There isn't exactly a queue for the early voting desk at the premises of Sörmland City Mission in Nyköping. But the occasional visitor shows up and takes the chance.
Some of them would never have voted otherwise, partly because they lack ID cards - here the staff can verify who they are.
Marko Palmroth, 58, has just cast his vote for the Sweden Democrats.
Changes are needed, something new. Otherwise, there are only the Moderates and the Social Democrats. He's doing well, Jimmie Åkesson.
“No one will escape”
He's had a tough time. Mental illness, substance abuse and crime. But he's left crime behind him – mostly. In a couple of weeks he'll be sent to prison for a short sentence for money laundering, which will be his 28th prison sentence in total, but the first since 2009.
He sees no contradiction in voting for a party with a tougher stance against criminals as one of his heart issues.
"It's totally okay. If you commit a crime, you should be sentenced, no one should get away with it," he says.
Today's early voting is being organized by the traveling election officials Björn Wennerholm and Inger Oehme. In addition to the City Mission, they have been to Nyköping's prison and remand prison and to nursing homes. They have also made home visits to elderly people.
It's democracy, everyone should have a chance to vote, Björn Wennerholm.
Voting booth training
But the statistics are clear – voter turnout is significantly lower among society's more vulnerable groups. Low-income earners, unemployed, homeless, low-educated, foreign-born, residents of vulnerable areas, sick, disabled and people in various types of accommodation. They all vote less than society's more advantaged groups, according to Statistics Sweden .
Furthermore, it is among poor voters that voter turnout is falling the most.
For the City Missions, it's about trying to even out the numbers – through early voting like in Nyköping, but also through activities such as exercises in how polling booths work and visits by politicians.
We notice a huge difference. We have countless stories where people feel proud and that they get to be part of contributing to democracy and feel that they have some kind of empowerment to actually make their voice heard, says Jonas Rydberg, Secretary General of the Swedish City Missions.
