Polling stations across Sweden opened at 8am local time (07:00 BST) for a high-stakes election. A record 3.6 million voters participated in early voting.
The election follows a heated campaign marked by personal attacks and accusations of misinformation. The right-leaning bloc, which includes the Moderates, Christian Democrats, and Liberals, has been in power for four years with the Sweden Democrats (SD) in a supporting role.
If the right-leaning coalition wins, SD, Sweden’s second-biggest party, has been promised a prominent role in the government, including key ministerial positions. The opposition left-leaning bloc is formed of the Social Democrats, Centre party, Green party, and Left party.
Early indications of results will be released at 8pm local time with the first exit polls, followed by a forecast from broadcaster SVT an hour later. The first preliminary vote count is anticipated between 10:30pm and 11pm. Coalition talks are expected to take weeks or months.