Chamber:
	Riksdagen
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	15 September 2002
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office
Background and outcome of elections:
	The electoral campaign for the 15 September 2002 elections was dominated by immigration and the future of the large public sector, as voters had to decide whether they wanted to go on paying among the world's highest taxes to finance their welfare state or preferred a rightist recipe of tax cuts, privatisation and deregulation. Prime Minister Göran Persson, who leads the ruling Social Democrats, campaigned for more public spending on such welfare state cornerstones as health and care of the elders, education and security. A promise to cut taxes seemed to have played a role in the narrow lead in opinion polls of the opposition bloc, formed by four centre-right parties. One important issue that both sides sidestepped was whether the country should join the European Union's Economic and Monetary Union and the common currency, the euro, which would entail sweeping economic change for Sweden. At 80.11 per cent, turnout was lower than in previous elections. The Social Democrats, together with the ex-communist Party of the Left and the Greens, won over 53 per cent of the votes and obtained 191 seats in Parliament. The opposition Moderate Party turned in its worst performance since 1973, obtaining 15.26 per cent of the votes and 55 seats, while the Liberal Party increased from 4.7 per cent in 1998 to 13.3 per cent in 2002. After the election, the Social Democrat Party leader, Mr Göran Persson, began a third term as Prime Minister in a minority government as he had refused to enter into any formal coalition arrangement with the Party of the Left or the Greens, largely because of their opposition to EU membership. On 30 September 2002, King Carl XVI Gustaf formally opened the new session of Parliament and Mr Björn von Sydow was elected Speaker.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (15 September 2002): Elections results
Number of registered electors	6 722 152
Voters	5 385 430 (80 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	82 218
Valid votes	5 303 212

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Social Democratic Party (SAP)	2 113 560	39.85
Moderate Party (M)	809 041	15.26
Liberal Party (FP)	710 312	13.39
Christian Democratic Party (Kd)	485 235	9.15
Left Party (VP)	444 854	8.39
Centre Party (CP)	328 428	6.19
Green Party (Mpg)	246 392	4.65

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Social Democratic Party (SAP)	144
Moderate Party (M)	55
Liberal Party (FP)	48
Christian Democratic Party (Kd)	33
Left Party (VP)	30
Centre Party (CP)	22
Green Party (Mpg)	17

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	191
Women:	158
Percent of women:	45.27

Distribution of seats according to age:
Under 24 years	2
25 to 30 years	13
31 to 40 years	63
41 to 50 years	94
51 to 60 years	141
61 to 70 years	36