Among the rows of apartments in northwestern Borlänge, hardly a trace of the 2026 election can be seen. The posters have been taken down.
But on Monday, the entire country's eyes were directed at the municipality after the news that the leftist Mohamed Abdukardir Ali is linked to an investigation into electoral fraud.
When the personal votes had been counted, it was clear that the 30-year-old had unexpectedly been crossed into the Riksdag. This despite the fact that he was only in ninth place on the list in Borlänge after a shorter political career. According to the suspicions, voters have been given ballot papers with the politician's name already crossed out and then driven to a room for early voting in the shopping center Kupolen.
Former M politician Agneta Nyvall got to know Mohamed Abdukardir Ali two years ago. Today, they run companies together, with a focus on helping African countries with digitization.
She was not at all surprised that the business partner collected many personal votes.
- He is very ambitious and popular among many in the Somali group. People like him there. He is happy to help and make sure things work in Tjärna Ängar.
The district in northwestern Borlänge has been on the police's list of vulnerable areas for many years.
It was here, in the electoral district Tjärna allé, that Mohamed Abdukardir Ali secured most of his personal votes - 91 out of a total of 333 in the municipality. The district is a strong stronghold for the red-greens. The Social Democrats, the Left Party and the Green Party together received 91.5 percent of the votes in this year's election.
The information about the police investigation came as a big shock, says Agneta Nyvall.
- I don't understand anything. I've only known him for two years, but that's not the person I know. But now the police must investigate what happened.
The business colleagues only had time to talk briefly on Monday. For SVT, the leftist has denied any involvement in electoral fraud.
- He doesn't understand the suspicions either, says Agneta Nyvall.
Everyone DN talks to in Tjärna allé knows who Mohamed Abdukardir Ali is. Many find it hard to believe that he was elected to the Riksdag through vote fraud.
- He has been out and met people here. Many people think he will make a difference, so they voted for him, says Hassan Abdalle Ali, who lives in the area.
He himself voted for the Left Party, but for another candidate.
Abdalle Ali says that several of the leftist's friends helped him campaign in the area. But he is not aware of any forced or bought votes.
Instead, he believes that many disappointed Somali social democratic voters have now chosen to vote for the leftist, who is himself from Somalia. While V advanced by over 20 percentage points in Tjärna allé, S lost over 16 percentage points.
- They didn't help us. Now people want to try something new. They wanted to give a new guy a chance.
At the same time, a clear increase in voter turnout can be seen in the district. Several residents speculate that the Tidö parties' immigration and integration policy made more people vote, which benefited Mohamed Ali. They describe him as a well-liked person and feel that the criminal charges cast suspicion on the entire area.
In central Borlänge, the leftist is more unknown. Kasper Lundell says that he did not know the politician before the news about the investigation.
- Just the fact that an investigation is underway makes you start to think about whether this is happening in several places around the country. It damages one's confidence in the system.
At the same time, he wants to wait until the investigation is complete before drawing any conclusions.
- But if the suspicions are true, it is very serious. That in that case you can get into high positions of power in society that way. It shows a great vulnerability.
In such a scenario, Jörgen Lundberg hopes that the voting will be retaken in the affected constituencies. However, he does not think it is surprising that Mohammed Abdukardir Ali gathered many votes in northwestern Borlänge.
- These are areas that are quite closed, a society within society. It is easier to get many crosses there if many people know one.
