Sweden votes in elections with record early turnout
Up to 3.6 million Swedes have cast early ballots in parliamentary, regional, and municipal elections.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Sosiaalidemokraattien Andersson sekä ruotsidemokraattien puheenjohtaja Jimmie Åkesson saapumassa TV4:n vaaliväittelyyn torstaina. Kuva: Anders Wiklund / EPA
Photograph: yle (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Sweden is holding parliamentary, regional, and municipal elections on Sunday.
- A record 3.6 million Swedes have voted early, surpassing the 3.1 million from previous elections.
- Opinion polls predict a win for the Swedish Social Democrats.
- Polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Swedish time.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 15 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 17 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
62/100
Craft
67/100
Hype
45/100
17 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 15 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Sweden is holding its parliamentary, regional, and municipal elections on Sunday. The Swedish election authorities reported that up to 3.6 million Swedes have voted early, the highest number ever recorded. In previous elections, approximately 3.1 million Swedes cast their ballots in advance. Polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Swedish time.
Disagreement on election day timing
Yle reported that polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Swedish time, which is 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Finnish time. The source material does not provide alternative timings from other outlets.
What the coverage left out
None of the reports below mention the specific number of eligible voters in this election, which Yle stated was higher than in previous elections, making it uncertain if the proportion of early voters had increased.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 13 Sept 2026, 06:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
We have not written our reading of the left coverage of this story. The left-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Centre
6 rated outlets
- The centre-rated report from Yle led on the record number of early votes cast in Sweden's elections. It stated that up to 3.6 million Swedes had voted early, a figure higher than the 3.1 million who voted early in the previous election. The report also mentioned that opinion polls predict a victory for the Swedish Social Democrats, with the Sweden Democrats and the Moderate Coalition competing for second place. Yle noted that polling stations would be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Swedish time.
Right
8 rated outlets
We have not written our reading of the right coverage of this story. The right-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Sweden votes in elections with record early turnout?
- Of the 15 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 7% are rated left, 40% are rated centre, 53% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 17. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Sweden votes in elections with record early turnout left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 15 rated outlets on this story, 7% are rated left, 40% are rated centre, 53% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Sweden votes in elections with record early turnout biased?
- Sweden votes in elections with record early turnout is one event reported by 17 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Sweden votes in elections with record early turnout?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Sweden votes in elections with record early turnout?
- 17 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- When are the Swedish elections taking place?
- Sweden is holding its parliamentary, regional, and municipal elections on Sunday. Polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Swedish time.
- How many people have voted early in Sweden?
- A record 3.6 million Swedes have voted early in the upcoming elections. This figure surpasses the approximately 3.1 million who voted early in the previous election.
- Which party is predicted to win the Swedish election?
- Opinion polls predict a victory for the Swedish Social Democrats. The Sweden Democrats and the Moderate Coalition are predicted to be competing for second place.
Read it at the source
17 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
6- Swedes Go to the Polls – Democrats Lead in Opinion Polls, but There Is a Tough Race for Medal Winners (opens yle in a new tab)
- Sweden's fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens Market Screener in a new tab)
Market Screener — is Market Screener biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Sweden's fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens Reuters in a new tab)
- Sweden’s fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens WTVB in a new tab)
- Sweden’s fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens The Mighty 790 KFGO in a new tab)
The Mighty 790 KFGO — is The Mighty 790 KFGO biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Sweden’s fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens 1330 & 101.5 WHBL in a new tab)
1330 & 101.5 WHBL — is 1330 & 101.5 WHBL biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
8- FACTS: Sweden Goes to the Polls (opens berlingske.dk in a new tab)
berlingske.dk — is berlingske.dk biased? Our profile of this outlet
- FACTS: Sweden Goes to the Polls (opens BT in a new tab)
- Sweden Goes to the Polls for High-Level Elections (opens Globo in a new tab)
- Headline Unavailable (opens The Print in a new tab)
- Sweden's fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens The Star Kuala Lumpur in a new tab)
The Star Kuala Lumpur — is The Star Kuala Lumpur biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Sweden's fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
The Straits Times — is The Straits Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Sweden’s fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens WTAQ in a new tab)
- Sweden’s fractured left holds slim lead in polls before Sunday election (opens WKZO in a new tab)
Not rated
2How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
