news has asked the audience what they wonder about elections and politics. We have received several hundred questions. Here we answer some of them. With the help of Thomas Torgersen, senior adviser in the Directorate of Elections, news has answered 10 questions about elections that were asked by the public. Thomas Torgersen, senior advisor in the Norwegian Electoral Directorate. Photo: Thomas Torgersen / Privat The answers may give you some tips on how to vote, and what changes you can make to the ballot paper. Photo: news Question: I moved from Lørenskog municipality to Indre Østfold on 14 July 2023. A few weeks later, I received the electoral card where it says that I will vote in Lørenskog municipality! Why? There’s no point. What do I have to do to vote in my new municipality? You are included in the census and have the right to vote in the municipality where you are registered as a resident in the Population Register on 30 June in the election year. This date is called the “cut-off date”. If you move to another municipality after this date, it is the registered address on the cut-off date that determines where you have the right to vote. During the advance voting period, voters can vote in any advance voting room throughout the country. The ballot paper from voters who pre-vote in a municipality other than the one in which they were registered residents on 30 June is sent to the municipality in which they have the right to vote and counts in the election result there. Question: How do caste votes work in municipal elections? Can I help an additional party get a mandate, or just prioritize a candidate on their list? At the local council election, you can give personal votes to as many candidates as you want among the candidates listed on the ballot for the party you are voting for. You can also give personal votes to candidates from parties other than the one you are voting for. This is often called giving a “slinger”. How many such personal votes you can give is listed on the ballot paper. Giving a slobber means that you give a list vote to the party the slobber comes from, at the expense of the party you vote for. It is the list votes that form the basis for calculating mandates. You can read more about how this works here. The procedure for giving personal votes is on the ballot paper you will find in the polling stations. This is how you vote in the municipal council and county council elections. Question: Can I vote locally in Larvik? Moving from Oslo to Larvik on 31 August, and will then register the move of my registered address to Larvik. If you move after 30 June this year, you are still listed in the census of the municipality you are moving from, even if you report the move. During the advance voting period, voters can vote in any advance voting room throughout the country. The ballot paper from voters who pre-vote in a municipality other than the one in which they were registered residents on 30 June is sent to the municipality in which they have the right to vote and counts in the election result there. Question: This is my first municipal election. I have decided on a party, but I don’t quite understand the list candidates. How can I know what each politician stands for? To get information about what the various parties and candidates stand for, you can look in the parties’ party programs or contact the parties and candidates directly. Photo: news Question: How can I vote in advance? If you are in Norway, you can vote in advance from 10 August up to and including 8 September in any polling station in the country. At www.valglokaler.no you will find an overview of polling stations and opening times. It is also possible to vote in advance from abroad up to and including 1 September. More information about advance voting can be found at valg.no Photo: Morten Brakestad / Viken county municipality Question: Identification with photo – elderly people do not need this. Applies to my mother. Got a new bank card without a photo. The bank accepted expired driver’s licenses with a photo. What does she do at the election? It is up to the person receiving the vote to assess whether or not the ID they have with them can be approved. But it is a minimum requirement that it must contain name, date of birth and picture. However, the electoral officer must exercise discretion in the assessment, and as long as the identification shows that you are who you claim to be, it is considered good enough. This also applies even if the identification card has expired. Question: How to vote from abroad? Voters who live or stay abroad can vote in advance at Norwegian embassies and other foreign stations. The deadline to vote here is 1 September. If it is not possible to visit an embassy or foreign mission, it is also possible to vote by post. It is the voter who is responsible for voting early enough that the vote reaches the correct municipality no later than 17 the day after election day 11 September. Therefore, remember to vote as early as possible so that the vote arrives in time by normal post. You can find more information about voting from abroad here. Photo: news Question: Can I use a ballot paper for one municipality and vote with it in another? For example, if I am a student in Bergen, but am from Lillestrøm, can I get a ballot paper from Lillestrøm and deliver it to the polling stations in Bergen? Yes you can. If you vote in advance in a municipality other than the one in which you have the right to vote, you will be given a check-off ballot which only has the names of the registered political parties on it, without the candidate’s name. If you want to make changes to the ballot paper, you must obtain a ballot paper from the municipality in which you have the right to vote, and use it when you vote. Photo: news Question: It is difficult to know what to vote for, and for me it can be decisive which parties or lists the individual will cooperate with in order to govern locally. But I can’t find that overview. The Norwegian Electoral Directorate does not have an overview of how the parties may plan to cooperate after the election. To get this type of information, you need to contact the parties locally. Question: Can you cumulate or delete candidates on other party lists, even if you submit a list from your own party? You cannot strike out candidates in municipal council and county council elections, but you can give personal votes to candidates in parties other than the one you vote for. You do this by writing the name of the candidate in a separate field on the ballot paper, which is also known as giving a “slinger”. This is only possible at the municipal council election. For the county council election, you can only vote in person for candidates from the party you are voting for – not for other candidates from other parties (slingers). The procedure for giving personal votes is also on the ballot paper you will find in the polling stations. What are your thoughts on this matter? Enter your comment here. Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue
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news answers your questions about elections and politics – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
