Sweden's Close Election Puts a First Far-Right Role in Government on the Ballot

Swedes voted on 13 September 2026 in a parliamentary election that could bring the far-right Sweden Democrats into government for the first time.

Polling stations opened at 8am local time and were due to close at 20:00. Voters had to vote at their assigned location on election day. The ballot covers the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament, as well as regional and municipal councils, according to Sweden's election authority. Val.se

Early participation was high. A record 3.6 million voters cast ballots in advance. Advance voting was available at any voting location in Sweden from 26 August through election day. Swedes outside the country could vote early at embassies and consulates or by post. The Guardian

The timetable for results was tight. First exit polls were due at 8pm. Public broadcaster SVT was expected to issue a forecast an hour later, with a first preliminary count between 10:30 and 11pm.

Polls pointed to a close finish. One late survey put 0.3 percentage points between the left and right blocs, the two rival teams of parties. Three polls published on the Friday before election day gave the centre-left opposition a narrow lead, while earlier September surveys from TV4 and others had shown the race tightening to a point where either side could win. Reuters

Support for the Liberals, the smallest party in the incumbent coalition, had risen further above the 4% parliamentary threshold in the final week. That threshold is the minimum vote share a party needs to enter parliament, and clearing it shapes the bloc arithmetic.

The incumbent Tidö bloc has governed for four years. It consists of the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals, with parliamentary support from the Sweden Democrats. The opposition groups the Social Democrats, the Centre Party, the Green Party and the Left Party. The Social Democrats remain the largest party in the country. The Sweden Democrats are the second largest.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is seeking a second term at the head of a majority government with the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson voted on Sunday morning in Nacka, a Stockholm suburb. Kristersson told AFP before the vote that he hoped to secure a second term.

If the right retains its majority, the Sweden Democrats have been promised a prominent place in the next cabinet, including key ministerial portfolios. That would be a break from the current arrangement, under which the party provides support without holding ministerial posts. The party campaigned under the slogan "make Sweden Sweden again".

The campaign itself was heated and polarised. Party leaders exchanged personal attacks. Accusations of misinformation circulated. Some advertising drew on Maga-style messaging. Sweden Democrats bus advertisements carrying the message "Do you miss Mogadishu? The repatriation grant will help you get home" were withdrawn after drivers refused to operate vehicles displaying them.

A pre-election survey underlined a demographic split, finding twice as many men as women support the Sweden Democrats. Coalition talks are expected to take weeks if not months, regardless of which bloc finishes ahead.

The broader context here is institutional as much as electoral. In 2022 the centre-right broke a long-standing cordon sanitaire, an agreement not to cooperate with a party, by entering formal cooperation with a party with neo-Nazi roots. The question on 13 September was whether that cooperation hardens into full cabinet participation. The variables to watch are Liberal viability above the threshold, the size of the Sweden Democrat mandate relative to the Moderates, and whether either bloc can claim a workable majority without protracted bargaining.

Looking at what this means for Sweden's party system, the election tests two competing consolidation projects. One seeks to normalise the Sweden Democrats as a governing party of the right. The other seeks to hold together a left bloc spanning the Centre Party to the Left Party under Social Democratic leadership. The closeness of the polls suggests neither project has yet secured a decisive mandate from voters.