Elections in Denmark
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There are three types of elections in Denmark: elections to the national parliament (the Folketing), local elections and elections to the European Parliament. Referendums may also be called to consult the Danish citizenry directly on an issue of national concern.
Parliamentary elections are called by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, usually four years after the last election, although early elections may occur. Elections to local councils (municipal or regional) and to the European Parliament are held on fixed dates. Elections use the party-list proportional representation system. Only citizens on the national register are eligible to vote in parliamentary elections and long-time residents may vote in local elections.
The last election was the local election on 19 November 2013.
Parliamentary elections
The Kingdom of Denmark (including the Faroe Islands and Greenland) elects a unicameral parliament, the Folketing, on a national level. Of the 179 members of parliament, the Faroe Islands and Greenland elect two members each, 135 are elected from ten multi-member constituencies on a party list PR system using the d'Hondt method and the remaining 40 seats are allocated to ensure proportionality at a national level. To get a share of supplementary seats a party needs to get at least 2% of the total number of votes.
Denmark has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments and/or minority cabinets.
Elections to the Folketing must be held at least every four years.
Latest election
| Parties | Leaders | Votes | % | Seats | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark proper | ||||||
| Liberals (Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti) (V) | Lars Løkke Rasmussen | 947,725 | 26.7% | 47 | +1 | |
| Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) (A) | Helle Thorning-Schmidt | 879,615 | 24.8% | 44 | −1 | |
| Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti) (O) | Pia Kjærsgaard | 436,726 | 12.3% | 22 | −3 | |
| Danish Social Liberal Party (Det Radikale Venstre) (B) | Margrethe Vestager | 336,698 | 9.5% | 17 | +8 | |
| Socialist People's Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti) (F) | Villy Søvndal | 326,192 | 9.2% | 16 | −7 | |
| Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) (Ø) | Collective leadership | 236,860 | 6.7% | 12 | +8 | |
| Liberal Alliance (Liberal Alliance) (I) | Anders Samuelsen | 176,585 | 5.0% | 9 | +4 | |
| Conservative People's Party (Det Konservative Folkeparti) (C) | Lars Barfoed | 175,047 | 4.9% | 8 | −10 | |
| Christian Democrats (Kristendemokraterne) (K) | Per Ørum Jørgensen | 28,070 | 0.8% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Candidates without parties | 1,850 | 0.1% | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Red Alliance (A, B, F, Ø) | Helle Thorning-Schmidt | 1,779,365 | 50.2% | 89 | +8 | |
| Blue Alliance (C, I, K, O, V) | Lars Løkke Rasmussen | 1,764,153 | 49.8% | 86 | −8 | |
| Invalid votes | 34,307 | |||||
| Subtotal (Turnout: 87.7% – electorate: 4,079,910) | 3,545,368 | 100.0% | 175 | |||
| Faroe Islands | ||||||
| Union Party (Sambandsflokkurin) (B) | Kaj Leo Johannesen | 6,361 | 30.8% | 1 | ±0 | |
| Social Democratic Party (Javnaðarflokkurin) (C) | Aksel Johannesen | 4,328 | 21.0% | 1 | +1 | |
| Republic (Tjóðveldi) (E) | Høgni Hoydal | 3,998 | 19.4% | 0 | −1 | |
| People's Party (Fólkaflokkurin) (A) | Jørgen Niclasen | 3,932 | 19.0% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Centre Party (Miðflokkurin) (H) | Jenis av Rana | 872 | 4.2% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Self-Government Party (Sjálvstýrisflokkurin) (D) | Kári á Rógvu | 481 | 2.3% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Candidates without parties | 672 | 3.3% | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Invalid votes | 301 | |||||
| Subtotal (Turnout: 58.9% – electorate: 35,044) | 20,644 | 100.0% | 2 | |||
| Greenland | ||||||
| Inuit Community (Inuit Ataqatigiit) | Kuupik Kleist | 9,780 | 42.7% | 1 | ±0 | |
| Forward (Siumut) | Aleqa Hammond | 8,499 | 37.1% | 1 | ±0 | |
| Democrats (Demokraatit) | Jens B. Frederiksen | 2,882 | 12.6% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Feeling of Community (Atassut) | Finn Karlsen | 1,728 | 7.5% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Candidates without parties | 24 | 0.1% | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Invalid votes | 612 | |||||
| Subtotal (Turnout: 57.4% – electorate: 40,935) | 22,913 | 100.0% | 2 | |||
| Overall | ||||||
| Red Alliance (A, B, F, Ø, Siumut, Inuit Ataqatigiit, Javnaðarflokkurin) | Helle Thorning-Schmidt | 1,801,972 | 50.2% | 92 | ||
| Blue Alliance (V, O, I, C, K, Union Party) | Lars Løkke Rasmussen | 1,770,514 | 49.3% | 87 | ||
| Total (Turnout: 87.2% – electorate: 4,156,735) | 3,588,919 | 100.0% | 179 | |||
All turnout figures include invalid votes, subtotals and totals exclude invalid votes
Local elections
The latest elections for the ninety-eight municipal councils and the five regional councils were held on 19 November 2013.
