The 26th of May we will be going to ballot boxes to cast our votes once again. This time around we’re voting on who we think should be one of the 14 Danish representatives at the European Parliament.
And we’re going to try to not get ahead of ourselves as on the 5th of June (Constitution Day) we will be back at the ballot boxes AGAIN to vote for the Danish Parliament – but we promise to get back to that later this month.
Who can vote?
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You can vote once you have turned 18 if
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You are an EU national
If you live in another EU country than your home EU country, you have two options:
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You may vote in your home country or
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You may vote in your host country (which in this case probably would be Denmark)
Since there are two options for foreign EU nationals you might need to register, especially if it’s your first time voting in Denmark. This is done through your local municipality and you can find some forms to do it here!
If you wish to vote in your home country (and not in Denmark) I suggest googling the specific rules for postal voting in that country.
Please note that it is also possible to do postal voting in Denmark you can read more about that here.
Lastly I want to highlight that voting is not compulsory in Denmark, however voting is always good for democracy!
What are we voting for?
Every 5 years we vote for the 14 Danish seats in the European Parliament. The first 13 will take their seat the 2nd of July and the last seat will be taken once the UK leaves the EU.
The parliament consists of 751 politicians from the EU member countries and their main job is to process the bills produced by the European Commission. These bills have a lot of influence on our daily lives within the EU for instance in regards to health and safety standards. This can also have a major influence on the ground rules laid down to protect the environment (such as the ban against single-use plastic). But the stretch of the European Parliament’s influence is very very wide.
The members of the Parliament form into groups based on their political values.
Their loyalty and unity depends a lot on the group, but one group known to be particularly united is The Green Group.
Who are we voting for in Denmark?
In order to run at this election, you must already be represented at either the Danish Parliament or the European Parliament. If you are not, you must collect 70 000 votes no later than eight weeks before the election.
The only party running who is not in the Danish Parliament is Folkebevægelsen Mod EU (directly translated: The People’s Movement Against the EU).
The parties running, their front runners and their current seats in the European Parliament:
Dansk Folkeparti (4 current seats) ~ Danish People’s Party ~ Peter Kofod
Socialdemokratiet (3 current seats) ~ The Social Democratic Party ~ Jeppe Kofod
Venstre (2 current seats) ~ Left, Liberal Party of Denmark (Alternatively: Denmark’s Liberal Party) ~ Morten Løkkegaard
Radikale Venstre (1 current seat) ~ The Danish Social-Liberal Party ~ Morten Helveg Petersen
Socialistisk Folkeparti (1 current seat) ~ Socialist People’s Party ~ Margrete Auken
Det Konservative Folkeparti (1 current seat) ~ Conservative People’s Party ~ Pernille Weiss
Folkebevægelsen Mod EU (1 current seat) ~ The People’s Movement Against the EU ~ Rina Ronja Kari
Enhedslisten (0 current seats)~ The Red-Green Alliance ~ Nikolaj Villumsen
Liberal Alliance (0 current seats) ~ The Liberal Alliance ~ Mette Bock
Alternativet (0 current seats) ~ The Alternative ~ Rasmus Nordqvist
Here’s a test you can try to see who agrees with your standpoints: Candidate Test
What else is there to know?
Hopefully – not too much.
DR made a really good guide in Danish about the entire election. I’ve used a lot of this information to write this post but if you want to know more, maybe you will find it useful. Check that out here.
There’s also a great English guide here.
We wish you all a wonderful election – whether it’s your first or 4th time voting in Denmark.
Written by Laura Pilmark
All About Denmark 