Increased early voting in vulnerable areas in Gothenburg ahead of the 2026 election

Election Sunday afternoon: Outside the health center in Gårdsten in north-east Gothenburg, the queue is 40 meters long to the polling station. Right here, early voting has been 136 percent higher compared to 2022.

Only one party's election poster is visible: that of the Social Democrats.

On a standing table is an Ipad connected to SVT's election compass, and there two of the city of Gothenburg's around 30 paid so-called target group ambassadors answer questions.

- I was at Hammarkulledagen yesterday and in Kortedala the day before. The mission is to inform and inspire to vote. Some doubt whether their vote makes a difference. We say that every vote is equally valuable, says Ahmed Farah.

The person holding the job is Radia Al-Masri, planning manager at democracy and citizen services, and has the assignment from the city council.

- The work is focused on four target groups: Elderly, younger, people with disabilities and those who live in areas that tend to have lower voter turnout, she says.

Teacher Etedal Awde wonders what to do with the envelope with her sister's voice for which she acts as a messenger. She herself voted on Saturday - and noticed the increased pressure.

- Everyone I talk to now says they have to vote, people who previously said they didn't think it would matter have now realized that it does.

Why do you think they feel that way?

- They didn't like the blue ones. And I think the whole worldview comes into play, with environmental destruction, you think about your children.

Frida Fatemi, a Swedish citizen with roots in Iran who is standing next door, says:

- The politicians want to throw out the immigrants now.

- I watched a debate on TV and was so disappointed. There are so many immigrants here in Gårdsten who are affected. Now there is talk of the children being thrown out, it's not fair. And so many are out of work!

An elderly man hangs up. He has lived here for a long time in Gårdsten, now classified as a "vulnerable area" after previously being assessed as "particularly vulnerable".

He, who is from Bosnia, disagrees with her.

- Look around, there are barely one percent here who are not immigrants. I say that Jimmie Åkesson is the only solution!

Gårdsten is thus a clear example of the sharp increase in early voting. DN has compared turnout in 36 early voting locations, in areas defined by the police as vulnerable and especially during the 2022 and 2026 elections. There, over 110,000 voters have voted early, which means an increase of 57 percent compared to the last election.

The rise was greatest in particularly vulnerable areas - 71 percent compared to 19 percent in the whole country.

According to Zeth Isaksson, researcher in political behavior at Stockholm University, early voting has increased every year since 2010.

- This could be the continuation of the same trend. It can also be due to campaign work in neighborhoods dense with immigrants, he says.

According to him, whether it concerns voters who voted earlier or whether it has an effect on the total turnout.

In Angered's mosque, a few kilometers from Gårdsten, during the last Friday prayer before election day, the right to vote is described as a gift from Allah.

- You can go to the polling station without fear. You can choose yourself, no one needs to know what you are voting for, then you can leave free. It is your choice and your responsibility. But don't waste the gift. Read, ask, compare and then make your own decision, said the mosque's chairman, Abdullah Almasri, to the congregation.

He is a senior lecturer in statistics at Karlstad University and has followed the early voting closely. He sees the increase in vulnerable areas as a great success for democracy.

- It is indirectly an expression of trust in the authorities and in the state of Sweden, something that is usually lacking in vulnerable areas.

According to him, it is difficult to know for sure what the increase is due to, but Abdullah Almasri has a theory.

- I meet a lot of people who feel a great concern for the future linked to political decisions in the area of ​​migration and the harsh rhetoric. Many Muslims and others with a foreign background feel that they are portrayed as a threat to Sweden. I think that can get more people to vote, he says.

Have you from the mosque's side highlighted certain parties as better or worse before the election?

- No. Our message has always been about increasing voter turnout. We see this as our social responsibility.

Right outside Angered's mosque stands the student association Sobriety Movement Education, NBV. Here, mosque visitors are met with brochures with information about the eight parliamentary parties in Swedish, Arabic and Somali.

- When it comes to parties, it's mostly on the left side of the table that people look and ask about, says William Westman, democracy ambassador at the association.

On the street, outside the mosque gate, the Social Democrats have set up an election tent. Three election workers from Nyans also stand and break into the stream of people leaving the mosque after the Friday prayer. No other parties are visible.

According to Zeth Isaksson at Stockholm University, parties on the left tend to be stronger in vulnerable areas. In the last election, the Social Democrats were the largest in all vulnerable areas except Södra Sofielund in Malmö where the Left Party topped the list, as DN has previously reported.

- During the last election, the Social Democrats were very strong in early voting. They had about 33 percent of those who voted early during the election campaign and 29 percent of those who voted on Election Day. That more early votes could benefit them.

During Friday's party leader debate on SVT, Jimmie Åkesson said that it scares him that the Social Democrats and the Left Party are mobilizing votes in mosques.

Abdullah Almasri of the Angered Mosque challenges the notion of Muslims as an easily led homogenous group.

- Nobody owns Sweden's Muslims. These are people with different political orientations and living conditions. They can decide for themselves which future they want.