is a 'betongsosse', an old-style social democrat. Are they 'alt-right' just because they don't do identity politics?
It's crazy that the guy only got 648 personal votes and still got into parliament. In a country with eight million eligible voters and 349 MPs.
Sweden uses a party list proportional representation system. Seats are allocated based on how many votes a party gets, and they are allocated to parties first. The selection of who then sits in those seats then comes down to ”personröster” (literally “person-votes”, but I think they're conventionally translated as “preferential votes” or something like that), which are optional. Most voters do not put a cross next to their preferred candidate, they just put the party ballot paper in the envelope and the envelope goes in the box. And because they're optional, there's therefore a threshold for how many personröster a candidate has to receive to be elected. That threshold is 5% of voters in the particular electoral district. Only candidates that get more than 5% of votes are even considered in this process; if there's none (or not enough), then the candidates from the party list are taken.
The seat would have gone to the Left Party either way. But only this guy specifically got enough personal support to get elected. There's nothing that crazy about it. Participative democracy rewards those who choose to participate. In this case, it's a two-tier participation system. People who vote for a party, but not for a specific candidate, are letting the people who do vote for a specific candidate choose for them. And that's fine.
This candidate committed election fraud and coordinated with the Somali state. This is not fine.
Whoa there, hold your horses:
- There's an ongoing investigation into alleged election fraud, which has not yet proven anything
- The candidate himself is not even a suspect in that investigation
- The candidate is known to have had some contacts with Somali government officials in the past, but no relation to this election is alleged by said investigation
- So far, it doesn't sound like they even have actual evidence any fraud took place (https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/senaste-nytt-om-val-2026?...)
I believe in innocent until proven guilty. Remember that political opponents might have an incentive to fabricate allegations.
Given the user you are responding to is named “try-working” and is participating heavily in this post, arguing heavily on the side of “where there’s smoke there’s fire,” I think they might in fact be one such political opponent. Or at least politically opposed to the existence of Somali migrants in Sweden.
I think their handle is more likely tied to their projects site: https://try.works/
I often find myself wonder if the world would be a saner place had Trump actually won in 2020
> I often find myself wonder if the world would be a saner place had Trump actually won in 2020
I've had this same thought.
The four year gap just allowed a lot of malicious planning to occur. Especially the Project 2025 whitepaper.
And on the subject of election fraud: I think sending a ramble horde to kick in the doors of the capitol building, _while_ the election results were being tallied, and calling the vice-president to order an alternate set of "electors", and calling on the state of Georgia to "find" additional votes, is clearly election fraud.
Because of all this, when the current administration claims there is election fraud in the US, he knows this to be true, because he committed it...
There are hundreds of reports of election fraud and the number being investigated is unknown but obviously a portiong of that.
Crimes investigated are per definition alleged.
You have no insight into any investigation so your claim that Somali state contacts are not part of any investigation is false.
There's plenty of evidence of fraud, and several hundred witnesses.
where's the fun (dopamine) in that though? /s
Yes, and he had meetings with Somali state representatives in Somalia and in Sweden before the election, discussing how the Somali population in Sweden should act in the election to further Somali interests.
With just 600 votes needed, seats to the Swedish parliament can be bought by foreign states for just $5,000 or so.
Translated https://translate.kagi.com/www.tv4.se/artikel/37VDHaUBmbgXCI.... Title seems editorialised.
TL; DR There are allegations this source brought up which don't seem to have any official corroboration. TV4SE met with election observers, but I see no evidence any credible observers have said they will "invetigate" as no observers were sent to the election. The most ODIHR have said is that they would consider this when deciding whether to send observers in the future.
The direct translation of the article title is that they will "follow up" on election fraud reports, investigations etc.
All Swedish media have reported, and report several times per day about the ongoing investigations into election fraud in Sweden.
Here is a new article, where a specific case is being investigated by a special police force dedicated to threats against our democratic system:
'The police report concerns an incident alleged to have taken place at a polling station in Malmö on August 26. The case was registered on September 15 and is classified as suspected improper influence on voting.
The case has now also been transferred from the Malmö investigative duty unit to the unit for crimes threatening democracy (GDB).
This is a specialized police unit that handles crimes targeting—or risking an impact on—the democratic system.
According to the police, a preliminary investigation is underway, but due to confidentiality rules regarding such investigations, they are unwilling to disclose further details about the nature of the suspicions.
