Today is Election Day in Norway and I’m particularly excited because it is the first time Husband and I have the opportunity to cast a ballot in our local election. Voting rules in Norway stipulate that people who are not citizens are allowed to vote in local elections after residing legally in the country for three years; only citizens can vote in the national election. Husband and I had been here only two years when the last elections came around, so had to wait until now.

An article in our local newspaper last week reported on a meeting held at the Sandefjord library with leaders from almost all of the local political parties to discuss issues surrounding innvandrere (immigrants). The debate opened with this question: Do you know an immigrant? Surprisingly, many of the leaders admitted they did not; only a few, who are immigrants themselves, responded, “Of course.”

I find it very surprising that anyone deeply involved in politics in Sandefjord wouldn’t know at least one foreigner, considering 15 percent of Sandefjord’s 44,000 residents are immigrants. I mean, I know at least one Norwegian. A fun fact about that 15%---they come from a total of 170 nations. That’s a lot of diversity for one little town!

Here are some facts about immigrants in Norway:

• We make up 12.2% of the entire population.
• Just about half of us come from Europe.
• The largest number of immigrants in Norway come from Poland, Sweden, Germany, and Iraq.
• 34% of immigrants are Norwegian citizens.

I have been reading the newspaper, listening to the radio, and watching political debates on television to ensure I’m up on the important issues and am ready to vote. I thought I was completely prepared to cast my ballot for Arbeiderpartiet and then I took the “Valgomat” on the NRK website. The Valgomat presents a series of statements regarding urgent matters in your area (in my case, Sandefjord) and you must rate if you agree or disagree strongly/not so strongly and if the matter is very important, just a little important, or not at all important to you.

I answered the questions as carefully and as thoughtfully as I could and---WOW---it turns out Arbeiderpartiet represents only 66% of my views. My results are as follows:

78% = Miljøpartiet de Grønne (The Green Party)
75% = Venstre (Left)
73% = Kristelig Folkeparti (The Christian Party)---WTH?
70% = Socialist Ventsre
69% = Rødt (Red)
66% = Arbeiderpartiet
59% = Senterpartiet
56% = Pensjonistpartiet (The Retirement Party?)
56% = Kystpartiet (The Coast Party?)
55% = Høyre (Right)
41% = Fremskrittspartiet (FRP, the right wing of Norway)

So, really, I’m much more a tree-hugging leftist than a center-of-the-road Labor voter. Oh, and apparently I’m a bit of a Bible-thumper. (Actually, the Christian Party in Norway is very concerned about the environment, so that’s how that happened.) Who knew?

The last question on Valgomat asks if I will change the way I was going to vote based on the results of the quiz. I answered, “Yes.” Then the quiz informed me that only 18% of people who take the quiz will change their intended vote based on their results. I take that as meaning 82% of people who vote disregard their true feelings about issues and instead vote for---what? The candidate they like the best? The party they have always voted for?

Oh well, that’s democracy. Until someone comes up with a fairer, more representative system of government, I’ll take it. And now, off to the polls!