Senior politicians from the Sweden Democrats have attributed the party’s recent election performance to the influence of immigrant voters and newly naturalized citizens. Following the defeat of the Tidö coalition—comprising the Sweden Democrats, the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, and the Liberals—party officials argued that a moratorium on new citizenships would have secured a victory for the right-wing bloc.
Tobias Andersson, a prominent Sweden Democrat MP, claimed on social media that over 200,000 foreign-born individuals had gained citizenship since the government took office in October 2022. He suggested that had these individuals not been granted the right to vote, the right-wing coalition would have retained power.
Mattias Karlsson, the party’s international secretary, highlighted the high support for left-wing parties in Rosengård, a district in Malmö with a significant immigrant population. Fredrik Kärrholm, a Moderate Party MP, echoed these sentiments, criticizing the government for not implementing a freeze on new citizenships.
Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson dismissed these claims as a conspiracy theory. She noted that similar arguments could be applied to any demographic group, such as assistant nurses or residents of specific regions, to explain election outcomes.
Data from the SVT Valu exit poll indicates that if only voters with Swedish backgrounds were counted, the Tidö parties would have secured 51 percent of the vote. However, analysts point out that similar statistical outcomes would occur if other demographic groups, such as women or blue-collar workers, were excluded from the tally.
Official figures from the Swedish Election Authority show that the number of eligible voters increased by 271,335 between the 2022 and 2026 elections. This figure includes both newly naturalized citizens and individuals who reached voting age. Approximately 206,000 people received Swedish citizenship between late 2022 and mid-2026.
Exit poll data suggests that the voting patterns of individuals with non-European backgrounds remained largely consistent with the 2022 election, with the left-wing bloc maintaining a 67 percent share of that demographic. A more significant shift occurred among voters with backgrounds in other European countries, where support for the Sweden Democrats fell from 21 percent to 14 percent. Approximately 30 percent of newly naturalized voters in the 2026 election originated from other European nations.
Article source: www.thelocal.se | Image credit: www.thelocal.se