NEWSROOM

Sweden, one of the freest countries in the world, goes to elections on September 11. While it is seen that even one vote is valuable in the race where the two candidates compete fiercely, non-governmental organizations are launching a campaign to encourage the participation of the immigrant community in the country.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.

Google Translate Application translates the content you see on this page.***

ISTANBUL (TR) - Sweden, which is defined as "a parliamentary monarchy with free and fair elections and a strong multi-party system" by Freedom House, a non-governmental organization working with a focus on democracy, human rights and political freedom, goes to the polls on September 11.

According to the current surveys of Kantar Sifo research company, the vote rates of the four-party coalition supporting Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson to remain as prime minister and the four-party coalition supporting Ulf Kristersson are standing at par with 48.9 percent and 49.7 percent, respectively. According to Reporters Without Borders data, the participation rate exceeding 87 percent in the 2018 elections in Sweden, which is third in the global ranking in terms of freedom of press and expression in 2022, is seen as a reflection of the country's democratic culture. Despite this, the Swedish Turkish Youth Federation (TUF), which determines that the participation of the immigrant population in the country is quite low compared to the average, is signing the "Everything Begins with a Vote" campaign to encourage the participation of voters with immigrant background in the elections to be held on September 11.

The turnout of the immigrant population in the elections drops to 70 percent.

Mert Can Yılmaz, one of the project coordinators, pointed out that there are more than 150 thousand people who immigrated to Sweden from Turkey and that the active participation of the immigrant population in the country in democratic processes is critical for the representation of immigrant communities in the political arena. We aim for the active participation of voters of immigrant origin in the September 11 elections, where regional councils will be determined. We believe that raising awareness on this issue and directing people to vıte is the duty of civil society. While the general participation rate in the elections in the country is around 90 percent, this rate drops to 70 percent when we talk about the immigrant community. Although Sweden acts with the slogan of 'leaving no one behind', the inequalities between the immigrant population and those born in the country are reflected in the reports. We think that the solution to all these problems is passed through the parliament. We believe that democratic rights can only be won through democratic struggles.

Multilingual campaign materials are prepared

Berrak Pınar Uluer, one of the project coordinators, pointed out that the studies reveal that the behaviors of people around them are effective in people's decision to go to the polls, and shared her evaluations with the following statements: “In order to reach our project as wide as possible and to raise awareness about the voting behavior of the immigrant population, we publish materials such as the video we prepared within the scope of the project, in Swedish and Turkish, as well as in English, Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac translations. We find the multilingual approach valuable to encourage all voters to vote in the September 11 elections, which is very critical for the democratic gains of communities with immigrant backgrounds.”