Summary – Christiano Tshitenge, originally from the Congo and living in Ulstein, did not vote in the election this autumn.- New figures from Statistics Norway show that only 25 percent of foreign nationals with the right to vote in Norway voted in the municipal and county council elections in 2023.- The turnout among immigrants without Norwegian citizenship have decreased from 31 per cent in 2019 to 25 per cent in 2023. – Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) is not satisfied with the speech and believes that it is a shared responsibility to increase voter participation in this group. – Tshitenge believes that both language and difficulties in finding information can be barriers that prevent immigrants from using their right to vote. – He plans to vote at the next election and motivate others to do the same. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Christiano Tshitenge was one of those who did not vote in the election last autumn. – I had agreed with all my friends that we should go and vote together. But then they changed their minds, and then I completely lost motivation, says Christiano Tshitenge, who originally comes from the Congo. Tshitenge has lived in Ulstein municipality for five years, and is quite clear that he now has nothing to say if the politicians decide something he disagrees with. – I can’t complain, because I didn’t use my right to vote. I had the chance to vote for those I wanted to decide. When I didn’t do it, I just had to trust the politicians, he says. Voter turnout fell New figures from Statistics Norway show that only 25 per cent of foreign nationals with voting rights in Norway voted in the municipal and county council elections in 2023. The figure for those without an immigrant background is 69 per cent. Those who are not Norwegian citizens, but have lived in Norway for more than three years, have the right to vote in municipal and county council elections. Voter turnout in this group fell from 31 per cent in 2019 to 25 per cent in 2023. Among immigrants with Norwegian citizenship, 38 per cent used the right to vote last year, while 36 per cent of those born in Norway with an immigrant background went to the polls. Voters with an immigrant background made up 9.4 percent of the total vote in 2019 and 8.9 percent in 2023. Fewer people with an immigrant background than before went to the polls in 2023. Photo: Erlend Dalhaug Daae / Erlend Dalhaug Daae – We see that people with an immigrant background in use their right to vote to a lesser extent than people without an immigrant background. This group has grown quite strongly in Norway in the last 20 years, but voter turnout remains low, explains senior consultant Hans Martin L. Corneliussen at Statistics Norway. – Frightening Minister of Labor and Inclusion Tonje Brenna (Ap) is not satisfied with the speech. – It is not good. We need people to use their right to vote in our democracy for democracy to work. So the fact that participation is going down is frightening. She believes that it is a shared responsibility to raise the voter turnout in this group. – It is basically about two things. One is that the party must be able to make politics relevant and engage people both through the election campaign and elsewhere. The second is about accessibility: that you understand where you are going to vote, know where the polling station is in your municipality, understand when it is open and how you are going to vote, she says. Minister for Employment and Inclusion Tonje Brenna (Ap). Photo: William Jobling / news – What do you want to do as Minister of Employment and Inclusion? – I think that being integrated is related to whether you vote. So having a good integration policy where people come to work and feel at home in the local community is important. And then there must be political discussions and debates that people recognize, that make them want to go and vote on election day. It is a joint responsibility for all parties. Should vote next time Christiano Tshitenge believes that both language and difficulties in finding information can be barriers that prevent immigrants from using their right to vote. He also believes that it is difficult to understand how the Norwegian system works, if it is very different from the system in the country you come from. – There is a lot of information on the internet. But it might be too much, and too difficult to get to grips with everything. Nor is it for everyone to sit down and watch a long debate on TV. Christiano Tshitenge believes that it can be difficult for many to get used to the political system in Norway. Photo: Remi Sagen / news He believes it is important to have easy-to-understand information about what the party stands for and how the Norwegian political system works. Perhaps also translated into several languages. – And then it might have been nice to have someone you trust with you when you vote for the first time. – Are you going to exercise your right to vote next time? – Yes, it is completely clear, and then I will also motivate someone in my family and perhaps others I know to vote, says Christiano Tshitenge.
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Christiano Tshitenge regrets not voting in the municipal election – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