"In light of this ongoing investigation and applicable confidentiality regulations, we are unfortunately unable to provide further information regarding the content of the report or the status of the investigation at this stage," writes Fredrik Arvidsson, the former lead investigator, via the police press office.'
https://kvartal.se/jesperandersson/artiklar/misstankt-valbro...
That's a lot of words to say nothing. Why would a police force and regulations designed to protect democracy choose to prioritize darkness, its known predator?
It looks like the OP is determined to push a certain narrative about election fraud being pivotal in the 2026 Swedish election.
I think in that context it should be pointed out that the 2026 election was not particularly remarkable. It went from a 2-seat majority for the liberal-conservative bloc to a 2-seat majority for the liberal-left bloc (there's two different liberal centrist parties, one in each bloc… Sweden's a funny place). There was a mere 0.67 percentage point increase in turnout from last election. Some of that may be from recently naturalised citizens, who according to polling are somewhat more likely to vote for the left-leaning parties (not strange given those parties are less hostile to immigrants). But the biggest change in this election is the 3.05 percentage point drop in support for the most right-wing anti-immigrant party. I don't think you need to resort to accusations of fraud to explain that one: the anti-establishment populists have been in power for the first time ever, and been forced to compromise. It's not surprising that voters become a bit less enthusiastic. But only marginally: this was an election won on a single-percentage-point swing. If there's been large-scale fraud here, it's very very subtle.
I have been hearing about Sweden's downfall due to migrants for my whole life. And I'm not a young person.
I reiterate how unusual, chaotic, and fraud-filled this election has been:
1. More than 5,000 Swedish citizens have made official appeals against the legitimacy of the election 2. More than 100,000 Swedish citizens have signed a petition for a re-election due to election fraud, interference, tampering etc: https://ettfolk.se/
3. On the same site above, you can read about 500 examples from Swedish voters of fraud, influencing, interference etc
4. Accused Somali candidates have held meetings with Somali officials in Sweden and in Somalia, discussing how the Somali population should act in the Swedish election to further Somali interests
5. In the 2022 election, a muslim party received about 20-30% of votes in the muslim areas. In this election, the same party received almost exactly 0.0% votes - instead, the incriminated leftist parties increased by the same amount and even more. All voters shifted to the same 1-2 parties in an organized manner.
None of this has ever happened before in Swedish history
1. More than 5,000 Swedish citizens have made official appeals against the legitimacy of the election
2. More than 100,000 Swedish citizens have signed a petition for a re-election due to election fraud, interference, tampering etc: https://ettfolk.se/
3. On the same site above, you can read about 500 examples from Swedish voters of fraud, influencing, interference etc
4. Accused Somali candidates have held meetings with Somali officials in Sweden and in Somalia, discussing how the Somali population should act in the Swedish election to further Somali interests: https://ledarsidorna.se/besok-pa-somalisk-ministerniva-i-bor...
5. In the 2022 election, a muslim party received about 20-30% of votes in the muslim areas. In this election, the same party received almost exactly 0.0% votes - instead, the incriminated leftist parties increased by the same amount and even more. All voters shifted to the same 1-2 parties in an organized manner.
Investigate, take it to court, and prove it. Until then, we just have speculation.
It is being investigated, including by the special police for threats against democracy.
let's be patient and see what the evidence in court tells us before jumping to certitudes
being investigated does not imply wrongdoing actually happened, many laws require accusations to be looked at or "investigated" at a minimal level to judge credibility for in depth investigation
Absolutely nothing point toward a shifting "organised" on some grand scale where all somalis move in unison on some leaders say-so. Ledarsidorna is a far-right conspiracy blogger, you should check your sources.
There's hundreds of reported cases of election fraud and interference. The Somali state meetings are fact, and the participating Somali candidates are being investigated for election fraud.
The special police force dedicated to guarding against threats against our democracy is involved in investigations.
Read the article I posted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49838039
In the US there were 185 reported cases of non-citizens voting in Nevada, selected by Department of Homeland Security from a list of nearly 16,000 potential illegal voters.
Turns out, every single one of those 185 reported cases concerned US citizens ho voted legally.
Also in the US, anti-Catholic bigotry caused people to distrust all Catholics, due to the potential influence of the Catholic Church, run out of the independent city-state of Vatican City, with the Pope in control over the bishops and priests who can tell their members how to vote.
