The Norwegian Labour Party (AP) is the clear winner of the Parliament election. The party will form a coalition government together with the Socialist Left (SV) and the Center Party (SP). The new government will have a majority of the seats in the Norwegian Parliament.
18/09/2005 :: Four years of non- socialist rule will now be replaced by a red- green alliance who won 87 of the 169 seats in Parliament. The Norwegian Labour Party form the government coalition with Socialist Left Party and the Center Party. Jens Stoltenberg of the Labour Party will most probably lead the new government as Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik of the Christian Democrats (KRF) formed the non- socialist government with the Conservatives (H), and the Liberals (V) after the 2001 election. Prime Minister Bondevik will hand in his resignation to HM the King September 13th. The Bondevik coalition will present the state budget proposal for 2006 14th October. Shortly after that Jens Stoltenberg will most probably form a new government.
Tuesday 13th September the red- green coalition, leader of the Labour Party Jens Stoltenberg, Kristin Halvorsen, leader of the Socialist Left and leader of the Center Party, Åslaug Haga will get together and start working on a common government platform.
The voter turnout for the 2005 Parliament election was 76,6 percent. In the 2001 election the voter turnout was 75,1 percent.
It might take up to 10 days to receive the final results for the Sami Assembly election. The reason being that the election is held in every local authority in Norway. The voting ballots will then be sent to the local authority in the election district who is responsible for counting the votes.
Election results:
The Norwegian Labour Party (AP): 32,8 percent
The Progress Party (FRP): 22 percent
The Conservatives (H): 14,1 percent
Socialist Left (SV): 8,8 percent
Christian Democrats (KRF): 6,8 percent
Center Party (SP): 6,5 percent
The Liberals (V): 5,9 percent
Red Electoral Alliance: 1,2 percent
The Coastal Party: 0,8 percent
Others: 1,9 percent
Main principles, legal basis
The Norwegian electoral system is based on the principles of direct election and proportional representation in multi-member electoral divisions. Direct election means that the electors vote directly for representatives of their constituency by giving their vote to an electoral list. Proportional representation means that the representatives are distributed according to the relationship to one another of the individual electoral lists in terms of the number of votes they have received. Both political parties and other groups can put up lists at elections.
From 1898 onwards all Norwegian men were allowed to vote. Norwegian women won the right to vote and stand for election in 1913. Norway was one of the first countries in Europe to give voting rights to women.
The election for the Storting: Constituencies, number of mandates
In the case of parliamentary elections Norway is divided into 19 constituencies corresponding to the counties, including the municipal authority of Oslo, which is a county of its own. The number of members to be returned to the Storting is 169. The members are allocated to the constituencies according to the area of the county and the size of its population. Nineteen seats – one seat from each county – are allocated as seats at large.
In the case of local government elections members are returned to municipal councils and county councils. Each municipal authority and each county represents one electoral division. The rules governing how many members are to be returned are laid down in the Local Government Act. The county/municipal council itself lays down the number of members within statutory minimum figures in relation to the size of the population of the county/municipal authority area.
The electoral term is four years for all elections. Elections to municipal and county councils are conducted at the same time and are held midway in the electoral term of the Storting. Election Day is fixed by the King to a Monday in September, usually in one of the first two weeks of the month.
The Sami Assembly- Constituencies, number of mandates
In the case of Sami Assembly elections the country is divided into 13 constituencies. Three representatives are elected from each of the 13 constituencies. In addition four seats at large are elected. The Sami Assembly consist of 43 representatives. The election count consist of two parts: First the number of representative seats each party or the individual list will have in the Sami Assembly (distribution of district mandates) are decided. Second the Assembly decides which candidates from the party/ list will receive what seats.
Election for the Sami Assembly is held every 4th year at the same time as the parliamentary election for the storting. The first Sami Assembly was held in 1989.
Who is entitled to vote in Parliamentary Elections for the storting?
Norwegian nationals who are 18 years of age by the end of the election year 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 do not satisfy the residence criterion.
Who is entitled to vote in Sami Assembly Elections?
Norwegian Sami who are inscribed in the Sami electoral register on Election Day and who satisfy the requirements applying to entitlement to vote in Parliamentary Elections.
Non-Norwegian Sami who satisfy the requirements applying to entitlement to vote in Parliamentary Elections, provided they are inscribed in the Sami electoral register on Election Day and have been inscribed in the Norwegian Population Register as resident in Norway for the past three years prior to Election Day (Russian Sami), or are nationals of another Nordic country and have been inscribed in the Norwegian National Population Register as resident in Norway no later than 31 May in the year of the election (Swedish and Finnish Sami).
With respect to the period of residence for foreign Sami, there is a requirement that this has been registered as continuous for the past three years. Foreign Sami who give notification of moving out of Norway before Election Day lose the right to vote.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs/ Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development