Electoral system family
Sweden
Chapter 3. The Riksdag
Formation and composition of the Riksdag
Art. 1. The Riksdag is appointed by means of free, secret and direct elections. Voting in such elections is by party, with an option for the voter to express a personal preference vote.
Art. 2. The Riksdag consists of a single chamber comprising three hundred and forty-nine members. Alternates shall be appointed for members.
Constituencies
Art. 5. The Realm is divided up into constituencies for the purpose of elections to the Riksdag.
Distribution of seats among constituencies
Art. 6. Of the seats in the Riksdag, 310 are fixed constituency seats and 39 are adjustment seats. The fixed constituency seats are distributed among the constituencies on the basis of a calculation of the relationship between the number of persons entitled to vote in each constituency, and the total number of persons entitled to vote throughout the whole of the Realm. The distribution of seats among the constituencies is determined for four years at a time.
Distribution of seats among parties
Art. 7. The seats are distributed among the parties which have notified their participation in the election in accordance with rules laid down in law. Only parties which receive at least four per cent of the votes cast throughout the Realm may share in the distribution of seats. A party receiving fewer votes, however, may participate in the distribution of the fixed constituency seats in a constituency in which it receives at least twelve per cent of the votes cast.
Art. 8. The fixed constituency seats in each constituency are distributed proportionately among the parties on the basis of the election result in that constituency. If, in the distribution of the fixed constituency seats under paragraph one, a party obtains seats in the whole of the Realm which exceed the number corresponding to the proportional representation of that party in the Riksdag, then the surplus seats shall be returned and distributed among the other parties in accordance with rules laid down in law.
The adjustment seats are distributed among the parties in such a way that the distribution of all the seats in the Riksdag, other than those fixed constituency seats which have been allocated to a party polling less than four per cent of the national vote, is in proportion to the total number of votes cast throughout the Realm for the parties participating in the distribution of seats. If, in the distribution of the fixed constituency seats, a party obtains seats which equal the number corresponding to the proportional representation of that party in the Riksdag, then that party and the fixed constituency seats which it has obtained are disregarded in distributing the adjustment seats. The adjustment seats are allocated to constituencies after they have been distributed among the parties.
The odd-number method is used to distribute the seats among the parties, with the first divisor adjusted to 1.2.
