Swedish authorities prepare for growing election threats

Swedish authorities are preparing for a complex threat landscape ahead of the 2026 election, SVT reports. Hundreds of millions of ballot papers will be distributed, thousands of polling stations staffed and around eight million people will be eligible to vote.

“The challenges have generally increased significantly, so we have to be prepared in a way we have not been before,” said Anna Nyqvist, head of the secretariat at the Swedish Election Authority.

The authority says the risks of threats, sabotage and disinformation targeting elections have increased in recent years.

“There are actors who may want to negatively influence the election result, the conduct of the election and confidence in the electoral system,” Nyqvist said.

Susanna Trehörning, operational chief at the Agency for Civil Defence, described the situation as highly complex.

“That means we must be even more prepared to handle different situations when they arise,” she said.

Municipalities and government agencies are planning and conducting exercises for scenarios ranging from disruptions at polling stations to cyberattacks.

“We are well equipped. The situation is calm right now, but you never know when that may change,” Trehörning said.

Authorities are coordinating through a national election network that brings together agencies working on cyberthreats, security and information influence. They will share information and situational reports before and during the election.

The aim is to quickly determine whether incidents in different parts of the country are connected, and whether something that initially appears local is actually part of a larger, coordinated disruption.

“That is absolutely central to holding the election safely. We have established contacts and know immediately what to do if something happens,” Nyqvist said.

The cyberthreat is not merely theoretical. On election night in 2018, the Swedish Election Authority’s website was hit by a denial of service attack and was unavailable for about five hours. The vote count was not affected.

At least three further serious denial of service attempts were made during the 2022 parliamentary election, but they were stopped.

For this year’s election, the National Cybersecurity Centre and the National Defence Radio Establishment have also been given a special assignment to strengthen cybersecurity.

“Unfortunately, we expect denial of service attacks. That is the world we live in. We have worked on IT security for a long time and are well prepared,” Nyqvist said.