All of Norway ready for the 2011 municipal and county council elections
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
(Oslo, 9 September 2011) Municipal and county authorities throughout Norway have
now completed their technical preparations and are ready for the elections to be
held on 11 and 12 September. An extensive apparatus of IT systems, vote counting
machines, technical equipment and election material is now in place at all the
authorities across the country ready for the elections. This information comes
from a review carried out by EDB ErgoGroup, which is a supplier of election
systems for this year's elections.
"Running the elections is a very big task for the country's municipal and county
authorities. As part of our deliveries, we have distributed around 3.1 million
polling cards to eligible voters. Around 45 million ballot papers had been
printed and distributed to local voting districts and party organisations",
explains Håvard Larsen, Head of the Solutions business area at EDB ErgoGroup.
In addition to deliveries from EDB ErgoGroup, a number of municipalities source
some of their requirements through other channels. EDB ErgoGroup's estimates
indicate that the total number of polling cards distributed throughout Norway is
in the order of 3.75 million, and that a total of as many as 60 million ballot
papers are ready for use in the voting districts.
EDB ErgoGroup has provided training for more than 1,500 election officials in
municipalities throughout Norway.
Training for election officials throughout Norway
"We started training the 1,500 election officials in April this year, at the
time that candidates started to register for the elections. These officials have
then gone on to use their expertise to train several thousand other people who
will be involved in the elections throughout Norway. This training program plays
a key role in ensuring the smooth running of the elections", comments Håvard
Larsen. The training courses were carried out locally throughout the country,
and participants received training in the use of election systems and procedures
for ensuring efficient management of the votes cast.
For the first time, polling cards for this year's elections have been sent to
16 and 17 year-olds in 20 pilot project municipalities that are carrying out
trials of extending voting to this age group.
The responsibility for managing elections in Norway lies with the municipal and
county authorities, and extensive training is required before each election. "In
order for the municipal and county authorities to run the elections
successfully, they need reliable election systems and appropriate training and
support to help them carry out their duties. The whole of Norwegian society
expects elections to run smoothly, and a great deal of planning and preparation
is necessary in terms of both technology and personnel", explains Håvard Larsen.
196 municipal and county authorities will use mechanised vote counting
196 municipal and county authorities will use machines to count the votes
recorded on ballot papers. This makes the counting process more efficient, and
means that election results will be ready much earlier than is possible with
manual counting. The automated counting system also records personal votes as
well as the votes for each party in order to ensure that the election result is
correct.
IT plays a key role in running the elections
EDB ErgoGroup is Norway's largest IT company, and has provided election services
in Norway for more than 30 years. For this year's elections, the company is
delivering all the services necessary to carry out the elections to be held by
419 municipalities and 18 county councils.
The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development is carrying out a
pilot project at these elections to allow voting over the internet for the
elections to 10 municipal authorities. Electronic voting for these authorities
will be available in addition to the normal paper-based election process.
"We are delighted that the Norwegian municipal and county authorities have again
chosen us as their supplier for the election. We have more than 30 years'
expertise and experience of elections, and I am proud that authorities
throughout the country have again showed their confidence in us as an important
supplier of services that are of critical importance for Norwegian society as a
whole", says Håvard Larsen.
Everything ready for the election at Bærum municipality
Tone Halvorsen has been responsible for running elections at Bærum municipality
since 2003.
"We started our preparations last autumn, and in January this year we allocated
tasks to the members of the election secretariat," explains Tone Halvorsen. On
the election day, Bærum municipality will have 400 people working in the
polling stations, including elected representatives, authority employees and
local residents. All of these people have taken part in the training provided by
EDB ErgoGroup. "We have traditionally been dependent on this training because
the national authorities do not provide all that is required", says Tone
Halvorsen.
What is involved in holding the election in will?
"The practical preparations start several weeks before the election day. We
place our order for polling cards and almost 1 million ballot papers with EDB
ErgoGroup, as well as ordering the electoral roll reports and the address labels
for the parties," she explains.
Bærum municipality uses EDB ErgoGroup's centralised election system for advance
voting, results and election administration. "We first count the results for the
party votes manually in the 27 polling stations, and we then scan the ballot
papers to record the votes for individual candidates. We then prepare the
results report for presentation to the Election Board, which is responsible for
approving the election results", explains Tone Halvorsen.
Is e-Voting the way forward?
"In my opinion, e-Voting is the way forward to improve participation in
elections, which is currently running at around 60% for the municipal and county
elections. If we want to encourage young people to vote, we have to use new
technology", says Tone Halvorsen, who goes on to add: "I do recognise that
voting from home raises some issues such as family influence on voting, but
voters are free to change their votes at any time until the polling stations
close". She also points out that e-Voting can hopefully help to reduce the cost
of holding elections.
For further information, please contact:
Torgeir Kristiansen, Information Director Corporate Communications, EDB
ErgoGroup.
Tel: +47 901 27 909
About EDB ErgoGroup
EDB ErgoGroup ASA is one of the leading Nordic IT companies, with some 10,000
employees and annual turnover of NOK 12.4 billion. The company is listed on the
Oslo Stock Exchange and operates from headquarters in Oslo with major activities
in both the Norwegian and Swedish markets. In all, the company operates from
135 offices in 16 countries around the world.
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: EDB ErgoGroup ASA via Thomson Reuters ONE
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