Ekeroth: M, KD and L Sleep While Foreign Votes Decide the 2026 Election

EDITORIAL • SCB’s latest party sympathies survey is a cold shower for anyone who thought Swedish electoral democracy still reflects the Swedish population. Two out of three red-green parties clearly have stronger support among foreign-born than native-born. Altogether, this means a significant overrepresentation for the left bloc in the growing group of foreign-born—a group that already makes up around 20 percent of the population and is growing rapidly.

Foreign-born individuals plus their children and grandchildren with foreign backgrounds already make up a significant part of the electorate. And according to SCB, the numbers indicate that this group will increasingly be able to tip the balance of government power.

Without their advantage for S, V, and MP, the red-green bloc would not have the same good chances of taking over after 2026 or, for that matter, in many regions and municipalities in the local elections.

I previously did an analysis of this, showing that 143 municipalities could potentially be swung either way because of non-citizen votes.

It’s no longer a theoretical issue—it’s a demographic reality that is already shaping Swedish politics.

Provocative Inaction

This is the result of decades of irresponsible migration and citizenship policies. But the most provocative thing right now is not that the left is exploiting the situation. It is that the Moderates, Christian Democrats, and Liberals are passively letting it happen. They have the power. They have the mandate.

Yet they are doing barely anything about the core problem: that voting rights and citizenship are handed out like candy to people who do not share the values and interests of the Swedish majority population. I know it is not the Sweden Democrats who are holding this back.

The rules for citizenship have indeed recently been tightened—thanks to the Sweden Democrats. But the changes came late. As Samnytt previously described, hundreds of thousands of citizenships have been granted since Tidö took power:

Granted Swedish Citizenship – Total Per Year

All countries of origin. Source: Swedish Migration Agency.

185 478
citizenships granted in total since 2023
(up to and including April 2026)

* 2026 only covers January–April (partial year) and is not comparable to full years.

And that doesn’t even count the 4 months remaining until the election, which, at the same rate, is about another 12,700 people—so 198,000 new citizens who will get to vote. The SD-backed changes have definitely reduced the numbers sharply, but it is still too high.

Below you see the top 10 countries from which we have granted citizenship since the change in government:

Swedish Citizenship Granted

Top 10 countries of origin per year – ranked highest to lowest. Source: Swedish Migration Agency.

#	Country	Number

* 2026 only covers January–April (partial year) and is not comparable to full years.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Sweden should have revoked the voting rights in local elections for non-citizens. It is absurd that people who are not Swedish citizens can influence schools, elderly care, housing, and local politics in Swedish municipalities. Even more absurd is that the Moderates, Christian Democrats, and Liberals do not dare or want to address this even though they can see votes rolling in for the left.

Unfathomable

When SD got changes to the new citizenship rules through, we saw a sharp drop in 2025, but the pace in 2026 has not slowed further. And 40,000–50,000 citizenships a year is still catastrophic. What we should really see here is a negative figure: we should revoke more citizenships than we grant.

It is, to me, unfathomable how M, KD, or even L still do not understand that they are digging their own graves. Instead, we see a Tidö government engaging in cosmetic fixes while the long-term demographic bomb ticks away. They risk sacrificing their own chance at re-election just to avoid seeming “too extreme.” The result will be the opposite: they will lose precisely because they were not forceful enough in defending Swedish democracy and sovereignty.

Priority One After an Election Win

The Swedes—the native-born majority—must be given and take the right to restore their country. It starts with acknowledging reality: when a growing minority with a different background systematically supports parties prioritizing other interests than the native population, then you can no longer pretend that “all votes are equally valuable” in a national sense. The right to govern Sweden should primarily rest with those who are a part of Sweden.

Ahead of the 2026 election, it is now too late to change the voting rules for non-citizens. That chance, unfortunately, has been missed. And the question is when the chance to win elections with policies that make a difference will disappear.

But if Tidö still manages to win in 2026—it’s not impossible yet—then the number one priority after the election must be to introduce voting rights restrictions for non-citizens, stop automatic citizenship granting, and make citizenship something that actually matters. Plus, revoking large numbers of citizenships.

If they do not, they risk being remembered as the ones who slept while Sweden lost control of its own future.