IT errors in Nynäshamn led to double-registered votes

The first sign that something was wrong came on August 31, in the evening. A vote receiver in Nynäshamn municipality saw something strange on her screen when she received early votes. The IT system seemed to jump back and forth. When a voice was cast, it was like returning to a previous image.

The result was that votes could be added to the person who had just voted. This results in double registration, which means that the person's votes are at risk of not being included when the vote count starts.

In an incident report that DN has seen, the seriousness is emphasized: "Voters will thus in practice be prevented from their opportunity to vote."

- It was discovered by chance, confirms Rebecca Skoglund, head of office Nynäshamn municipality.

The next day, the municipality alerted the Electoral Authority, but according to Rebecca Skoglund, it took several days before the authority realized the seriousness. By then, the municipality had investigated the matter at several of its polling stations and realized that the problem was not isolated to the one where it was first discovered. About 30 votes appeared to have been registered incorrectly.

According to the Swedish Electoral Authority, the error occurred because the computer in Nynäshamn's polling station had lost connection to the Swedish Electoral Authority. But that was not the only fault. When the authority started going through early votes, it was realized that many more had been double-registered. At first, upwards of 4,000 were found. Many of these later turned out to be due to people voting multiple times. Later, the number could be adjusted down to around 500.

Many of these were due to vote takers misusing the system and forgetting what to do once a vote was registered and completed.

- It says: Click on to the next selector. But they hadn't done that, says Anna Nyqvist, head of office at the Swedish Electoral Agency.

The system had to be rapidly rebuilt, with a barrier against just this type of double registration. Why such a barrier did not exist before, no one today can really explain.

- You can be prudent about what needs to be in the system and what needs to be improved, says Anna Nyqvist.

- It is a new part of the system and it has been tested quite thoroughly. But not in a sharp situation, with voice receivers who are stressed, queuing outside and the first day on the job. It's almost impossible to test that way.

She also confirms that it was only on September 3 that the Electoral Authority really understood what had happened.

- The electoral authority did not understand the extent of the problem until Thursday, says Anna Nyqvist.

The IT system is called Valid and was developed by the Tax Agency ahead of the 2022 election, but the fact that it is used for early voting is new for this year, which has required a rebuilt system with new functions.