Personröstning i Sverige - Hur resonerar väljarna kring personröstning till Europaparlamentet och riksdagen?

Abstract

This article analyses the decision of Swedish voters to cast, or not, a preference vote in the European Parliament elections and/or the national elections. Previous research shows that various structural and individual factors have a positive impact on the propensity to cast a preferential vote. On a structural level, factors such as type of election, personalisation of politics, media and election campaigns could affect the voters when deciding whether to cast a preferential vote or not. On an individual level, factors such as political interest, candidate proximity and party identification could also affect the voters. There are vast statistical data showing how many and which voters, depending on social background, are more likely to cast a preferential vote, but researchers have yet not found out what exactly motivates the voters to either cast a preferential vote or not. All in all, this article attempts to show the diversity of motivations behind preference voting and draw general patterns by interviewing Swedish voters.