Social Democrats set to lose seat in Sweden’s Norrbotten election

The Social Democrats are set to lose one of their four seats in Norrbotten county, while the Moderate Party is poised to gain one, according to preliminary results reported by Yle.

The Social Democrats have received 37.8 percent of the vote in Norrbotten, down 3.9 percentage points from the 2022 election. Their seat total in the Swedish Riksdag, the country’s parliament, is expected to fall from four to three.

The Moderate Party has won 16.3 percent, an increase of 2.8 percentage points, giving it enough support to increase its representation from one seat to two.

The Sweden Democrats are expected to retain their two seats despite losing support. They have received 18 percent of the vote in Norrbotten, down 2.3 percentage points.

The Left Party is also set to keep its sole seat, with 6.8 percent of the vote, a decline of 0.2 percentage points.

The Centre Party, Green Party and Liberals are not expected to win any seats from Norrbotten, as was also the case in the previous election. They have received 5.1 percent, 4.5 percent and 3.4 percent of the vote respectively.

Eight representatives are elected from Norrbotten to the 349-seat Riksdag.

The national result remains extremely close. With counting still under way, the left-wing bloc is projected to win 176 seats and the right-wing bloc 173. An SVT forecast has put both blocs on 175 seats.

The final result may not be known until Wednesday, when late-arriving advance votes and votes from abroad are counted. About 200,000 such votes are expected.