STOCKHOLM — Postnord has begun hand-delivering every early vote in Sweden on foot, assigning each of its newly hired nine thousand retired postal workers a single ballot and a route measured in kilometers walked per envelope, after failing to get the ballots to polling stations before they opened.
The new «One Vote, One Walker» program requires each pensioner to carry one voter's envelope from a regional sorting hub to the correct polling station, no matter the distance. Routes now average four days on foot, with some walkers crossing two counties and sleeping in bus shelters. «We have eliminated the vehicle entirely,» said logistics director Malin Hedqvist. «A ballot that arrives late by truck is a failure. A ballot that arrives late on foot is a commitment.»
Postnord has converted its entire fleet of delivery vans into mobile shoe-repair stations and blister-care clinics. Sorting centers in Malmö and Umeå now issue each walker a pedometer, a paper map, and a laminated card reading «I am carrying democracy, please do not offer me a ride.» The company has also banned all bicycles, calling them «a loophole.»
By Thursday, the first walkers had reached the outskirts of their assigned polling stations, where election officials waited with stamp pads and folding chairs. «We are not late,» Hedqvist said. «We are thorough.» Postnord has announced that next election, each walker will carry two ballots, but only if they can prove they have worn out the first pair of shoes.