Norwegian municipal elections

In Norway, municipal elections are local elections held every four years to elect representatives to the Norwegian municipality (kommune) councils. They are conducted concurrently with Norwegian county elections. The last municipal and council elections were held on 13–14 September 2015. Norway holds elections every two years, alternating between local elections and national parliamentary elections.

Municipal elections were first held in Norway in 1837.

The electorate includes all Norwegian citizens of age 18 or higher (must be at least 18 by the end of the year), and who reside, or who have resided in Norway. In addition, other residents who have lived continuously in Norway for the preceding three years may vote. Residents of Norway who are citizens of another Nordic country need only to have been resident in Norway on 30 June in the year of the election in order to be allowed to vote.

The voter's residency as of 30 June determines which municipality and election the voter will vote in.

In general, each political party who participates in an election for a particular municipality nominates a list of names which appear on the ballot. It is possible for parties to cooperate on a single ballot however. For the municipality elections, the ballots are printed on white paper, distinguishing them from the blue ballots used in the county election. Both municipality and county ballots are kept in the voting booth at the polling stations.

The ballot itself consists of a list of names, each with a checkbox beside it. Candidates given priority by the party are entered in bold. Voters are allowed to give "personal votes" (personstemme) to people on the ballot by putting a mark next to their name. Also on the ballot is a table allowing voters to write in candidates who are running for another party. Voters can give personal votes to candidates on other ballots (so called "danglers") by entering the candidate's name in the table.

After the voter has selected the ballots, and making whatever adjustments desired, the voter folds the ballot together, hiding the information on the inside, thereby keeping the vote secret. An election official checks the person's identity and stamps the ballot, validating it, before it is inserted into the election box.

The system with folded and stamped ballots has been criticized, because studies show that about 10% of voters fold the ballot the wrong way, exposing rather than hiding their choice. This can lead to suspicions that this "mistake" is sometimes done intentionally in a scheme of electoral fraud. If someone "buys" a vote, the bought voter can "accidentally" reveal his choice to confirm that she or he upheld his or her part of the deal. Utilizing envelopes to increase the security of the elections has been suggested.

...
Wikipedia