STOCKHOLM — Sweden's national election remained too close to call Sunday night, with left-wing parties holding a lead of just a single seat after 80 percent of votes were counted. The left-leaning opposition bloc secured 175 seats, while the incumbent right-wing parties held 174 seats, according to a partial tally released by the election authority.
Exit polls earlier in the night indicated the country was headed for a new left-leaning government. However, as vote counting progressed, the race tightened significantly. Broadcaster SVT reported at 10:30 p.m. local time that only 20,000 votes separated the two blocs.
Ulf Kristersson, the incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Moderates, told supporters: "We still don't have a final result. Which government will lead Sweden in the coming years is still an open question, and we will do everything we can to ensure that this government will be the very best for our country."
Magdalena Andersson, leader of the Social Democrats and the left-leaning opposition, spoke just before midnight local time. "We will have to wait for the final election results," she said. "But right now we are leading. If it stands, then Sweden will have a new government."
Ebba Busch, the Deputy Prime Minister from the Christian Democrats, told her supporters that Sweden would be "going to bed with uncertainty" and could await a definitive result until Wednesday. The election authority indicated a preliminary vote count might not be finalized until Thursday.
Busch maintained that the ruling right-leaning coalition should continue in government, describing the situation as a "real nail-biter."
The Social Democrats remained Sweden's largest party, despite what appears to be their worst election result in decades. The far-right Sweden Democrats, who had aimed to enter government for the first time, fell from being the country's second largest party to its third.
The election followed an unusually heated campaign marked by personal attacks between political leaders and accusations of misinformation. Pre-election polls had consistently suggested an extremely tight contest, with one indicating a difference of just 0.3 percentage points between the left and right blocs.
