More than 100,000 registered Norwegian voters have already cast their ballots in the upcoming parliamentary election, after polls opened for early and absentee voters last week. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that around 107,000 had voted as of Thursday.
“It’s been busy,” Gitte Helland, leader of the Service Center in Porsgrunn south of Oslo. “Elections are fun, and we’re now spending most of our workday here at the ballot boxes.”
“People are busy, so they vote when they have time,” said communications adviser Hege Schjødt Øverås, who said she has the same impression as Helland that more people are voting early than they have in previous years.
Fully 855,255 of those voting in the last parliamentary election in 2013 had cast their ballots before Election Day. That was nearly double the 473,000 who voted early in 2005.
Jan Tore Sanner, the government minister in charge of local governments that organize elections, links the increases to the municipalities themselves making it easier for voters to vote early. Voters can also avoid lines on Election Day, when polls open officially open in their neighbourhoods. Voter turnout in Norway is traditionally strong, with less than 80 percent considered poor.
newsinenglish.no staff
