In a referendum, the population has decided whether Vågsøy and Flora should be resurrected as separate municipalities.

49 percent wanted the municipality to remain as it is today, while 48 percent wanted it to be split up and continued as two separate municipalities.

The results are very even. based on Firdaposten there are 44 votes separating the two alternatives. The turnout was 52.9 percent.

The newspaper wrote that the electoral board had signaled that there might be a new tally during Friday.

The city government published a message on its website that read “Mellombel Results”. The message was deleted after a few minutes.

The city council is handling this matter

The referendum is only an advisory. Kinn city council will consider residents’ recommendations at a meeting on September 7.

The two municipalities were merged voluntarily in 2020. Kinn has been called the “weirdest municipality in Norway”. Flora and Vågsøy don’t share city limits, but are located on opposite sides of Bremanger – which its neighbors don’t want to be combined with.

Two reports

The merger has come under criticism, especially since the municipality consists of two geographically separated parts.

Two reports have been submitted about the consequences of dividing the municipality.

One of the reports, commissioned by the State Administrator at Vestland, concluded that dividing the municipality could create challenges in providing residents with good service offerings.

The second report was prepared by the Kommunekonsult and commissioned by the Association of Local Communities, which opposed the forced amalgamation of the city. It was concluded that the municipality should be dissolved, especially since there was such a long travel distance between the two original municipalities.