Historical archive

OSSE report from the observation of e-elections

Historical archive

Published under: Stoltenberg's 2nd Government

Publisher: Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development

The trial involving internet voting was conducted in an open and inclusive manner, according to experts from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in their evaluation report.

The trial involving internet voting was conducted in an open and inclusive manner, according to experts from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in their evaluation report.

An e-election trial was held during the 2011 local elections in Norway. Voters in ten municipalities were given the option of casting their votes early on the internet. The OSCE expert group monitored how the trial was carried out.

The OSCE writes that the trial was held in an open and inclusive manner, and have little negative to say about the technical solution. However, the observers have contributed input on how to improve the implementation.

«The input from the OSCE provides useful information. We will incorporate this in our evaluation of the e-election trial. We will present a Storting report on electronic voting in the autumn of 2012, when the Ministry will issue a recommendation on whether to proceed with electronic voting,» says Sandbakken.

The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development invited the OSCE to monitor the trial with the objective of getting input as regards improvements. The Ministry also wants feedback on the implementation of the trial compared with international standards.

«The report shows that we got a lot of things right in the trial. We are conducting trials to learn, and it is therefore important that OSCE points out potential improvements,» says undersecretary Dag-Henrik Sandbakken in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development’s media line: +47 22 24 25 00.