Yet another serious error has been discovered following the 2026 election. In Simrishamn, 121 early votes were never counted—and the error may have affected the distribution of seats on the municipal council.
A sealed box containing early votes was left on the wrong shelf when the final tally was conducted after the election. Of the 121 votes, 117 were deemed valid, but by the time the box was discovered, it was too late for the county administrative board to include them in the final tally.
”Extremely serious”
Jesper Jacobsson, chief legal counsel and election officer at the Skåne County Administrative Board, believes the error is likely to have no impact on the parliamentary and regional elections. The municipal election is a different matter, since a relatively small number of votes can affect the distribution of seats in Simrishamn, reports Ystads Allehanda.
– I think this is a very serious matter. It’s always serious when voters’ ballots aren’t properly counted in an election, so this is obviously a huge problem, says Jacobsson.
Only 10–15 votes separated them
The election race illustrates just how close the outcome is. According to the chair of the election board Matts Karlsson (M) noted that only 10–15 votes separated the candidates when a seat changed hands, and he warns that the 121 missed votes could alter the balance of power in the city council.
– This number of votes could completely reshuffle the distribution of seats in the municipality, says Karlsson.
A re-election may be on the horizon
This incident comes at a time when the election process elsewhere is under scrutiny due to allegations of election fraud. In Simrishamn, however, there is no information in the sources indicating intentional fraud—the municipality describes the incident as a human error.
Whether the error leads to a re-election is not decided by the municipality. According to Jacobsson, that decision rests with the Election Review Board.
Gudrun S. Involved?