Democratic principles are important, but elections are never about one issue and some issues can be pretty divided like this one. I’m not sure if there is a poll for whether trans people should be recognized legally, but I can’t imagine that the majority will of the voters in Illinois is for encouraging LGBT suicides.
It’s also important to note that even the state isn’t simply there to enforce polls. There are laws and constitution for a reason, and officials are often more informed than the population on snap decisions. Mob rule is a risk that has to be avoided too. I just watched a series called “Show Me A Hero” where like 60-70% of the voting population in Yonkers, NY wanted to segregate housing in the 1980’s. (gerrymandering and voter suppression aside) If there was no laws in Yonkers, then those houses would still be segregated today. However, there are federal laws against racial discrimination, even if NIMBY’s are against diverse neighborhoods. In the end, the federal courts forced Yonkers to desegregate its housing, against the will of the voters.
Yeah housing can be tricky, especially in Stockholm. There is the Stockholm bostadsförmedlingen, which is good to join if you’re a resident, but queue times are completely unrealistic. 10+ years for the nicer neighborhoods. There are a number of student apartments on there though that might be easier to apply for.
I highly recommend the apartments in Bergshamra and Lappkärrsberget, I have a lot of friends who live there. I think those apartments are owned by the student union. I’ve also seen student apartments on campus at KTH, but I think those are a special arrangement with the university maybe, not sure how you can get those.
But yeah, the unfortunate reality in Stockholm is that the easiest way to get an apartment is to put up a down payment to buy a condo in a housing coop (“Bostadsrätt”). You can search for those on the government-owned real-estate site booli.se, but it usually takes 2 months for it to clear even after you buy. A typical down payment in Stockholm is 15% of the apartment/house value, ie $30-60k for a typical $200k-400k apartment.
In a pinch, you can find a room to rent second-hand (“andrahandshyra”) online, but it can be a hassle and expensive to have a landlord, and it’s sometimes a bit grey-market in the Swedish system when it comes to taxes, rent-control, and BRF rules. Plenty of sites for finding those, one is blocket, and you can find many more by googling “hyra lägenhet”.
Lycka till!