European elections
The Denmark constituency directly elects thirteen members to the European Parliament every five years. The d'Hondt method of proportional representation is used. The last election was carried out in June 2009:
| Parties and coalitions | Votes | Seats | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Name (Danish name) | European party | No. | % | ±% | No. | ± | |
| A | Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) | PES | 503,439 | 21.49 | -11.1 | 4 | -1 | |
| V | Liberals (Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti) | ELDR | 474,041 | 20.24 | +0.8 | 3 | ±0 | |
| F | Socialist People's Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti) | EGP observer | 371,603 | 15.87 | +7.8 | 2 | +1 | |
| O | Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti) | AEN | 357,942 | 15.28 | +8.5 | 2 | +1 | |
| C | Conservative People's Party (Det Konservative Folkeparti) | EPP | 297,199 | 12.69 | +1.3 | 1 | ±0 | |
| N | People's Movement against the EU (Folkebevægelsen mod EU) | none (GUE/NGL group) | 168,555 | 7.20 | +2.2 | 1 | ±0 | |
| B | Danish Social Liberal Party (Det Radikale Venstre) | 100,094 | 4.27 | -2.2 | 0 | -1 | ||
| J | June Movement (JuniBevægelsen) | 55,459 | 2.37 | -6.8 | 0 | -1 | ||
| I | Liberal Alliance (Liberal Alliance) | 13,796 | 0.59 | N/A | 0 | N/A | ||
| Valid votes | 2,268,688 | 96.86 | ||||||
| Blank and invalid votes | 73,440 | 3.14 | ||||||
| Totals | 2,342,128 | 100.00 | — | 13 | 1  | |||
| Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | 4,059,385 | 57.70 |  |
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Turnout figure includes blank and invalid votes, but these are excluded from the total.
Referendums
The Constitution of Denmark requires a referendum to be held in the following three cases:
- if one third of the members of the Parliament demands a referendum on a law that has been passed in the previous 30 days (excluding some ) (Section 42 of the Constitution),[7] or
- a law that transfers sovereignty to an international organisation has not received a majority of five sixth of the MPs (Section 20 of the Constitution),[7] or
- in case of changing the electoral age (Section 29 of the Constitution).[7]
The option for one third of the members of the Parliament to put a law to a referendum has a number of restrictions. Finance Bills, Supplementary Appropriation Bills, Provisional Appropriation Bills, Government Loan Bills, Civil Servants (Amendment) Bills, Salaries and Pensions Bills, Naturalization Bills, Expropriation Bills, Taxation (Direct and Indirect) Bills, as well as Bills introduced for the purpose The Work of Parliament of discharging existing treaty obligations shall not be decided by a referendum. (Section 42, Subsection 6 of the Constitution)[7]
Even though the Constitution of Denmark requires referendum to be held only if super-majority of five sixths of members of Parliament cannot be obtained, in practise, referendums have been held every time new treaties of the European Union have been approved, even when more than five sixths can be found. Recently, the Danish government was highly criticized when it did not hold a referendum regarding the controversial Lisbon treaty.
