General elections were held in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on 15 September 1940. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1858 The

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...

remained the largest party, winning 134 of the 230 seats in the

Andra kammaren The Andra kammaren (lit. Second Chamber) was the lower house of the bicameral Riksdag of Sweden between 1866 and 1970 that replaced the Riksdag of the Estates. The upper house was the Första kammaren. At the time of its abolition the chamb ...

of the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

. It is one of two general elections in Swedish history where a single party received more than half of the vote (the other occasion being

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

). The election took place amid World War II. Sweden was the only independent, free Scandinavian state at the time. The major parties were all represented in the government cabinet. Some of the parties called for a postponement of the elections due to the war. However,

Per Albin Hansson Per Albin Hansson (28 October 1885 – 6 October 1946) was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-lived ...

said that democratic processes ought to be respected. An observer of the election characterized the election as a "gentleman's election" free of mudslinging.

Results

References

{{Swedish elections General elections in Sweden

General