User:Lilduff90/Kvinnherad municipal election, 2015

Local elections for the municipal council in Kvinnherad were held on September 14, 2015 among nationwide local elections. Despite having the most seats, the centre-right block of parties had not secured any agreements following the 2011 election, and as such were in opposition for the 2015 elections despite being a majority. The election saw the Conservative Party retain their twelve seats while also winning one more, and forming a coalition alongside the Christian Democrat, Liberal and Centre parties, with a 21 seat majority.

Controversies following 2011 election
While the Conservative Party had won the 2011 election alongside their right-wing parties, they failed to form a council as several left-wing parties, led by the Labour Party, formed an unlikely coalition with the extreme-right Progress Party to secure a majority. This resulted in immediate backlash for the Progress Party, who would eventually lose most of their voters four years later. The agreement was also one of several events that led to a large restructuring of the local Labour Party in 2012-13.

The coalition was marred by near-constant disagreements between the left- and right-wing sections, in particular about the use of municipal funds and funding, which eventually resulted in the alliance collapsing in 2014. http://www.kvinnheringen.no/nyhende/slutt-mellom-ap-og-frp/s/1-1245635-7700942

Reduction of districts
Prior to the 2015 elections, it was announced that the number of voting districts would be reduced from 20 to four. This sparked heavy debate, as the county its population spread across a large area, meaning that several outlying areas would face long travel distances to be able to vote. In addition, the elderly inhabitants of the same areas would be unable to vote, due to lack of public transport between towns. While the county issued multiple statements defending the decision and assuring that everyone would be able to vote, several threats of boycotts were made, and the election eventually had a record-low turnout of only 55,9%. However, as the entire country experienced an unusually low turnout, it is ambiguous whether or not the change in districts had any effect. ´

Results
TBA