"Prominent Protestant spokesmen, led by Billy Graham and Norman Vincent Peale, organized Protestant ministers [against the presidential candidate John F. Kennedy] by warning them that the pope would be giving orders to a Kennedy White House." "Catholics mobilized and gave Kennedy from 75 to 80 percent of their votes." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Catholicism_in_the_United...
So I think you'll understand why I, coming from a US perspective, can easily interpret the reported facts as arising from xenophobia in Sweden, which I understand is another threat against Swedish democracy.
Related article on the September election fraud, translated:
Chaos, bloc voting, pre-marked ballots smuggled into polling stations, and voters receiving instructions via telephone. The accounts from poll workers in Järva are shocking—and once again, they involve the Left Party.
Cheating. Straight-up election interference. Like the Middle East. A disaster. The election should be re-run. The worst thing I’ve ever seen.
Over the past week, I have held long conversations with several individuals who, in various capacities, worked on and oversaw early voting in the Järva area outside Stockholm. Not politicians, but poll workers—appointed by the Stockholm City Election Board. All of them possess extensive, solid experience. All have managed multiple previous elections in Järva’s vulnerable neighborhoods: Rinkeby, Tensta, and Husby.
The words in the introduction are excerpts from their accounts regarding the situation at the early voting stations where they worked for several weeks. Everything they describe, they witnessed firsthand. Some details they shared only with me. Others are documented in incident reports that they (and other poll workers) submitted to the Swedish Election Authority, as well as in daily reports sent to the Election Board’s secretariat.
Unfortunately, there are many more examples. However, there is not enough space to recount them all.
This article presents a few examples. Unfortunately, there are many more. However, there is not enough space to recount them all.
1. More than a hundred Eritrean women arrive in a group to cast early votes at the civic center in Husby. They are accompanied by two priests from their congregation. Everyone votes for the same party and marks the same candidate. The priests instruct the women on what to do. 2. A man is repeatedly ejected from the polling station at the Tensta library because he is instructing others on how to vote. On several occasions, he is caught handing out pre-marked ballot papers right outside the entrance.
3. In late August, there is a steady stream of early voters in Rinkeby. Many do not speak Swedish at all and have no idea how a polling station works or what to vote for. But they know one thing; they have been given a task, and they can say one phrase: "Number eight."
Ilyas Hassan, from Husby. A member of the Left Party’s executive board. A fellow countryman of theirs.
4. An elderly woman using a walker arrives at the early voting station accompanied by an employee from the adjacent municipal service center. When the elderly lady approaches the poll worker, her companion leaves the room. Just as the poll worker is about to place the ballot envelopes into the collection box, the woman suddenly exclaims, "Stop." She then explains that she actually wants to vote for a different party, but that she had needed help copying some documents at the service center, and the employee there would only assist her if she first went and voted for the Left Party.
5. A gray-haired man in Tensta appears to have made a habit of accompanying voters into the early voting station. He even attempts to follow them behind the voting screen to help them cast the pre-marked ballots he has provided. He is repeatedly ejected. When one of the poll workers walks to Tensta Square, they spot the man. He is sitting in the Left Party’s election booth, wearing a high-visibility vest bearing the party’s logo.
6. At all early voting stations in Järva, poll workers need to check the ballot displays several times an hour. Incidents occur more often than not. Ballots have been moved. Ballots have been hidden. And then there is the recurring issue: pre-marked ballots mixed in with the others—or left behind on the table. Usually, these are Left Party ballots, typically with a mark next to candidate number eight.
7. Poll workers—one source says it happened to them three times—are discreetly beckoned behind the voting screen by voters. The voters nervously whisper that they want help getting rid of pre-sealed ballot envelopes without anyone noticing, and that they want to choose for themselves who to vote for.
8. Remote guidance via mobile phones. Many early voters in Järva stand behind the voting screen with their phones. They pull up photos or written instructions sent to them to ensure they pick the right party and candidate. Others make video calls for help getting it right—though it is unclear who they are calling.
We will leave it there. As mentioned, there is much more to tell, and more to be found in the complaints and reports available upon request from various authorities. One of the poll workers I speak with believes these complaints are merely the tip of the iceberg, however, since reporting incidents required both time and energy—resources that were not always available.
One of the poll workers I speak with suggests that the reported incidents are merely the tip of the iceberg, as filing a report required both time and energy—resources that were not always available.
