Voters in Sweden are heading to the polls in an extremely close general election that will see either the far right enter government for the first time or the centre-left opposition reclaim power.
Opposition leader Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats was among the first to cast her ballot after polling stations opened at 8:00am (06:00 GMT) on Sunday.
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The 59-year-old, who in 2021 became the first woman to serve as SwedenâÂÂs prime minister, voted with her husband at a school in her home municipality of Nacka, south of Stockholm.
Pre-election opinion polls have long credited the four parties in her left-wing bloc with a comfortable lead over conservative Prime Minister Ulf KristerssonâÂÂs four-party alliance, which includes the far-right Sweden Democrats.
But the gap narrowed significantly in the final days of the campaign.
![Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson (L) and her husband Richard Friberg (R) cast their votes at a polling station in a school during SwedenâÂÂs general election, in Nacka on September 13, 2026 [AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/afp_6aa65a7dcf22-1789287037.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
âÂÂIt is now up to the Swedish people to decide which direction our country should take. Should we have a government entirely dominated by the Sweden Democrats? Something that has never happened in Sweden before? Or should we have a government led by me, which will steer Sweden in a new spirit of cooperation?â Andersson told reporters after voting.
Her party has pledged to boost the welfare state and help struggling households cope with the rising cost of living.
Kristersson aims for second term
Outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is seeking a second four-year term at the helm of the European Union nation.
He has led Sweden since 2022 with a three-party centre-right coalition. It relies on outside support from the Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration, far-right party that has moved towards the political mainstream, for a parliamentary majority.
If the right-wing bloc is re-elected, the Sweden Democrats can expect Cabinet posts in the next government.
Kristersson has promised to focus on improving Swedesâ everyday lives, following his governmentâÂÂs clampdown on organised crime and immigration.
âÂÂWe want to use our new and far better preconditions to improve the lives of ordinary people ⦠to make Sweden great again,â Kristersson told news agency AFP before the vote.
The Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, took 20.5 percent of the vote in the 2022 election to become the biggest party on the right.
Kristersson announced in April that his conservative Moderates would allow the party into government if the right has a majority â though he would remain prime minister even if the Sweden Democrats are the stronger party.
Voting stations close at 8:00pm (18:00 GMT) when exit polls are expected to be published, with the first reliable results expected several hours later.
Some eight million people are eligible to vote in the election, in a country of 10.6 million where voter turnout regularly tops 80 percent.
About half of voters have cast their ballots in advance.