Large geographical differences in voter turnout exists between Swedish municipalities. This study aims to examine the effects of social environment in relation to voting in political elections, including effects such as socioeconomic status, immigrant density and different degrees of education among other factors. The purpose of the study is to examine geographical differences in voter participation and the study aims to explore differences in voter turnout between Swedish municipalities in the national election 2018. The study is based on theories about contextual explanatory factors for outcomes in voter participation with elements of individual factors, since these mainly explain the tendency to participate in political elections. Previous theorizations are supplemented with studies conducted in the same subject area to gain a further understanding of the phenomenon and of relevant factors interacting with differences in voter participation. Regression analyzes are used for conducting the survey, and they account for factors that have been shown to influence variance in voter turnout. Factors such as education, the proportion of foreign-born and income appear to be the highest explanatory factors. The study extends the existing research about voter turnout with updated analyzes and connections.
2020-06-04