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Sweden began voting in a general election on Sept. 13 after a tight race.
The results will see either the far-right enter government for the first time or the left-wing opposition reclaim power.
Opposition leader Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats cast her ballot shortly after polling stations opened.
The former prime minister voted with her husband at a school in her home municipality of Nacka, south of Stockholm.
Opinion polls long credited the four parties in her left-wing bloc with a comfortable lead over conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's four-party alliance.
Kristersson's bloc includes the far-right Sweden Democrats.
The gap narrowed to a dead heat in the final days of the campaign.
It is now up to the Swedish people to decide the country's direction, Andersson told reporters after voting.
Her party pledged to bolster the welfare state and help struggling households cope with rising costs.
Outgoing Prime Minister Kristersson vowed to focus on improving Swedes' everyday lives.
His government's clampdown on organized crime and immigration has begun to show results, he said.
Deadly shootings and bombings by organized crime networks decreased significantly in recent years.
Asylum applications also dropped to a record low.
His three-party minority coalition cut a deal in 2022 with the Sweden Democrats.
The agreement gave the far-right party influence over government policy in exchange for parliamentary support.
Far-right leader Jimmie Akesson steered the party with neo-Nazi roots into the mainstream over the past two decades.
Kristersson promised the far right key cabinet posts if the right-wing bloc wins the election.
Sweden is becoming safer, better, and more Swedish, Akesson said at a final election rally in Stockholm on Sept. 12.
Voting stations close at 8:00 p.m. local time when exit polls will be published.
Some 8 million people are eligible to vote in the Scandinavian country.
If the right wing wins the election, the formation of a new government would be fairly straightforward.
Tough negotiations would be needed for the left-wing parties to form a government due to ideological splintering.
