11 September 2023 at 10:34 Electoral Directorate: Electoral error in Balsfjord has been complained to the municipality The Conservative Party in Balsfjord in Troms and Finnmark will demand a re-election in the Nordkjosbotn constituency. This is what the second candidate for the party, Torleif Selseng, tells news. The Norwegian Electoral Directorate informs that a complaint has been received after the ballot papers for the Conservative Balsfjord list were not presented in Nordkjosbotn on Sunday. The complaint must be processed by the electoral board in the municipality. – The Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs is the final appeal body, and the Norwegian Electoral Directorate has no role in this appeal process. The handling of the appeal case will determine what consequences the case will have, the directorate writes in an e-mail to NTB. The Norwegian Electoral Directorate has been in contact with Balsfjord municipality after the blunder. – We have been in contact with the municipality after we were informed about this case, and reminded them that they must ensure that there are ballot papers available for all lists that stand for election in the municipality, they write in the e-mail. The head of the electoral board and mayor of the municipality, Gunda Johansen (Ap), says they have now corrected and that the ballot papers are in place. – A human error has occurred. It has been corrected. As soon as it was discovered, they were given ballots. When a voter in Nordkjosbotn was supposed to vote for the Conservative Balsfjord list, the ballots for the list had not been submitted. A miss, says the electoral board. – I regret like “f” that I did not ask the election observers where the ballot papers were. I now see that I should have done it, says voter Halvard Karlsen to Nordlys. He was early to vote during the local elections in Nordkjosbotn in Balsfjord, but could not find the ballot papers for the party he wanted to vote for, writes the newspaper. He explains that he became unsure whether it was possible to vote for the list, and therefore voted for another party. – It was Frp. It was like the second choice for me. There is nothing to keep secret, says Karlsen to the newspaper. (©NTB/news)
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