Election 2022: Danes head to the polls with outcome in balance
Denmark votes on Tuesday in what promises to be a tight parliamentary election in which incumbent Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's survival could depend on a new centrist party.
Voting stations are open from 8am to 8pm and the first results are expected around 9:30pm in this election triggered by the "mink crisis" that has kept the country in suspense for over a year.
The Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) party, which propped up the minority Social Democratic government, threatened to topple it if it did not call elections to regain the confidence of voters after a decision -- which turned out to be illegal -- to cull the country's roughly 15 million minks over fears of a mutated strain of the novel coronavirus.
Recent polls give the left-wing "red bloc", led by Frederiksen's Social Democrats, 47.1 to 49.1 percent against 40.9 to 43.6 percent for the "blues", an informal alliance of liberal and conservative parties, supported by three populist parties.
"This election could be really close and there is a risk that there will be a blue government after today," Frederiksen admitted after voting at a badminton centre turned polling station northwest of Copenhagen.
READ ALSO: ‘Bloc politics’: A guide to understanding parliamentary elections in Denmark
With neither bloc looking likely to gain their own majority, they will not be able to govern without the help of the Moderates, a centrist party founded this year by former Liberal Party leader and two-time prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
The moderates have polled at around 10 percent of the vote, with a final Voxmeter opinion poll on Tuesday placing the party at 8.5 percent.
Og 17,7 %, der ikke har besluttet sig 😳
— Anna Midtgaard Christensen (@Annamidtgaard) November 1, 2022
"That's the most interesting part. If there is no majority, it seems to be the case, the Moderates are required to form a government," Rune Stubager, a professor of political science at Aarhus University, told AFP.
'Better to be a joker'
Both the left and the right have been making repeated appeals to Løkke Rasmussen, who has campaigned on reforming the healthcare system.
Frederiksen has floated the idea of a coalition government, led by herself, and has said she is also willing to discuss healthcare reforms.
Liberal (Venstre) party leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen has meanwhile called for Løkke Rasmussen to align with his former party colleagues on the right.
"If you want the things you dream of, which were grown in our common old backyard, then come home," Ellemann-Jensen said during one of the last televised debates.
"We will... do our outmost to be the bridge, that's the whole idea behind this," Lokke Rasmussen told AFP after casting his ballot in central Copenhagen.
Only two months ago, the party polled at around two percent but has now soared to between 9.3 to 10 percent support.
Lokke Rasmussen, who said "it's better to be a joker than a joke", does not envision becoming prime minister a third time, despite being a potential kingmaker. "That's not in my mind," he said.
Speaking to newswire Ritzau at Nyboder Skole in Copenhagen where he cast his vote, Rasmussen said, "I have been around long enough to know that it is not certain that the opinion polls are right. I think it will be close, and every single vote will count."
Undecided voters
After a campaign dominated by climate concerns, inflation and healthcare, almost a quarter of voters were still undecided heading into election day, according to polls.
"There is a fairly high degree of volatility with Danish voters, about 40 percent change parties," Rune Stubager, professor of political science at Aarhus University, told AFP.
First-time voter Antesa Jensen told AFP she was still hesitant.
"I don't know yet who I'm voting for," Jensen said.
The 40-year-old American has just obtained Danish citizenship after what she described as an exhausting process, highlighting the Scandinavian country's restrictive policy towards foreigners.
"Climate issues and psychiatry (mental health issues), but mostly climate, are the reasons behind my vote," 46-year-old Lone Kiitgaard told AFP after casting her ballot in central Copenhagen, without disclosing who she voted for.
READ ALSO: Danish citizenship rules ‘partly to blame’ with one in seven in Copenhagen unable to vote
Climate concerns
Protective of the prosperity and social cohesion of the Nordic welfare state, Denmark has championed ever stricter migration policies for over 20 years.
Advocating a "zero refugee" policy, the sitting Social Democrats government is working on setting up a centre to house asylum seekers in Rwanda while their applications are being processed.
As most parties back the restrictive policies the issue is rarely up for debate.
Climate, on the other hand, is of great concern to Denmark's 5.9 million inhabitants.
On Sunday, some 50,000 people, including the prime minister, gathered for the "People's Climate March" in Copenhagen.
"I think this election is very important for what's going to happen with the Earth in the future," 23-year-old student Esther Ronn told AFP.
"It's important that climate is the number one priority for the politicians and for the voters when they vote on Tuesday," she added.
The left has promised a biodiversity law and the government intends to introduce a carbon tax on agriculture, a measure supported by most other parties.
On the right, the Liberal Party is betting on the development of green solutions, while the far-right "New Right" (Nye Borgerlige) is open to the construction of nuclear power plants, of which there are none in Denmark.
In total, no fewer than 14 parties are in the running for the 179 seats in the Folketing -- Denmark's parliament.
Four seats are reserved for the overseas autonomous territories: Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Voter turnout is traditionally high in Denmark. In the 2019 election, 84.6 percent of some 4.2 million voters turned out to vote.
