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Erfarenheter och konsekvenser av vallokalsköer vid det svenska valet 2022

Abstract

Voters in line: Experiences and consequences of polling station lines in the 2022

Swedish general election Issues related to electoral integrity and the conduct of elections has gained increased scholarly and societal interest, also in countries with very high levels of electoral integrity. In this paper, we study whether there are any socioeconomic inequalities in voters’ waiting time at the polling station. But primarily, we study whether negative experiences of the voting process, with a specific focus on polling station lines, is related to trust in the conduct of elections. We use survey data from the 2022 Swedish National Election Study together register data on individuals’ socioeconomic status, and municipal and election district data. The findings show that there are no socioeconomic differences between voters with shorter or longer waiting time at the polling stations. However, both negative experiences of the visit to the polling station and waiting time at the polling station is associated with lower trust in the conduct of elections.