In 2020, Norway’s state broadcaster NRK warned of election chaos because of mail-in ballots. In 2026, they are portrayed as efficient, while NRK and Eirik Løkke suggest that Trump’s rules will hurt the Democrats.
On 5 August 2020, NRK reported that mail-in ballots had led to chaos in the primaries.
There was widespread fear that this would be repeated in the autumn election, in which Joe Biden and Donald Trump were fighting to become the next president of the United States.
The results of the Democratic primary in New York were announced six weeks after the election was held, journalist Kristian Elster wrote at the time.
NRK and Kristian Elster painted a picture of complete chaos.
Only 800 votes counted after three weeks
Because of the risk of infection associated with Covid-19, voting by post was permitted in the New York primaries.
Nearly 2 million ballot papers were sent to voters. Around 400,000 voted by post, ten times more than usual.
The result was chaos surrounding the vote count. Three weeks after the election, only 800 of a total of 65,000 mail-in ballots had been counted in one of the electoral districts.
Six weeks later, the results from the final two districts finally came in.
One of the problems was that the ballot papers were sent out in prepaid envelopes; as a result, they lacked postmarks and were not approved.
Other ballot papers were sent to voters too late, or were rejected because of minor errors.
Officials from various public agencies argued over who was to blame for the mess, Elster wrote.
Mail-in ballots will become a nightmare
The headline in the New York Times was ominous:
Why New York City’s chaotic primary has become a nightmare for November
Nearly six weeks later, the outcomes of two congressional races remain unresolved, and officials are blaming one another for the flawed handling of tens of thousands of mail-in ballots.
Turn the clock forward six years, and when Trump and his administration try to make our elections more secure, the state broadcaster paints a picture of mail-in voting as efficient and well organised.
In this report, with the help of US expert Eirik Løkke of Civita, it is suggested that Trump is doing this to make it difficult for Democrats to vote.
In the article, we are given an introduction to how mail-in voting works. NRK describes a procedure that would hardly be accepted in Norwegian elections, while at the same time portraying it as virtually foolproof.
The state broadcaster writes, among other things:
How mail-in voting works
Some of the states that have long used the mail-in voting system have sent ballot papers to everyone who is eligible to vote. Elsewhere, voters have to request the ballot paper themselves.
In either case, voters have the ballot papers to be used in the election sent to their homes, where they are filled in and placed in secure, marked envelopes and then returned either through the regular postal system or via special ballot drop boxes placed in cities and neighbourhoods.
When the election authorities receive the ballot paper, they check the sender’s signature and that the ballot has been correctly completed before it is scanned into the system so that it is included in the count.
Journalists Halldor Asvall and Ingeborg Christensen Breivik have found the right expert to convey that Trump’s attempt to make mail-in voting more secure has sinister motives:
Løkke explains that a majority of Democrats vote by post. A ban on mail-in voting could therefore hurt the Democrats and benefit the Republicans.
– It is of course possible that it could affect the election result if restrictions on mail-in voting mean that fewer people vote, says Løkke.
A canary in a coal mine
In 2020, however, the problems with mail-in ballots were a canary in a coal mine. NRK quoted Suraj Patel, who narrowly lost the race in New York’s 19th congressional district.
He warned that the mess surrounding the primary could be repeated in the autumn.
– This election is a canary in a coal mine, says Patel, referring to miners in the old days, who used canaries to warn of dangerous gases.
Of course, Trump was blamed for the chaos back then as well. NRK wrote that the postal service had been subject to major cuts under Trump, which had led to delays.
Mail-in voting, however, has been controversial for many years, but it appears to depend on who is fighting for the White House or already occupies it.
In 2012, the New York Times warned of errors and fraud following an increase in mail-in voting.
The newspaper wrote that mail-in ballots were more prone to errors, were less likely to be counted and had greater potential for electoral fraud than votes cast in person.
Yale professor Heather Gerken said that it was far easier to commit electoral fraud through mail-in voting, including by stealing ballot papers, stuffing a ballot box or bribing election workers.
She explained that this was why all the evidence of stolen elections involved mail-in ballots and the like.
At the same time, the NYT wrote that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to vote by post, and that Republican politicians had pushed to expand the use of mail-in voting.
In Florida in 2008, 47 per cent of mail-in ballots were cast by Republicans, compared with 36 per cent by Democrats.
Løkke predicts defeat for Trump
The problem with mail-in voting has not changed since 2012 or 2020. But in 2026, when it has become far more widespread, NRK gives the impression that it is safe and secure.
Eirik Løkke tells NRK that it is important to emphasise that this does not mean that the majority on the Supreme Court believes Trump’s executive order to be lawful. The majority believes it is too early to decide this.
The Supreme Court thus believes that it is too early to draw a conclusion. Løkke, however, does not appear to have the same reservations when it comes to the November election.
– But I don’t think this is going to prevent Trump and the Republicans from doing badly in November, regardless of the outcome of this case, says Løkke.
The canary in the coal mine from 2020 has apparently become far more optimistic on behalf of the Democrats.
NRK makes sure that we get the message about Trump’s ‘sinister’ plan, and concludes:
The Republicans currently have a narrow majority in both chambers, but power can quickly change hands, and who is allowed to vote by post could prove decisive to the outcome.
I have sent the following questions to NRK, the journalists and Eirik Løkke:
Why does today’s article focus on the possibility that Trump’s restrictions could hurt the Democrats, rather than on the problems with mail-in voting that have been known and reported on for many years?
In Norway, postal voting is permitted only in limited circumstances. Why do NRK and Eirik Løkke believe that tightening a far more extensive system of mail-in voting in the United States is problematic, when the purpose is to ensure a reliable election?
In ‘How mail-in voting works’, you give the impression of a highly secure process, in stark contrast to NRK’s coverage in 2020. Why did you choose this portrayal?
I will update the article if I receive a response.
Den største løgnen: Presidentvalget i 2020 var det sikreste i amerikansk historie
