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Swedish center-left retains a narrow lead with 94% of districts counted
The partial count leaves the opposition one seat ahead of the governing bloc. The final result will also depend on overseas votes and advance ballots to be counted on Wednesday.
The center-left opposition in Sweden maintained a narrow lead in the legislative elections, with 175 seats to 174 for the governing bloc, when 94% of the districts had been counted, according to ABC Color.
According to that outlet, the final result is still not settled because votes from abroad and advance ballots sent on time but received after polls closed remain to be counted on Wednesday. Sweden’s electoral system includes 6,312 districts, plus another 314 in which those pending votes are grouped.
If the trend is confirmed, the Social Democratic Party would again emerge as the most voted force with 28%, although with a drop of two points and its worst performance since 1928. Behind it would be the Conservative Party, with 19.9%, and Sweden Democrats, with 17.6%, a decline of nearly three points for the far-right force.
ABC Color also noted that Magdalena Andersson’s allies improved their performance compared with four years ago. The Left Party would reach 8.1%, the Center Party 7.1% and the Green Party 6.1%.
In the governing bloc, the Christian Democrats would also rise slightly, with 6.2%, and the Liberal Party, with 5.4%, after some polls placed it below the 4% minimum threshold.
The main leaders avoided declaring the result closed. Andersson said the Social Democrats are prepared to assume the responsibility of governing if the lead holds. For his part, Ulf Kristersson warned that the scenario could lead to complicated negotiations, although he said he was willing to explore all options, ABC Color reported.
According to that outlet, exit polls had shown a margin of more than four points in favor of the opposition, although in the final weeks of the campaign that advantage had narrowed. It also recalled that in 2018 and 2022 it was necessary to wait for the overseas vote to know the final outcome.
During the campaign, Andersson insisted that she was willing to cooperate with all parties except Sweden Democrats. On the other side, Kristersson had broken the political isolation of the far right in 2022, and in April the forces in that bloc announced that that formation could join, for the first time, a possible new government if they won the election.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
