Sweden: Sweden heads to polls as welfare shapes race and right-wing seeks power.

SHOTLIST: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (SEPT. 12, 2026) 1. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE STANDING IN LINE / PEOPLE BEHIND VOTING SCREENS / PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE 2. VARIOUS OF ELECTION POSTERS ON STREETS STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - SEPT. 12, 2026: More than 8 million Swedish voters are set to head to the polls on Sunday to elect 349 members of parliament, as well as representatives to regional and municipal councils. Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Polls show a tight race in a general election that could see the right-wing Sweden Democrats join the government for the first time after supporting it from outside. Opinion polls have pointed to a victory for the center-left opposition led by the Social Democrats, but the governing center-right bloc has narrowed the gap in the final weeks of campaigning, leaving the outcome uncertain. The Sweden Democrats, once isolated by Sweden's established parties because of their far-right roots, have become one of the country's largest political forces and a central player in the right-wing bloc.