In all three cases, to defeat the proposition the no votes must not only outnumber the yes votes, they must also number at least 30% of the electorate.
The Constitution of Denmark can be changed only after a referendum, after a complicated procedure (Section 88 of the Constitution).[7] First a government proposes a change in constitution, then a parliamentary election is held. After the new parliament approves the same text of the constitutional changes, the proposal is put to a referendum. To pass, the yes votes must not only outnumber the no votes, they must also number at least 40% of the electorate.
As of 2013 there were 16 referendums held in Denmark, most recent being Danish euro referendum in 2000 and Danish Act of Succession referendum in 2009.
Past elections
2007 elections
| Party | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | ||||||
| Venstre | Anders Fogh Rasmussen | 908,472 | 26.2 | 46 | –6 | |
| Social Democrats | Helle Thorning-Schmidt | 881,037 | 25.5 | 45 | –2 | |
| Danish People's Party | Pia Kjærsgaard | 479,532 | 13.9 | 25 | +1 | |
| Socialist People's Party | Villy Søvndal | 450,975 | 13.0 | 23 | +12 | |
| Conservative People's Party | Bendt Bendtsen | 359,404 | 10.4 | 18 | ±0 | |
| Danish Social Liberal Party | Margrethe Vestager | 177,161 | 5.1 | 9 | –8 | |
| New Alliance | Naser Khader | 97,295 | 2.8 | 5 | New | |
| Red-Green Alliance | Collective leadership | 74,982 | 2.2 | 4 | –2 | |
| Christian Democrats | Bodil Kornbek | 30,013 | 0.9 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independents | 549 | 0.0 | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 24,113 | – | – | – | ||
| Total | 3,483,533 | 100 | 175 | 0 | ||
| Faroe Islands | ||||||
| Republic | Høgni Hoydal | 5,849 | 25.4 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Union Party | Kaj Leo Johannesen | 5,414 | 23.5 | 1 | +1 | |
| People's Party | Jørgen Niclasen | 4,728 | 20.5 | 0 | –1 | |
| Social Democratic Party | Jóannes Eidesgaard | 4,702 | 20.4 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Centre Party | Álvur Kirke | 1,573 | 6.8 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Self-Government Party | Kári P. Højgaard | 799 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 149 | – | – | – | ||
| Total | 23,214 | 100 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Greenland | ||||||
| Inuit Ataqatigiit | Josef Motzfeldt | 8,068 | 32.5 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Forward | Hans Enoksen | 8,068 | 32.5 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Democrats | Per Berthelsen | 4,584 | 18.5 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Feeling of Community | Finn Karlsen | 4,094 | 16.5 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 500 | – | – | – | ||
| Total | 25,589 | 100 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Source: Nohen & Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook | ||||||
| Party | Votes | % of votes | MPs | swing | % of MPs | MPs %/votes % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 100 | 179 |  0 |
100 | 1.00 | ||
| 3 biggest | 65.6 | 116 | 7 |
64.8 | 0.99 | ||
| The cabinet | 50.5 | 90 | 5 |
50.3 | 0.98 | ||
| The opposition | 49.5 | 89 | 5 |
49.7 | 1.02 | ||
See also
- Politics of Denmark
- Cabinet of Denmark
- Electoral calendar
- Faroe election results
- Greenland election results
References
- ↑ "Folketingsvalg torsdag 15. september 2011". dst.dk. Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ↑ "Kringvarp.fo - Valúrslit". kringvarp.fo. Kringvarp Føroya. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ↑ "Letter to Statistics Denmark regarding the Faroese election results" (PDF). dst.dk. Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ↑ "Folketingimut qinersineq 2011-mi inernerit". knr.gl. KNR. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ↑ "Letter to Statistics Denmark regarding the Greenlandic election results" (PDF). dst.dk. Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ↑ Statistics Denmark
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "The Constitution of Denmark" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-11-01.
External links
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
- Political parties and elections
- NSD: European Election Database - Denmark publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2007
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