Features of elections to the Sámi parliaments in Norway, Sweden and Finland

Abstract

The 2011 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples for the first time identified Sámi parliaments as important models of the indigenous people’s self-governance and participation in political decision-making. Moreover, in the report it was noted that other countries could take the example of the Scandinavian countries, namely Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and develop similar institutions. To understand why the Sámi parliaments are of the best modern models for indigenous people’s political representation, it is necessary to analyse the model from different angles. Thus, the article deals with the formation of representative bodies of the Sámi through elections. The article addresses the following questions: who has the right to vote, what level of turnout occurs is observed in elections, how the system of constituencies is formed, who can and does take part in elections as candidates, who is represented in the parliaments, who controls the selection of representatives, and, finally, does such an electoral system expand or limit the opportunities for political participation of the Sámi people? The author concludes that the system of elections to the Sami Parliaments contributes to increasing the political participation of the Sami due to easier access to registration in the voter register. At the same time, the system of elections to the Sami Parliament in Norway is the most effective both in terms of the level of political involvement of the Sami and in terms of the level of representativeness, which is associated with the most liberal criteria for registration in the voter register and with the special organization of the constituency system.