The Socialist Left Party’s election initiative starts in Norway

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Norway

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Deputy leader of Socialists left Party Audun Lysbakken at the opp av sofaen election event in Oslo 2009.
Image: Alejandro Decap.

Today, Norway's Socialist Left Party (SV) launched their new election initiative named "up from the couch." The campaign aims to get first-time voters and so-called "couch voters" to vote in the upcoming election.

Kristin Halvorsen, the Norwegian Minister of Finance and Party leader for SV, explained, "It’s a wakeup call, because those who sit on the couch let others decide for them. That’s way we are mobilizing as much as we can until Election Day."

In the 2005 election only 55 % of first time voters used their voting rights. “It’s a challenge to get the younger voters to vote, because many of them haven’t done it before. We know that adults and older people are better in using their voting right then younger people," said Minister Halvorsen.

The 2005 election showed that 1 in 3 of the voters who had voted for SV in the 2001 election switched to the Norwegian Labour Party. Only 43% of SV's voters continued to vote for them. On election day, SV got 8.8% of the total national votes. Minister Halvorsen stated "We have a goal to mobilize enough to get 10 % of the voter’s behind us."

Sources

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

• "Opp av sofaen". Socialist Left Party (Norway), 2009 ((Norwegian))
• "Valgets kval". Statistics Norway, February 20, 2009 ((Norwegian))
• "Enda flere velgere skiftet parti". Statistics Norway, June 30, 2006 ((Norwegian))
• "Stortingsvalet 2005. Godkjende røyster, etter parti/valliste og kommune. Prosent". Statistics Norway, 2005 ((Norwegian))
  

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