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Voting stations are open from 8am to 8pm and the first results are expected around 9:30pm in this election triggered by the "mink crisis" that has kept the country in suspense for over a year.
The Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) party, which propped up the minority Social Democratic government, threatened to topple it if it did not call elections to regain the confidence of voters after a decision -- which turned out to be illegal -- to cull the country's roughly 15 million minks over fears of a mutated strain of the novel coronavirus.
Recent polls give the left-wing "red bloc", led by Frederiksen's Social Democrats, 47.1 to 49.1 percent against 40.9 to 43.6 percent for the "blues", an informal alliance of liberal and conservative parties, supported by three populist parties.
"This election could be really close and there is a risk that there will be a blue government after today," Frederiksen admitted after voting at a badminton centre turned polling station northwest of Copenhagen.
READ ALSO: ‘Bloc politics’: A guide to understanding parliamentary elections in Denmark
With neither bloc looking likely to gain their own majority, they will not be able to govern without the help of the Moderates, a centrist party founded this year by former Liberal Party leader and two-time prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
The moderates have polled at around 10 percent of the vote, with a final Voxmeter opinion poll on Tuesday placing the party at 8.5 percent.
Og 17,7 %, der ikke har besluttet sig 😳
— Anna Midtgaard Christensen (@Annamidtgaard) November 1, 2022
"That's the most interesting part. If there is no majority, it seems to be the case, the Moderates are required to form a government," Rune Stubager, a professor of political science at Aarhus University, told AFP.
'Better to be a joker'
Both the left and the right have been making repeated appeals to Løkke Rasmussen, who has campaigned on reforming the healthcare system.
Frederiksen has floated the idea of a coalition government, led by herself, and has said she is also willing to discuss healthcare reforms.
Liberal (Venstre) party leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen has meanwhile called for Løkke Rasmussen to align with his former party colleagues on the right.
"If you want the things you dream of, which were grown in our common old backyard, then come home," Ellemann-Jensen said during one of the last televised debates.
"We will... do our outmost to be the bridge, that's the whole idea behind this," Lokke Rasmussen told AFP after casting his ballot in central Copenhagen.
Only two months ago, the party polled at around two percent but has now soared to between 9.3 to 10 percent support.
Lokke Rasmussen, who said "it's better to be a joker than a joke", does not envision becoming prime minister a third time, despite being a potential kingmaker. "That's not in my mind," he said.
Speaking to newswire Ritzau at Nyboder Skole in Copenhagen where he cast his vote, Rasmussen said, "I have been around long enough to know that it is not certain that the opinion polls are right. I think it will be close, and every single vote will count."
Undecided voters
After a campaign dominated by climate concerns, inflation and healthcare, almost a quarter of voters were still undecided heading into election day, according to polls.
"There is a fairly high degree of volatility with Danish voters, about 40 percent change parties," Rune Stubager, professor of political science at Aarhus University, told AFP.
First-time voter Antesa Jensen told AFP she was still hesitant.
"I don't know yet who I'm voting for," Jensen said.
The 40-year-old American has just obtained Danish citizenship after what she described as an exhausting process, highlighting the Scandinavian country's restrictive policy towards foreigners.
"Climate issues and psychiatry (mental health issues), but mostly climate, are the reasons behind my vote," 46-year-old Lone Kiitgaard told AFP after casting her ballot in central Copenhagen, without disclosing who she voted for.
READ ALSO: Danish citizenship rules ‘partly to blame’ with one in seven in Copenhagen unable to vote
Climate concerns
Protective of the prosperity and social cohesion of the Nordic welfare state, Denmark has championed ever stricter migration policies for over 20 years.
Advocating a "zero refugee" policy, the sitting Social Democrats government is working on setting up a centre to house asylum seekers in Rwanda while their applications are being processed.
As most parties back the restrictive policies the issue is rarely up for debate.
Climate, on the other hand, is of great concern to Denmark's 5.9 million inhabitants.
On Sunday, some 50,000 people, including the prime minister, gathered for the "People's Climate March" in Copenhagen.
"I think this election is very important for what's going to happen with the Earth in the future," 23-year-old student Esther Ronn told AFP.
"It's important that climate is the number one priority for the politicians and for the voters when they vote on Tuesday," she added.
The left has promised a biodiversity law and the government intends to introduce a carbon tax on agriculture, a measure supported by most other parties.
On the right, the Liberal Party is betting on the development of green solutions, while the far-right "New Right" (Nye Borgerlige) is open to the construction of nuclear power plants, of which there are none in Denmark.
In total, no fewer than 14 parties are in the running for the 179 seats in the Folketing -- Denmark's parliament.
Four seats are reserved for the overseas autonomous territories: Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Voter turnout is traditionally high in Denmark. In the 2019 election, 84.6 percent of some 4.2 million voters turned out to vote.
READ ALSO:
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