Swedish parliamentary elections are underway in which the populist anti-immigrant party, the Swedish Democrats, is expected to strengthen, promising to crack down on gang violence and shattering many people's sense of security, the AP reports.

The Swedish Democrats first won seats in parliament in 2010 and have steadily gained more and more votes in parliament with each election. The party's fortunes have increased after mass migration in recent years, especially in the crisis year for Europe in 2015, and an increase in crime in segregated areas.

The party was founded by the far-right decades ago, but in recent years it has worked hard to change its image. For years, voters found it unacceptable and other parties shunned it. Now the situation is changing.

Polls ahead of the vote predict that the Swedish Democrats, who won 13 percent in 2018, will get about 20 percent of the vote this time and become the second-largest party in parliament. It will be second only to Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's center-left Social Democrats.

Andersson enjoys a high approval rating. The 55-year-old woman became Sweden's first female prime minister less than a year ago and led the government at a time when Sweden submitted its bid to join NATO.

Stockholm University sociologist Zet Isaksson, who specializes in electoral behavior, says her image was helped by her experience in government, first as finance minister, during crises including the coronavirus pandemic, and as prime minister during NATO accession negotiations.