Text and photos: Geir Yeh Fotland, [email protected]
Norwegian language has two forms of writing: Bokmål and Nynorsk
Local elections to the municipal council, the county councils as well as to the local congregation board of the Church of Norway are held every four years in September. The last local election was held in 2019, the next will be on September 11, 2023. National parliamentary elections are also every four year, the next will be in September 2025. For national elections, only Norwegian citizens can vote.
Even those who can’t attend the polling station on election day, may vote up to 3 months ahead from anywhere in the world! The voter must have turned 18 by the end of the election year. It is a prerequisite that the voter is listed in the population register as residing in Norway within the municipal or the congregation. But for the local elections, if you are not a Norwegian Citizen, you may have the right to vote at the Municipal Council and County Council elections:
• if you are a citizen of Denmark, Finland, Iceland or Sweden and have turned 18 by the end of 2023 and are registered in the population register as residing in Norway no later than 30 June 2023.
• if you are not a citizen of any of the countries mentioned above and has turned 18 by the end of 2023 and has been registered in the national register as resident in Norway for the last three years before election day.
If you have not been a registered resident in Norway during the last 10 years, you must apply for inclusion in the census. This is done by signing that you want to apply for inclusion in the head count on the election cover envelope. Necessary materials such as voting slips and envelopes are available and can be collected at any Norwegian embassy or consulate within September 1st. In Taiwan voting materials may be picked up or ordered from The Trade Council of Denmark or from the office of Norway News.
This ballot contains the names of the centrally registered political parties. Not all parties stand for election in all municipalities. Oslo has 21 parties on the list, other municipals have less. You are only allowed to tick one lot.
The advanced vote must be posted in sufficient time for the vote to reach the electoral board by 5 pm the day after election day. Advance votes received later than this will be rejected. It is not possible to vote more than once.
All members of the Church of Norway who turn 15 or more in 2023 have the right to vote for board members. Between August 10th and September 6th church members may vote digitally via the internet as many times as they like. The last digital vote cast will count. After voting digitally, voting after September 6th is not allowed. https://www.kirken.no/valg.
Information about postal political voting: https://www.valg.no/en/?404;http://www.valg.no:80/en/for-voters/municipal-and-county-councilelections-2023/voting-from-another-country/postal-voting/
