Municipal Government and County Council elections in Norway

In 2007, Municipal Government and County Council elections wil be held in Norway. Election Day is Monday, 10th September 2007.

Who is entitled to vote?

The following persons are entitled to vote in the municipal and county election:

Norwegian nationals who

• are 18 years of age by the end of the election year, and who
• have not lost the right to vote pursuant to Article 53 of the Constitution, and who
• are, or have at some time, been registered in the National Population Register as a resident of Norway.
  
  Norwegian public servants who are employed in the diplomatic corps or the consular service and members of their household are entitled to vote even if they have never been registered in the National Population Register.
  

Norwegian non-nationals who satisfy the relevant criteria, if they

• have been registered in the Norwegian Population Register as a resident of Norway in the three years prior to Election Day, or
• are nationals of another Nordic country and have been registered in the Norwegian National Population Register no later than 30 June of the election year.
  

With respect to the period of residence for foreign nationals, there is a requirement that this has been registered as continuous for the past three years. Foreign nationals who give notification of moving out of Norway before Election Day lose the right to vote.

To be eligible to vote, a voter must be listed in the electoral register on the day of the election.

The Electoral register

or Norwegian nationals it is not a condition for entitlement to vote that they are resident in Norway on Election Day. But to be able to cast a vote, one must be inscribed in the electoral register on Election Day.

All persons who are entitled to vote in the election and who are registered as residents of the municipal authority area on 30 June of the election year, are included in the relevant municipality authority area’s electoral register.

Pursuant to Section 5 of the National Population Register Regulations, residents who move abroad are recorded in a separate register. All Norwegian nationals who are entitled to vote are automatically included in the electoral register in the municipal authority area where they were registered as resident at the time of moving.

Norwegian nationals who have been registered as resident in another country for more than 10 year are no longer automatically included in the electoral register. They must apply for inclusion in the electoral register if they wish to participate in the election, by filling out the an application form on the cover envelope for advance voting abroad. The application may also be written on ordinary paper. The letter must contain full namne, address, date of birth and a signature, as well as a statement affirming that the person concerned is still a Norwegian national. The application is to be sent to the municipal authority area where the person concerned was last registered as resident. The closing date for application for registration in the electoral register is the Election Day.

Voting in advance from abroad

• Where can ballots be received?
• Postal voting
• Procedure for voting from abroad

Voting outside Norway and on Svalbard and Jan Mayen starts on 2 July 2007. Votes must not be cast later than Friday 31 August 2007.

The voter is personally responsible for voting early enough for the vote to reach the election board in the municipal authority area where he or she is registered by 20.00 hours on Election Day.

Ballots cast abroad will be final. This means that the person casting the ballot will not be allowed to cast a new ballot in the same election.

Where can ballots cast abroad be received?

Ballots cast abroad may be received:

• at Norwegian Foreign Service missions (embassies, consulates, general consulates, and any other office of a mission)
• by returning officers specially appointed by the County Governor in Oslo and Akershus on behalf of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development
• by returning officers on Jan Mayen
• by the Governor of Svalbard or the person appointed by the Governor.
  
  

Postal voting

Voters who are unable to vote through a returning officer may send their ballot to Norway by ordinary post (postal voting from abroad). The voter may request that voting materials be sent to him/her from a Foreign Service mission.

An alternative is that the voter may download the necessary materials (with the exception of the official ballot paper envelope).

Procedure for voting from abroad

1. In person
The voter must appear in person to cast his/her vote.

2. Proof of identity
If the voter is unknown to the returning officer, he/she is required to produce proof of identity. Identification documents that are considered adequate are a passport, driving licence, Post Office identity card, bankcard, seaman’s certificate, all types of certificates of service on board ship, military service certificate and other military identity cards, etc.

3. Information on voting procedure
The returning officer shall inform the voter of the rules that apply to voting from abroad.

4. Distribution of materials
The returning officer provides the voter with the following materials:

• A ballot paper envelope (brown)
• Writing materials
• Two ballot papers. A white one for the Minicpal Government Election and a blue one for the County Counsil Election.

In Oslo there is no County Council Election. Therefore, voters that are registered in the elctoral register in Oslo shall not vote in the County Council Election.

5. Handling of voting and votes cast – “in a secluded room and unobserved”
The voter shall be shown to a place where in a secluded room an unobserved he/she can mark the ballot paper/papers, or write the name of the list that he/she wishes to vote for and place it (them) in the ballot paper envelope.

6. The cover envelope shall be sealed
The voter then gives the ballot paper envelope to the returning officer who, in the presence of the voter, places the ballot paper envelope in the cover envelope and seals the envelope. It is very important that the cover envelope is properly sealed, as the ballot cast will otherwise be rejected.

7. Filling in the cover envelope
The returning officer shall then fill in the form on the cover envelope.

8. Sending ballots to Norway
The returning officer places the ballot in a postal envelope and promptly sends it to the relevant election board.

Click for more on Norwegian Electoral System:


Source: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/krd/kampanjer/
The-municipal-and-county-election/
English/Voting-in-advance-from-abroad.html?id=475879