Swedish general election

Polling stations across the Scandinavian country opened at 8 a.m. local time (0600 UTC) and were to close 12 hours later.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and his conservative-led coalition government, which first came to power in 2006, are looking to earn a third term in office.

But his chances don't look good, with the latest opinion polls giving the Social Democrats around 30 percent support, which, if this figure is borne out this Sunday, would give them the most seats in parliament.

Still, Stefan Loefven, a former union leader who is the Social Democrats candidate for prime minister, would need a coalition partner or partners to form a parliamentary majority, most likely to be the Greens or the former communist Left Party. Analysts fear though, that coalition talks could be difficult and protracted.

Far-right expected to pick up support

The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats appeared set to almost double their share of the vote to 10 percent compared to four years ago, but all of the established parties have ruled out working with them.

Reinfeldt and his conservative Moderate Party are widely credited with doing a good job of shepherding Sweden through the global financial crisis that broke out towards the end of the last decade, but his critics point to a growing income gap between the country's rich and poor in the eight years since he took office.

In addition to the general election, Swedes are also going to the polls to elect 20 county councils and 290 municipal councils. Non-binding referenda are also being held in six municipalities, including Gothenburg, where a proposed congestion fee for vehicles driving into the city is being put to the voters.

pfd/nm (dpa, Reuters, AFP)