Swedes will vote in Sunday’s general election that paves the way for either an unprecedented right-wing government backed by the far right or a third straight mandate for the ruling Social Democrats.

Opinion polls have predicted a close race by a razor-thin margin for Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats and the left bloc after a campaign dominated by escalating gang killings and soaring electricity prices.

Polling stations open at 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) and close at 8:00 p.m., with final results around midnight.

The right-wing bloc has never before agreed to work with the nationalist and anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, who until recently were treated as “outcasts” by other political parties.

In the last few weeks of the election campaign, the right-wing extremists have jumped to second place in opinion polls behind the Social Democrats, who are credited with around a fifth of the votes.

Her surge – overtaking the traditional right-wing bloc leaders, the conservative moderates – has been credited to a campaign focused on issues close to her constituents, including crime, segregation and the integration of immigrants.

But Prime Minister Andersson, 55, is hoping to remain in power with the support of the small parties of the Left, Center and Greens.

Speaking to reporters at a rally on the eve of the election in the deprived Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, she said she hoped the campaign had convinced voters “that the Social Democrats are a party for ordinary people, for workers, with good safety nets, good jobs and… a good future.”

“It’s a very close race so it’s up to the Swedes to decide,” she added.

Andersson, whose party has dominated Swedish politics since the 1930s, enjoys broad support among Swedes.

In opinion polls, she has repeatedly beaten her challenger for the post of Prime Minister, the leader of the Moderates, Ulf Kristersson, by a wide margin.

But pollsters put the two blocs in a near dead heat, projecting 49.7 percent to 51.6 percent of voter support for the left and 47.6 percent to 49.4 percent for the right.

Kristersson is the architect behind a major U-turn for the right wing.

He began exploratory talks with the Sweden Democrats in 2019, deepening their cooperation before the other two small right-wing parties, the Christian Democrats and, to a lesser extent, the Liberals, followed suit.

“As it stands we have two pretty clear blocs,” political scientist Katarina Barrling told AFP, noting that predicting the next prime minister after election night should be fairly easy.

However, both blocs are riddled with internal divisions that could lead to arduous negotiations to form a coalition government.

“There are several red lines for the parties within the blocs that could stall the process,” Barrling said.

The previous 2018 election ended in a political stalemate that lasted four months until the Social Democrats managed to form a minority government.

This time it would be a nightmare scenario.

In addition to an impending economic crisis with inflation and rising energy prices, Sweden is currently in the delicate process of joining NATO and is set to take over the EU Council Presidency in 2023.

“The pressure to have a cohesive and effective government is greater today than it was at the last election,” Barrling said.

The end of the political isolation of the Sweden Democrats and the prospect of making it the largest right-wing party is “an enormous change in Swedish society,” said Anders Lindberg, editorial editor of left-wing tabloid Aftonbladet.

Emerging from a neo-Nazi movement at the end of the 1980s, the Sweden Democrats entered parliament in 2010 with 5.7 percent of the votes. In 2018 they gained 17.5 percent.

His strong showing in opinion polls this time comes as Sweden struggles to combat escalating gang shootings attributed to struggles over drug and arms markets.

The country now tops European statistics for firearm deaths.

While the violence was once contained in places frequented by criminals, it has spread to public spaces such as parks and shopping malls, raising concern among ordinary Swedes in a country long known as safe and peaceful.

In one of the final debates of the campaign, Kristersson attacked the Social Democrats for doing “almost nothing” to stem gang violence since taking power in 2014.

But Andersson, who took over as prime minister just nine months ago after seven years as finance secretary, said she was just getting started.

“I am now asking for the mandate of the Swedish people to show what I can achieve at four years old.”