h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is confusing to me.

How can any particular party know you've tacitly agreed to their first choice, if you haven't marked any slot? If you mark your own party's choice as third, and leave the other party's slots blank, do their candidates get majority since you've agreed to their first choice? If your party has made you angry, are you compelled only either vote for them or stay silent?

In the USofA there are usually two elections, a 'primary' one to pick the best man of your particular party, and in which you aren't allowed to vote for another party's candidate even if you'd like to, and a 'general' one in which you can vote for anyone, with the winners of each party running. Are you required to register and vote for a particular party before you can vote, so they can just rack your vote up as long as you physically put a slip in a box?

Example: In the three different categories you can first choose (s) for goverment by marking one candidate as your first choice, then as county council you choose kd but you do not chose anyone on their slot meaning they make a pick for candidate for you, then you choose mp as city council and choose a candindate on there slot.
You do not have to mark anyone in etiher slot, these are just examples, you can never leave more than three ballots altogether.
Hope this clears it up

So, for any particular office, is there both a 'party' slot for you to pick and also a 'person' slot for you to pick? If you do not choose the 'party' slot, is it considered that you didn't vote for this particular office?

No, the party slot has boxes for persons you pick form that party, if you do not choose anyone there the party decides for you.

How does the party know you are a member?

Can you pick someone not in your party?

You're not "in a party" in Sweden, unless you actually are involved in and employed at the party, and I guess an employee in a party CAN pick someone not in his/her party, but it probably would hit the papers and it wouldn't make much sense.

So, how is it known, if you do not pick a particular candidate, which party gets to use your vote?

As I said earlier, you can leave a sepcific party ballot blank, and thereby allowing the party to use your vote freely, there is a specific ballot for this if you've already decided not to pick anyone you pick this ballot wich only has the name of the party on it, no names for riksdag candidates.

Oh! Now I see. Thank you for bearing with me!

I am used to there not necesarily being a difference in level of government on the ballot, and used to not being allowed to just pick any party's ballot upon deciding to vote, and it took awhile for my brain to join these concepts together.

CONTACT!

Better late than never, the swedish way of voting (a voters view):

Some week before the election you get a paper in your mail, Röstsedel, which means a paper stating who you are, where you are supposed to go to vote and which elections you are eligible to vote in (a resident - noncitizen immigrant may vote for the municipality, but not for governement f.ex)
So no registration is demanded to vote, all who are old enough, residents i Sweden or citizens of Sweden are automatically eligible voters.
You have to bring this paper and an ID to the election location.

Outside representatives of the different parties try to make you pick their little bundle of 3 "ballots" (pieces of papers with a list of names), a yellow one, a blue one and a white one as AJ Rimmer explains
Now you can decide to show of your preferences blatantly by marching up to one of the parties and pick their bundle or be secretive and pick all or none (the same papers are found inside the locale).
You then proceed to the election room where you put one of each of these papers(blue, white and yellow) in an envelope while standing behind a screen to protect your (lawgiven) electorial secret. You then close the 3 envelopes good. The corners of the ballots stick out of the envelopes showing the colour, thereby identifying the level of the vote (governmental, county or municipality). After a bit more control of identity etc. the votes are put in their locked boxes to be counted.

Couldn't have said it better myself (thats why I didn't)

You from Sweden?

Of course, how else would I know how to vote?

Well, you could have had it explained to you from a friend, you could just be very interested in foreign politics, you could have seen a special on discovery channel, maybe you've visited Sweden and indulged in it's cultural society as well as it's political sides...
But yes, the probable reason is that you are from Sweden. And since that is the case..., Trevligt att träffas.

Thank you, klm!

I suppose if one were being secretive, you could be very clever. You could make a public deal of picking one party's set of ballots, without intending to vote that way, and then go inside and picking an even larger selection of ballots, some of which you intend to vote and some you do not. It's the actual ballots that you end up putting in the envelope that are the ones that count.