Concerns over election fraud spread despite no confirmed cases

Concerns about election fraud have spread after voting cards were sent out ahead of Sweden’s September 13 election, but SVT Verifierar has found no evidence that the practice has ever been misused.

The cards explain that another person can certify a voter’s identity at the polling station. The possibility was introduced under Sweden’s new election law in 2006. Before then, voters only had to state their name and date of birth to election officials.

Critics have raised concerns that two people could lie and cast a ballot in a third person’s name. The third person’s name would then be marked in the electoral roll, and the error could not be corrected if they later tried to vote, according to the Swedish Election Authority.

However, the authority says it has not encountered a single case of this method being used for fraud during the 20 years it has been available.

“We have no information that this way of identifying oneself has been misused in previous elections,” Clarie Åkesson, a press secretary at the Swedish Election Authority, told SVT Verifierar.

In a small number of cases, voters have arrived to find that they have already been marked as having voted. This is usually caused by a human error, such as a voter being marked on the wrong line. The matter is then investigated and, in some cases, the error can be corrected, Åkesson said.

Voting in someone else’s name is known as improper conduct in voting. Anyone convicted can face a fine or up to six months in prison.

A significant obstacle for anyone attempting to commit fraud is that the person certifying the voter’s identity must show an identification document.