How to Vote in Norwegian Elections From Spain

A Norwegian citizen living in Spain can vote in Storting elections for life, provided you are or have at some point been registered in the population register as resident in Norway. There is nothing to apply for. If you were registered as resident within the ten years before election day you are on the roll automatically; if it was longer ago, you are added to the roll of your last municipality when your vote arrives.

The next Storting election is in September 2029. Before that come the municipal and county elections on Monday 13 September 2027, and whether a Norwegian in Spain can take part in those is a question the Directorate of Elections has not yet answered: its 2027 page says practical voting information will follow closer to the election.

Last verified: 28 September 2026.

Once registered as resident, always a voter

The rule sits in section 2-1 of the Election Act of 2023 (valgloven), in force since 1 May 2024. Norwegian citizens who are 18, or turn 18 by the end of the election year, may vote in Storting elections if they are or have been folkeregistrert som bosatt i Norge — registered in the population register as resident in Norway. No time limit, no renewal. A Norwegian born abroad who has never been registered as resident in Norway does not qualify.

Section 2-6 handles the manntall — electoral roll, and splits voters abroad in two:

• Registered as resident in Norway at any point in the ten years before election day: you are entered on the roll of the municipality where you were last registered, without doing anything.
• Not registered as resident in those ten years: you are entered on the roll of your last municipality when you vote. The vote is the application.

The embassy in Madrid put it the same way for 2025: once registered as resident, you are entered on the roll automatically or when the vote reaches your last municipality. Voting cards are not used abroad; bring identification.

Which elections are open to you from Spain

The Storting election, every four years in September, is the settled one. The Sami parliament election runs the same day on its own roll, with a 30 June registration cut-off in the election year.

The municipal and county elections of 13 September 2027 are the open question. The Directorate’s page for voters at that election, in Norwegian and in English, currently says only that practical information about voting will appear closer to the election. Until it does, this page does not claim a vote in the 2027 local elections for Norwegians in Spain. Check valg.no from spring 2027.

Norway is outside the EU, so there is no European Parliament election to vote in, from Norway or from Spain. There is a local vote here, though. Spain’s Central Electoral Board lists Norway among the countries whose citizens, when resident in Spain, may vote in Spanish municipal elections under a reciprocity treaty. The registration step and its window are in the municipal guide below.

How to vote from Spain

Section 8-1 of the Act opens early voting abroad on 1 July and closes it on the second-last Friday before election day. Section 8-5 allows a vote by letter for anyone abroad who cannot get to a vote receiver. For the Storting election of Monday 8 September 2025, this is how it worked in Spain:

• Early voting ran from Tuesday 1 July to Friday 29 August 2025.
• Votes were taken at the embassy in Madrid, Calle Serrano 26, during public opening hours, and at ten honorary consulates in Spain. No appointment was needed at the embassy.
• Identification was required; no voting card.
• The vote had to reach the correct municipality in Norway by 17:00 on 9 September, the day after polling. Later arrivals were rejected, and the Directorate places the timing on the voter.
• Nobody may vote twice.

The letter vote (brevstemme) is the fallback for someone who cannot reach the embassy or a consulate, and the same arrival deadline applies, so post early. Which honorary consulates on the Costa take votes is confirmed per election; the embassy’s list on norway.no gives the nearest one, so check with the embassy before you drive.

The next dates that matter

• Monday 13 September 2027: municipal and county elections, fixed by the King in Council; individual municipalities may also open polling on Sunday 12 September. The Act’s window for voters abroad would run from 1 July to the second-last Friday before election day, which for a Monday 13 September poll works out as Friday 3 September 2027. Whether that window is open to you is the unresolved question above.
• September 2029: the next Storting election, per the Directorate. The exact day is set nearer the time; 2025’s was a Monday.
• Nothing to file now. There is no registration deadline; election day itself decides your roll status.

What this does not cover

The Sami electoral roll in detail. The 2027 local elections for voters abroad, left open until the Directorate publishes. Which Spanish consulates will take votes in 2027 or 2029. Voting from Norway gives you nothing in Spain’s regional or national elections, and as a non-EU citizen you have no European Parliament vote in Spain either; the municipal vote under the reciprocity treaty is the exception, with its own registration.

The five-minute version

• Storting elections: yes for life, if you are or were ever registered as resident in Norway. Nothing to apply for.
• Registered as resident within the last ten years: on the roll automatically. Longer ago: added when your vote arrives.
• Early voting abroad runs from 1 July to the second-last Friday before election day, at the embassy in Madrid or an appointed honorary consulate. Bring ID; no voting card is used abroad.
• Votes must reach your last municipality by 17:00 the day after election day, or they are rejected. Letter voting exists for those who cannot reach a consulate.
• Local elections on 13 September 2027: the Directorate has not yet said whether voters abroad take part. Storting election: September 2029.
• In Spain, Norway is on the municipal reciprocity list, so you can register to vote in Spanish local elections.

Related guides

• Can You Still Vote in Your Home Country While Living in Spain?
• How to Register to Vote in Spanish Municipal Elections as a Foreign Resident
• Can Foreigners Vote in Elections in Spain?
• Spain Election Calendar for Foreign Residents
• How to Vote in Swedish Elections From Spain
• Can You Still Vote in Danish Elections From Spain?

General information, not legal advice, current as of 28 September 2026. Primary sources: the Election Act of 2023 on lovdata.no, Valgdirektoratet (valg.no), the Norwegian embassy in Madrid (norway.no), and Spain’s Junta Electoral Central.