The 2021 Norwegian Sámi parliamentary election was held on 13 September 2021. All 39 seats in the Norwegian Sámi legislature, the Sámediggi, were up for election.

Background

Previous election

In the previous election, held on 11 September 2017, the

Norwegian Sámi Association The Norwegian Sámi Association ( ; ; ; ), also known as NSR, is the largest Sámi organization in Norway. The association was founded in 1968. Purpose The NSR actively runs cultural, social, and informational work through local groups and Sá ...

, with former President of the Sámi Parliament Aili Keskitalo as their presidential candidate, won a plurality, with 18 of the 39 seats, including 2 on a joint list with the Sami People's Party. On 9 October, the Norwegian Sámi Association formed a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

on the Governing Council with the Centre Party, Ávjovári Moving Sámi List and Åarjel-Saemiej Gielh, together controlling 22 seats in the Sámi Parliament. Keskitalo took office as president on 12 October after being elected by the Parliament. The Labour Party, which had governed from 2016, returned to the opposition. Other opposition parties included Nordkalottfolket, Progress Party, Guovdageainnu Residents List, Conservative Party, Sami People's Party, and

Árja Árja ("Commitment" in northern Sami) is a Norwegian Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence compa ...

Presidential candidates

In June 2020, Aili Keskitalo announced that she would not be running for re-election as president. The

nominated Silje Karine Muotka, the incumbent Councillor of Environment, Industry, and Developmental Issues on the Governing Council, as their candidate. The Labour Party nominated Ronny Wilhelmsen, their presidential candidate in 2017. The Nordkalottfolket nominated their leader, Toril Bakken Kåven.

Electoral system

The election used party-list proportional representation in 7 multi-member constituencies. Each constituency is given a minimum of 2 seats. The apportionment of the remaining 25 seats is based on the number of voters on the Sámi electoral roll on 30 June on the year of the last local elections in 2019, and allocated using the

Sainte-Laguë method The Webster method, also called the Sainte-Laguë method (), is a highest averages apportionment method for allocating seats in a parliament among federal states, or among parties in a party-list proportional representation system. The Sainte- ...

. Unlike elections to

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

, there are no levelling seats. Voters aged 18 or over, and registered on the Sámi electoral roll prior to 30 June 2021, were entitled to vote in the Sámi Parliament election. To register, a voter must declare that they identify as Sámi, and that they either have Sámi as their mother tongue, have a Sámi parent, grandparent or great-grandparent, or are the child of a person already on the electoral roll. Sámi people from Sweden, Finland or Russia must be registered in Norway for the past three years in order to register. Advance voting was available from 10 August to 10 September (1 July for voters abroad or in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

), and required for voters in municipalities with fewer than 30 people on the Sámi electoral roll. In total, 8,340 votes, 40.6% of the total, were advance votes.

Debates

Results

By constituency

Vote share

Number of seats

Aftermath

The

presidential candidate Silje Karine Muotka declared victory on the night of the election. Muotka stated that renewal of the Muohtačalbmi coalition with the Centre Party and Ávjovári Moving Sámi List was her preference for government formation. On 12 October, the

, Centre Party and Ávjovári Moving Sámi List announced that they had reached an agreement to continue cooperating within the Sámi Parliament. On 18 October, the cooperation agreement, named the Beaiveálgu Declaration after the first Sámi-language novel, was presented. Silje Karine Muotka named her Governing Council, consisting of the

, with one Centre Party member. Muotka was elected President of the Sámi Parliament on 21 October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwegian Sami Parliamentary Election, 2021 Sami, 2021 Sami, 2021 Sámi in Norway 2021 elections in Europe Sami parliamentary election September 2021 in Norway Norwegian Sámi parliamentary elections