[9] There are 169 seats in the Norwegian Parliament, but voters directly elect only 150 as constituency representatives, while the remaining 19 are "at-large" members—one for each county—and these are apportioned to parties based on the total national vote.

Norway has capped the number of "fixed" seats at 150 and, to determine how to apportion those amongst the 19 counties, it uses a two-tier formula based on population and geographic size.

The Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang claimed in March 2008 that the Labour Party could form a minority government on its own if the ruling coalition should lose its parliamentary majority.

[6] After the election, many opposition leaders believed that the government would collapse because of the Labour Party constantly riding roughshod over their coalition partners.

[18] In an opinion poll in November, two months after the election, all parties continued to decrease, leading many to speculate that the coalition was "slipping".

It said that the party wanted to increase "freedom of choice in all public services", making businesses "the most competitive in Europe and restoring confidence in Norway".

[20] Per Sandberg, deputy leader of the Progress Party's Sør-Trøndelag chapter, blamed the One Hundred Days Plan and said; "The debate on our 100-day program laid out disappointingly fast.

[24] According to various opinion polls, most notably by Norstat, they had several weak showings from May to July 2009,[11] in what Verdens Gang described as the "summer nightmare".

On hearing of this, Christian Democrat Party leader Dagfinn Høybråten, said that it would be natural to clarify this when the voters had had their say, but "the negotiations don't start now".

A new Christian Democrat–Liberal–Conservative government would have avoided the need for support from the Progress Party, by leaving the draft budget from the Red-Green Coalition unchanged.

[28] By the start of September, the Progress Party had lost 4.9% of its public support, and many believed that this was due to their One Hundred Day Plan.

Solberg responded with "He can't honestly believe that having political differences is to tear apart the Liberal Party".

According to the national newspaper Dagbladet, Socialist Left's rise in popularity was due to the stands they took on environmental issues, the most important of which was oil drilling in Lofoten.

[33] During the campaign, Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen was the target of much criticism because, during the 2005 parliamentary election, she said "I will remove poverty with a stroke of a pen".

The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten said in one of its articles that Socialist Left was involved in an "election massacre", saying there was little hope of increasing public support in the last two days.

The shift of power within the coalition resulted in Socialist Left losing one cabinet minister, leaving them with four, the same as the Centre Party.

[6][39] According to election analysts, the Christian Democratic Party was able to win more votes because of its strong opposition to the Marriage Act of 2008, which gave gay people the right to marry.

[49] During a national broadcast debate on TV2, Sponheim said that, if the Progress Party won the minority government position, he would propose a motion of no confidence in the new cabinet.

[51] The Norwegian media criticised Sponheim for being very vague and unclear when it came to the Progress Party, and the Red-Green Coalition were unsure of what side he was actually on.

Centre Party leader Liv Signe Navarsete called this proposal undemocratic and said that forced mergers would only make matters worse.

Liberal Deputy Leader Ola Elvestuen was negative towards the idea, saying that the only option for a coalition was with the Christian Democrats and the Conservatives.

[59] In an opinion poll conducted by TNS Gallup for TV2 in late August 2009, the party received 2.7% of the popular vote, an increase of 0.7%.

On seeing these poll results, Dahle said he would support the Red-Green Coalition, acknowledging that he couldn't topple the closest thing to socialism to the right of Red.

[66] By early 2008, the Norwegian media were already speculating about possible outcomes of the election, and politicians were making statements about their preferred coalition partners.

[71] In an opinion poll in December 2008, 55% of the Norwegian people had most faith in the Red-Green Coalition government to lead Norway out of the financial crisis.

Both NRK and TV2 predicted a slim majority for the ruling Red-Green Coalition over the opposition parties, while Verdens Gang showed a dead heat between the blocks, both having 84 seats in Parliament.

[73] Verdens Gang's poll showed the revolutionary socialist Red Party earning two parliamentary representatives, having already promised its support to the Red-Green Coalition before the election.

[74] Due to a manual error, the exit poll used by NRK significantly overestimated the support for the Socialist Left Party.

Peter N. Myhre of the Progress Party complained that this meant eight years with a government that had not truly won an election, and called for an overhaul of an electoral system that, he claimed, disproportionately favours the Norwegian periphery.

She explained to Dagbladet that this trend could be dated as far back as 1917, when it was argued that Oslo's status as the national capital inherently gave it greater influence, so that it should have less representation in parliament compared with rural areas.