Nationwide, there were 11 municipalities with only two electoral lists at the last local election. This is shown by a survey carried out by news. “Unfortunately, I don’t think it will get better in the autumn local elections,” says SV’s party secretary Audun Herning. – The corona pandemic has made it more difficult to recruit people, in addition it has become a tougher climate for debate and more difficult local political matters. All this makes it even worse to get people to run for local politics. SV party secretary Audun Herning fears it will become increasingly difficult to recruit people into local politics. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – Had voted differently In Trøndelag at the last local election in 2019, there were three municipalities with only two electoral lists. In Høylandet and in Tydal there were only lists from the Labor Party and the Center Party to vote in. Røyrvik had electoral lists from the Labor Party and Samarbeidslista. – Yes, I would probably have voted differently if we had more choices, but it is up to the young people who will take care of our municipality in the future, says voter Tove Fjerdingen in Høylandet. Her friend Reidun Lona agrees. – It is certainly possible. But it is also difficult to be a local politician in the times we have today. Reidun Lona (left) and Tove Fjerdingen miss several electoral lists in Høylandet municipality. Photo: Espen Sandmo / news The Conservative Party is also concerned about local democracy around the country. Pål Sæther Eiden is Høyre’s group leader in the county council in Trøndelag. He does not like the development: – It is a democratic problem. I was in Lierne last week. The idea was to check whether we could get a list there, but I think it will be difficult. I hope more people can take that social responsibility – and if nothing else create a joint list where you actually give the voters an opportunity to influence. – People don’t have a choice. Seven names are needed to draw up an electoral list. Eiden believes that the parties must work hard going forward to get more people involved. – Unfortunately, I think there will be many municipalities in Trøndelag with only two to three electoral lists for the autumn elections. This poses a threat to local democracy. I don’t think people have a “choice” when there are two lists. Often this can be the Labor Party or the Center Party, the two governing parties. In other words, it is not possible for voters to “protest” by choosing something else locally, says Eiden. Pål Sæther Eiden from the Conservative Party believes that many municipalities will only have two or three electoral lists at this autumn’s election. Photo: Rita Kleven At the municipal elections in 2019, there were around twenty municipalities in Norway with only three electoral lists. Often pure district lists, and not so many party political lists. That also worries Høyre’s general secretary, Tom Erlend Skaug. – We work very hard to provide a list in all municipalities, but we see that this is particularly demanding in the small municipalities. It is not surprising, nor is it new. – Seen from a democratic point of view, it is clearly best if voters have more choices. And as a party that believes that competition contributes to better solutions, we believe it is also important for the quality of services that voters have more parties and candidates to choose from, says Skaug to news. Tom Erlend Skaug (H) believes it is important for democracy that voters have several lists to choose from. Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB scanpix Concerned about freedom of choice – There are probably many who refuse to stand. At the same time, it is important that the parties contact people. They are often happy to be contacted, and experience it as a declaration of trust. This is what information advisor Ragnar Kvåle in the Center Party says to news. They, too, are concerned about people’s freedom of choice. – It is disturbing that fewer people want to get involved in the management and development of their local communities. Research shows that there are a number of reasons for this. But some of what remains is the complexity of the cases, the desire to use free time for other interests, and not least the development with social media. Hege Nordheim-Viken (Sp) has been mayor of Høylandet municipality in recent years. Only the Center Party and the Labor Party have been represented there. – It is a shame that there were only two electoral lists this period. We have tried to inform people in the municipality extra because of that. If we had three parties or lists, it would give a better dynamic in local politics, she says. – The turnout was good, so I am not worried about democracy. But I hope there will be more electoral lists in Høylandet for the autumn local elections. Mayor Hege Nordheim-Viken in Høylandet believes they have had good political debates, even though only two parties sit in the municipal council. Photo: Espen Sandmo / news – Not a democratic problem Election researchers news has been in contact with are not as concerned as the political parties before the autumn’s local elections. – Elections do not necessarily become more democratic the more parties stand for election. What is important is that there is democratic freedom to stand for election, participate in elections, that the elections are real and that there is no election fraud, says election researcher Toril Aalberg at NTNU. Nor is social scientist Johannes Bergh particularly worried about the position of local democracy in Norway. – I think that having only two lists to choose from can be fine as long as there is real competition, and that there are differences between the lists that voters are aware of or perceive, he says. – In addition, people and people’s votes matter a lot in local politics, so there can also be real differences between different candidates in such a municipality. How democratic it is with two lists must therefore be assessed in each individual case. Election researcher Johannes Bergh is not worried about local democracy in Norway. – I think that having only two lists to choose from can be fine as long as there is real competition, he believes. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB – Local democracy works – Local politics in small municipalities often differ from local politics in large municipalities in that party politics are less prominent. More emphasis is placed on good judgment in the best interest of the municipality. That’s what Dag-Henrik Sandbakken from KS says. He is responsible for the organisation’s training program which is offered to all Norwegian municipalities. – In this sense, I find that local democracy often works well in small municipalities – even though there may be few parties represented in the municipal council. State Secretary Ole Gustav Narud (Sp) in the Ministry of Local Government and Districts also believes that local democracy in Norway works well. – The Electoral Act also has rules that the election is held as a majority election in municipalities where fewer than two list proposals have been approved, so that the residents in these cases can also elect their representatives to the municipal council in a democratic way, Ole Gustav Narud believes.
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Few electoral lists in many municipalities – more fear for democracy – news Trøndelag