However, the worker emphasizes that many staff members did what they could. For instance, people arriving with pre-marked ballots were urged to take new ones. Yet, the situation often involved physically ushering out individuals who stood in groups inside the voting booths, or who shouted instructions to others in the room in Arabic and Somali. On several occasions, chaos, arguments, and scuffles broke out.
At the same time, there are limits to what poll workers can do. They cannot refuse to accept a person's vote, even if the voter arrives with pre-sealed envelopes, pre-marked ballots, or has clearly chosen a party based on instructions. Furthermore, fraud and violations are difficult to document; taking photographs or videos risks compromising the secrecy of the ballot. Staff authority is also limited to maintaining order inside the polling station—not on the street outside.
According to my sources, the election in Järva could be described as neither free nor fair. It was certainly not worthy of a democracy. "It’s the worst thing I’ve seen since I was an election observer in Uganda, where a candidate bribed voters with rice and seeds," says one poll worker. Another estimates that a majority of voters brought one or more other people into the voting booth with them—predominantly women. In many cases, staff could not intervene with the men accompanying them before it was too late.
And although incidents involving other parties did occur, the sources constantly return to one and the same party: the Left Party. According to Eva Debels, head of the secretariat for the Stockholm Election Board, the Järva area stands out in the reports and alerts received by the office during the early voting period. And the Left Party stands out within Järva—specifically Ilyas Hassan’s personal vote campaign, which, according to Debels, "got out of hand." On several occasions, Debels was forced to contact the Left Party’s Stockholm office and demand action.
She cannot say whether the party actually took such action. She primarily monitored the voting process from the office on Kungsholmen. However, the number of incident reports submitted by staff in the field did decrease over time.
My sources within the election organization all share the same analysis. The problems in Järva were largely centered on the Left Party and the Somali-language campaign mobilized to get Ilyas Hassan elected to Parliament. Ultimately, he received nearly 8,300 personal votes—the second-highest number of any Left Party candidate in Sweden. Only party leader Nooshi Dadgostar received more.
They also agree on the terms used to describe what they witnessed. "Clan-based voting, electoral interference, and voter fraud on a scale I have never seen before," says one of the poll workers. Another notes that it was obvious that clans and mosques were directing much of the voting, and that uninformed voters—predominantly women—were systematically misled and exploited.
"Clan-based voting, electoral interference, and voter fraud on a scale I have never seen before," says one of the poll workers.
However, they find it difficult to explain exactly how it was carried out. "In the heat of the moment, you’re focused on keeping things in order and making everything run as smoothly as possible—getting hold of missing materials, dealing with staff calling in sick. But looking back, I’ve thought a lot about what the hell actually happened. And that we probably should have closed the polling stations when things were at their worst," says one of them—though adding that even that could have been seen as interfering with the election.
"Should the police and prosecutors investigate what happened, and how?" I ask.
There is a pause before the answer comes.
"Yes," the person replies, "and I don’t want to be part of this anymore if things are going to be run this way."
https://www.svd.se/a/43a0Qq/skandalen-i-borlange-ar-bara-bor...
Related post about Swedish election fraud: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828873
Yes, well, good I say. Here's an article - in Swedish - which gives some insight in what happened:
https://ledarsidorna.se/klanerna-valjer-partier/
The title is "Clans choose parties":
When the Somali form of parliamentarism meets the Swedish electoral system, both friction and synergies arise. It was not the communist party's election committees or voters who elected their candidates or members. It was the Somali clan logic, parliamentary tradition and electoral college which decided which Swedish parties would become platforms to channel their representatives.
The article is written by Johan Westerholm, he used to work for the Swedish state foreign aid organisation SIDA and as such has a lot of experience in these matters.
[ also posted in the other thread, here for completeness' sake ]
> good I say
It looks like credible evidence has been raised. But I see zero evidence any international organizations are investigating in the way that term is usually used. “Have taken note of” is more accurate.
No, that is not accurate and a misrepresenation. The direct translation is "will follow up".
Ledarsidorna is an alt-right blog, not a serious news source.
Did you read the article and follow the sources? If not, why not? Also, why spout nonsense about this being an 'alt-right blog'? Westerholm is a 'betongsosse', an old-style social democrat. Are they 'alt-right' just because they don't do identity politics?
> Are they 'alt-right' just because they don't do identity politics?
The entire linked post is identity politics.
The political party "Vänsterpartiet" is not translated as "the communist party". Correct is "Left Party".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_Party_(Sweden)
Or we can start calling SD by their proper neonazi name as well.
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