Today, Norwegians cast their votes in the 2021 parliamentary elections. Follow the latest updates on Norway Today.
Note: The live election coverage has ended at 00:30 AM.
23:58: The Labor Party’s (AP) leader Jonas Gahr Støre was greeted with cheers and shouts when he addressed the party’s election HQ audience tonight. Read more…
“Now we can finally say it – we did it!” Støre said.
23:40: Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) congratulated Jonas Gahr Støre (AP) on “what looks like a clear majority.” Read more…
“I congratulate Jonas Gahr Støre on what looks like a clear majority. But there will be tough negotiations ahead,” Solberg said.
23:22: There are many indications that the Socialist Left Party (SV) has reached its goal of contributing to a new government, party leader Audun Lysbakken said on election night. Read more…
23:15: The election’s biggest losers in terms of the number of votes are the Progress Party (FRP) and the Conservatives (H), according to the initial forecasts. The atmosphere, however, isn’t nearly as grim as one might expect. Read more…
23:09: KRF leader Kjell Ingolf Ropstad congratulated Jonas Gahr Støre (AP) on his likely election victory. Just as Ropstad was saying that the government would resign, the KRF’s election headquarters had to be evacuated as a fire alarm went off. Read more…
23:03: The three climate parties – the Green Party, the Socialist Left Party, and the Liberal Party – are likely to get less support in the 2021 elections than the opinion polls suggested in the election campaign. Read more…
22:47: Current Minister of Finance and Conservative Party Deputy Leader Jan Tore Sanner (H) acknowledged that there is a change of government according to the initial forecasts. He says that the party will act constructively in opposition in the next parliamentary term. Read more…
22:38: At 10 PM, the Green Party (MDG) was just below the 4% threshold, according to forecasts. MDG officials Lan Marie Berg and Rasmus Hansson are following the vote count with a lot of excitement. Read more…
22:26: As the election forecast predicts a red-green government, Jonas Gahr Støre (AP) and the rest of the Labor Party have reason to celebrate. See how members of the Labor Party reacted to the news.
22:18: The Center Party’s (SP) deputy leader Anne Beathe Tvinnereim says that the party has never said it would categorically oppose government collaboration with the Socialist Left Party (SV). Read more…
22:02: The Red Party (Rødt) got 4.6% of support according to the forecast from the Norwegian Electoral Directorate at 9:45 PM and could thus go from one to eight representatives in the Norwegian parliament (Storting). Read more…
21:40: In the Norwegian Electoral Directorate’s updated forecast at 9:34 PM, the Red Party (Rødt), the Green Party (MDG), the Christian Democrats (KRF), and the Liberal Party (Venstre) are all above the 4% threshold. Read more…
21:30: According to forecasts from the Norwegian Electoral Directorate at 9 PM, the Red Party could get 5% of support in the elections and grow from one to eight representatives in the Norwegian parliament (Storting). Read more…
21:10: The three “red-green” parties are poised to gain a majority in the Storting after the election, the Norwegian Electoral Directorate’s forecast shows. The Christian Democrats (KRF) and the Liberal Party (V) are close to the threshold. Read more…
If the forecast is correct, the Labor Party (AP), the Socialist Left Party (SV), and the Center Party will receive a total of 88 out of 169 seats. That means that AP leader Jonas Gahr Støre is poised to form a government with his two preferred partners – and avoid being dependent on support from the Red Party or the Green Party.
Both the Red Party and the Green Party are above the threshold in the forecast.
The Christian Democrats (KRF) and the Liberal Party (V), on the other hand, are likely to fall below the threshold. But the margins are small, and the outcome will probably become clear late during the election night.
The forecast shows that the Labor Party’s support is far higher than the polls indicated before the elections. With a support of 26.5%, the Labor Party is the country’s largest party by a good margin, and party leader Jonas Gahr Støre is now very well placed to become the country’s next prime minister.
- Norwegian elections of 2021: What are the key issues?
- Norway 2021 elections: These are the major parties and most likely coalitions
Vote counting
All ballot papers are counted three times: twice in the municipalities and once in the county municipalities – the so-called control count.
The advance votes that the municipalities have received are counted first, on the Sunday before election day. Advance votes cast in other municipalities that arrive at the municipalities on election day(s) are not be counted until Tuesday after election day at 5 PM, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Elections.
The first count is manual and is performed by election staff according to established routines. The second count can be machine-mediated, i.e., the ballot papers are scanned and read by the EVA scan that the Norwegian Electoral Directorate delivers to the municipalities. 189 of the 356 municipalities use the scans, and the remaining count votes manually in other counts.
Votes cast on election day (election votes) can be counted as soon as all polling stations in the municipality are closed on election day.
When will the election results be known?
The final election result from the constituencies will be clear when the county election boards have approved the election results. Before that, the municipalities must also finish counting all the votes. This usually happens in the afternoon or evening on Tuesday after election day.
The preliminary count of advance votes will be announced at 9 PM on election day. At the same time, forecasts will be announced for the election result, based on the advance votes. Shortly before midnight, the forecast will be discontinued, and then the actual reported results will be continuously displayed on valgresultater.no.
At this year’s election, a record number of people have voted in advance. The increase in the number of advance votes means that there is a larger base of data for the forecast figures presented at 9 PM on election day.
Source: #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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