Sweden election challenges hit record after close vote

Sweden has received a record level of challenges to this month's general election after a narrow opposition victory, officials said Thursday, while police and prosecutors look into reports of potential vote-tampering.

A representative of Sweden's parliamentary Election Review Board told AFP that more than 800 challenges had been registered and another 9,000 were waiting to be processed. The previous record followed the 2018 election, when 767 appeals were registered.

The September 13 general election gave four opposition parties led by the Social Democrats a three-seat majority over Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing alliance, which included the far-right, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats.

Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson has been tasked by the speaker of parliament with trying to form a new government.

Allegations have focused partly on Borlange, where Left Party candidate Mohamed Abdukardir Ali won a parliamentary seat after receiving an unusual number of personal votes. In Sweden, voters cast ballots for parties but may also mark a preferred individual candidate.

Newspaper Aftonbladet reported suspicions that someone had handed out ballots with Ali's name already ticked and that voters had been offered money.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said Thursday it had an active investigation into “improper influence on voting in Borlange linked to the Left Party.” It said no arrests had been made and no one was formally suspected of a crime at this stage.

Swedish police said they had received 58 reports of election tampering and had seen more complaints after reports about the Borlange case.