Forget election campaigns where politicians knock on the door and give you colorful flyers. Here, pressure groups can provide a link to the “voting booth” itself and an iPad at the door. Today’s survey carried out by Respons for Fædrelandsvennen and news shows two interesting trends that have been there over time: Support for dividing the large municipality is falling. In Songdalen there is a majority for large municipalities. In Søgne, most people want to keep the large municipality, and a majority if you take away the non-knowing group. The don’t know group is getting smaller and smaller in both places. In sum, this shows that the turnout and mobilization ability of the various sides will determine the outcome. Very low voter turnout is good enough From before we know that in the many referendums that were part of the Solberg government’s municipal reform, support varied from 10 per cent to 74 per cent, with 47.9 per cent as the average turnout. Back then, participation was 51.8 per cent in Søgne and 46.7 per cent in Songdalen. When Innlandet’s population voted on county divorce, just under 50 percent participated. When Haram wanted to separate from Ålesund earlier this year, 30.3 percent of those entitled to vote participated. When the question of dividing Kinn municipality was raised last year, 52.9 percent participated. At the last five local council elections, more than 60 per cent have cast their vote, this autumn 62.4 per cent. In other words, it is not unusual for less than half of the voters to turn up. The result can be scarce, especially in Søgne. So what then is the value of the advice? The Ministry of Local Government itself refers to an international electoral commission which recommends that no rules be set regarding requirements for participation percentages. The ministry further writes that anything above a (so low) participation rate of 25 per cent must be said to be good. It would be very strange if the ministry which now “owns” the vote, disregards its own advice for votes. The polling station in your pocket The residents of old Søgne and Songdalen municipalities must be heard digitally or in the form of a letter. This has never been done before and is an election experiment whose effects should be researched. Does it contribute to more or less mobilization? Will the result be more or less representative? The closest we get to a relevant comparison is the referendum on the division of Innlandet county. Out of fear of extensive corona measures and the infection control regime, the vote was digital. The county municipality used a commercial, digital solution. Voters logged in with BankID. Everyone over the age of 16 was allowed to vote. The election lasted one week. If you did not have internet access or equipment at home, you could visit a public office. If you did not have an electronic ID, you were not allowed to vote. In Søgne and Songdalen, it is therefore the ministry that owns the citizens’ consultation. The Norwegian Electoral Directorate is responsible for the technical aspects, a solution must be in place before the new year. BankID is required. Everyone over 18 must be allowed to vote. The election time and duration are currently uncertain. If you are not digitally competent, you can vote per letter. The Inlandet vote was never properly evaluated or researched. Participation was 46.7 per cent. Of those who voted, 48.1 per cent wanted to keep Innlandet County Municipality, while 50.7 per cent wanted to split. After a dramatic political discussion, it was decided by a narrow margin NOT to follow the majority in the consultative referendum. Do not want electronic elections In Norway we do not have electronic elections. Although NAV forms, the tax return and loan applications can be submitted electronically, it is not safe enough to vote in parliamentary, municipal and county council elections. The reason is twofold, argues the majority in the Electoral Law Committee no later than 2020. They want voters to continue to seek out a good, old-fashioned polling booth. Only there do you know that the voter is completely alone when he makes his choice. Secret election without undue pressure is a sacred principle. In Søgne, activists in one direction or the other can ring the doorbell the week of the referendum and ask voters to vote. They can stand there with a tablet or a QR code and ask voters to log in while they wait. A boss can ask all employees to vote at lunch. Whether people vote for replays on Sunday morning or alone on a Tuesday afternoon is equally valid. This opens up an election campaign we have never seen before. Trygve Slagsvold Vedum promised the residents of Søgne to split up the large municipality of Kristiansand in the parliamentary election campaign in 2021. It has probably become more demanding to deliver than Vedum imagined. Photo: Lars Nehru Sand / Lars Nehru Sand The effect of people running around with the polling station in their pockets is exciting to see. Especially because we now know that the number of people who show up will have a lot to say. A safety valve in the Innlandet vote was that you could log in to vote once more. Your last tick before the deadline would apply. If your spouse looked over your shoulder to check, or if someone offered you money to vote against your convictions, you could change the election alone in peace and quiet. That makes threats or pressure less relevant, since the effect is not guaranteed for the person who wants to exert pressure. But if actual security and more theoretical safety valves are good enough for local referendums, surely the debate about electronic voting could flare up? There is little indication that it will happen so soon after the Electoral Act has been reviewed. But the vote in Sørlandet is so unique that it should be reviewed thoroughly, also from a democracy and electoral theory perspective. The dilemmas are also obvious: Will electronic and easily accessible elections mobilize especially younger voters who would otherwise not visit a polling station? Will a primarily digital election passivate older voters who are not as digital? Will a weekly election digitally make the mobilization of pressure groups more important, or will it also make it easier for those who are often referred to as a silent majority to actually have their say, without having to bring their umbrella and go to a polling station at a given time? Unsettled questions On 28 November, the Storting formally puts forward the decision to amend the law so that the government is absolutely sure that it has the authority to hold a citizens’ hearing in the old Søgne and Songdalen municipalities, without the consent of today’s Kristiansand municipality. We therefore do not know when, or over how long. There will probably be one week of open websites sometime before Easter in 2024. A more central question that requires clarification before that time is when the sharing will possibly take place from. The state administrator assumes that this can happen with effect from 1 January 2026 at the earliest and that the municipal council in the new municipality(s) is elected at the same time as the general election in 2025, with an election period from 1 January 2026 to the ordinary municipal council election in September 2027. The alternative is further postponements until 1 January 2028. Voters are entitled to know the year of division before logging in to vote. The municipal minister must clarify this in good time. It is unclear whether the residents of old Kristiansand will also be able to vote for a new municipal council. Today’s mayor can lose his job after two years, as the Fædrelandsvennen problematises. So far, this case has produced hardly any winners, only losers. The victory is that the people in the two old municipalities are heard. Then it remains to be seen how many of them will respond.
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A Significant Experiment – Speech
