Swedish election in dead heat as voters question liberal traditions

STOCKHOLM – Sweden’s national election results showed a dead heat early on Monday with a partial count by the election authority pointing to a one-seat majority for the opposition center-left bloc, which could halt the Nordic nation’s drift away from its liberal heritage. The bloc, headed by the Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson, was expected to win 175 seats in the 349-seat parliament — the Riksdag — based on votes from 5,960 of Sweden’s 6,312 election districts, the election authority said. The right-wing governing bloc of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was seen winning 174 seats, with ballot-counting continuing.