Press release -
Nearly 30,000 candidates in the Church of Sweden elections
The time for registering nomination groups and candidates is now past for the autumn’s Church elections on 17 September. Close to 30,000 individuals are standing in the elections, in which approximately 15,000 positions will be decided.
Group and candidate lists are finally determined by the Church of Sweden’s thirteen diocesan boards; a process which, including the appeal period, will be complete by no later than 15 July. Currently, 29,501 unique candidates have registered in a total of 3,032 candidate lists submitted to either the parish assembly (parish/group of parishes), Diocesan Council or the General Synod (national).
“It is absolutely fantastic that we have so many candidates in the Church elections; so many who want to take on the responsibility for democratically shaping the Church of Sweden in the future,” says Anki Bondesson, project manager for the Church elections.
“All major decisions in the Church of Sweden are made by its elected representatives. Consequently, the Church elections are decisive for the growth and development of the Church. But in order to generate even more interest in the elections, it is important that the nomination groups now communicate their programmes to the members."
For the General Synod, 19 nomination groups are standing for election (in alphabetical order):
Arbetarepartiet Socialdemokraterna
Borgerligt Alternativ
Centerpartiet
Elävä seurakunta - Levande församling
Fria liberaler i Svenska kyrkan FiSK
Frimodig kyrka
Gröna kristna
Kristdemokrater i Svenska kyrkan
Kyrklig samverkan i Visby stift
Miljöpartister i Svenska kyrkan
Partipolitiskt obundna i Svenska kyrkan
Personvalslistan Kyrkligt(KyS)Samarbete
Skanör Falsterbo Kyrkans Väl
Sverigedemokraterna
Trygghetspartiet i Svenska kyrkan
Ung i Kyrkan
Vägen Vänstern i Svenska kyrkan
Öppen kyrka – en kyrka för alla
The attached list shows the registered nomination groups for all levels, the number of unique candidates, and the number of positions for which they are running
Topics
- Politics
Categories
- church of sweden
- church elections
- voting
- general synod
FACTS IN BRIEF
- Those entitled to vote in the Church of Sweden elections are persons aged 16 years and over (on election day at the latest), who are members of the Church of Sweden, and are resident in Sweden.
- About 5.2 million people are entitled to vote in the three elections: to the parish assemblies, Diocesan Councils, and the General Synod.
- Voting cards should have been received by 30 August 2017 at the latest at each member’s national registration address.
- Early voting will be available throughout the country from 4 September until election day.
