• Where can absentee ballots be received?
• Postal absentee voting
• Procedure for absentee voting
• Application for registration in the electoral register

Absentee voting outside Norway and on Svalbard and Jan Mayen starts on 1 July 2003. Votes must not be cast later than Friday 12 September 2003.

The voter is personally responsible for voting early enough for the vote to reach the election board in the municipality where he or she is registered by 2000 hours on the Election Day.

Voters who simultaneously apply for inclusion in the electoral register have to cast their ballots so that the documents reach the election board within the Election Day.

Absentee ballots will be final. This means that the person ­casting the absentee ballot will not be allowed to cast a new ballot in the same election.

Where can absentee ballots be received?

Absentee ballots may be received:

• at Norwegian foreign service missions (embassies, consulates, general consulates, and other office of a mission)
• by vote receivers specially appointed by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Affairs
• by vote receivers on Jan Mayen
• by the Governor of Svalbard or the person appointed by the Governor.

Postal absentee voting

Voters who are unable to vote through a vote receiver may send their own absentee ballot to Norway by ordinary post (postal absentee voting). The voter may request that voting materials be sent to him/her from a foreign mission.

An alternative is that the voter may download the necessary materials (with the exception of the official ballot paper envelope).

Procedure for absentee voting

1. In person

The voter must appear in person to cast his/her vote.

If the voter is not able to cast his/her vote as prescribed, the voter may receive assistance from a person whom he/she designates.

2. Proof of identity

If the voter is unknown to the vote receiver, he/she is required to produce proof of identity. Identification documents that are considered adequate are a passport, driving licence, Post Office identity card, bank card, seaman’s certificate, all types of certificates of service on board ship, military service certificate and other military identity cards, etc.

3. Information on voting procedure

The vote receiver shall inform the voter of the rules that apply to absentee voting.

4. Distribution of materials

The vote receiver provides the voter with the following materials:

• A ballot envelope
• Writing material
• Two ballot slips. A white one for the Municipal Government Election and a blue one for the County Council Election.
  

Voters that are registered in the electoral register in Oslo shall not vote in the County Council Election, and should not be provided with a blue ballot paper.

In some municipalities, the mayor is elected by direct election. The voter may either use his/her own ballot slip or write the candidate’s name on a blank paper and indicate that the ballot slip pertains to the mayoral election.

5. Handling of voting and cast absentee votes – ”in a private room and unobserved”

The voter shall be shown to a private room where he/she can cross off the ballot slip/slips and place it/them in the ballot paper envelope.

6. The cover envelope shall be sealed

The voter then gives the ballot paper envelope to the vote receiver who, in the presence of the voter, places the ballot paper envelope in the cover envelope and seals the envelope. It is very important that the cover envelope is properly sealed, as the ballot cast will otherwise be rejected.

7. Filling in the cover envelope
The vote receiver shall then fill in the form on the cover envelope.

8. Sending absentee ballots to Norway

The vote receiver places the absentee ballot in a postal envelope and promptly sends it to the relevant election board.

Application for registration in the electoral register

Closing date for application

Norwegian citizens living abroad, and who have not been registered in the Norwegian National Population Register for the 10 years prior to the election date, must, in order to be registered, apply for registration. The closing date for application for registration in the electoral register is the Election Day.

The application form for registration in the electoral register

The application for registration in the electoral register is printed directly on the cover envelope that is used when casting absentee ballots abroad. Norwegian citizens living abroad, who have not been registered in the electoral register for the last 10 years before Election Day, and who wish to apply for registration in the Norwegian National Population Register, must do this by filling out the application form on the cover envelope. If the voter uses the form on the cover envelope, the voter must apply for registration simultaneously with casting his or her ballot. The election board processes the voter’s application when receiving the absentee ballot.

The application may also be written on ordinary paper. The letter must contain full name, address, date of birth and a signature, as well as a statement affirming that the person concerned is still a Norwegian citizen. The application must be sent to the municipality in which the voter was registered in the Norwegian National Population Register prior to his or her departure.