SvD Election Compass Adds Five Questions That Divide Sweden’s Parties

Svenska Dagbladet has added five questions to its election compass as Sweden’s campaign enters its final stretch. The new questions address issues that have recently divided political parties, including economic equality.

About 100,000 people have already used the compass to get an indication of how they might vote on September 13. Christer Isaksson, a political journalist and author who developed the tool with political scientist Tommy Möller, said the update reflects topics that have become more prominent late in the campaign.

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Economic equality has taken up a lot of space in the debate, and that is now reflected in the Election Compass.

The new questions include whether public transport should be free for everyone under 20 and whether the first 500,000 kronor held in an ISK investment savings account should be exempt from tax. Isaksson said the ISK question felt particularly relevant because party leaders had been asked in interviews whether they themselves saved through such accounts.

The compass contains more than 50 questions across 10 broad subjects. Users can answer every question or create a customized version focused on areas such as education, defense and the environment. Isaksson said the tool would not include the question of which parties should form the government, leaving that issue for the parties to debate and keeping the compass centered on policy.

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We do not want that. The parties can discuss what the government should look like on their own. The Election Compass should be about policy issues.