This study examines how Sweden’s changing security situation in 2023 affects political elections by investigating the planning of two elections in two Swedish municipalities, Borås and Båstad. Through interviews with five officials within these municipalities, the study has examined potential differences between two EU elections. The study links the concepts of legitimacy and electoral integrity to the polling station where citizens encounter Sweden’s central electoral authority through poll workers who are tasked with guiding citizens through the voting process. The thesis mainly relates Sweden’s changed security situation to Mark. C Suchmans perspective of legitimacy and the importance of training poll workers in the creation of three pillars of legitimacy-pragmatic, normative and cognitive. The second research question the study investigated was whether there have been changes in the planning of training of poll workers between two elections due to the changed security situation in Sweden 2023. Previous research has shown an increased interest in electoral integrity in Sweden, especially due to global events that threaten the legitimacy of democracies. This thesis demonstrates changes in the planning of the training of poll workers due to the changed security situation in 2023. Valmyndigheten, Sweden's central voting institution, has guided the municipalities through an operational security analysis, and the municipalities have also taken their own initiatives, such as systematizing security thinking throughout the education of poll workers. The thesis emphasizes the importance of training poll workers to create legitimacy based on Suchmans three pillars of legitimacy. Through training, poll workers learn democratic values and approaches that can be disarming in potentially threatening situations. The result of this study has confirmed that the two municipalities aim with educating poll workers is to create mostly pragmatic and normative legitimacy 2024. This study is of relevance because Sweden in 2023 has experienced a changed security situation, and global trends have discussed electoral integrity in democracies and in political elections. Key words: Legitimacy, Electoral integrity, Political election, Poll workers, Security Sweden 2023.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hh-53303 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Sörem, Pontus, Carlsson, Evelina |
| Publisher | Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för lärande, humaniora och samhälle |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0023 seconds