One of the questions was where the voters want the Parliament House of the Sami Parliament to be located.
Of the nearly 700 who answered, 35 percent wanted it to go to Kiruna, 28 percent to Östersund, 15 percent Vilhelmina and the rest other alternatives.
In 2019, the Sami Parliament decided Östersund as the location for the parliament building, even though it was twice previously decided that it should be located in Kiruna.
The architect-designed building was also designed after a site in central Kiruna, but due to the expansion of the mine and the city's relocation, it took time to find another suitable location for the Parliament House.
This caused the Sami Parliament to start looking for another location and Östersund won among the alternatives.
No support for any location
Ragnhild Nilsson, lecturer at Mittuniversitetet, says that the voter survey shows that there is no uniform support for any location for the Sami Parliament building.
- When the decision was made, the politicians took into account a variety of factors and perhaps not what the voters thought, because you probably didn't know because you hadn't asked that question, but I think it's still important to take into account what the voters think, says Ragnhild Nilsson who believes that it is important to consider other parameters also before the parliament house is built.
But Östersund's municipality continues to work to get the Sami Parliament building.
On the Sámi's national day, February 6, the municipality's land and development manager Bengt Gryckdal submitted a project application for planning permission to city architect Maria Broberg.
The processing time is usually around four months, if it is granted, the detailed planning work can begin.
No financing ready
One of the issues that must be resolved is the financing of the building, and that announcement must come from the government and the Norwegian Property Agency.
- Östersund municipality is ready to do everything we can to facilitate the process and is therefore now ensuring that detailed planning work can begin, says Effie Kourlos Östersund municipal councilor (C) and Sami political spokesperson, on Östersund municipality's website.