Stemmesedler

Stemmesedler are documents used to record a voter's choice in elections and referendums. They are issued by election authorities to eligible voters and are designed to be completed privately and securely, before being submitted to the election administration.

A stemmeseddel typically lists the participating parties or candidates and may include spaces for write-in candidates or for indicating a preferred option. The exact format varies by country and election. Some ballots require selecting one option, while others may allow ranking or selecting multiple offices, depending on the voting system in use. Ballots may also be multilingual and include accessibility features to aid voters with disabilities.

Casting and counting procedures differ between systems. In many places, voters place the marked paper ballot in a ballot box. In others, ballots are submitted electronically. Paper ballots are counted either by hand or by counting machines, and procedures exist for handling spoiled, blank, or invalid ballots according to law.

Variants include forhåndsstemmegivning (early voting) and poststemme or mail-in ballots in jurisdictions that allow voting by mail. Some ballots are office-specific or refer to multiple measures on the same ballot. Security features, such as serial numbers, watermarks, or tamper-evident elements, help ensure ballot integrity, while rules governing secrecy protect the voter's privacy.

In essence, stemmesedler are the physical or digital instruments through which voters express their electoral choices within a formal, regulated process.