The right to vote in Denmark

To vote in parliamentary elections and referendums in Denmark, you must be a Danish citizen and be permanently resident in Denmark. You can vote in municipal and regional elections even if you are not a Danish citizen, and you can vote in European Parliament elections if you are an EU citizen.

Parliamentary elections and referendums

You can vote in Danish parliamentary elections and referendums if you are at least 18 years of age, are a Danish citizen, and have permanent residence in Denmark. However, you cannot vote if you have been disenfranchised (placed under special guardianship).

If you have the right to vote in parliamentary elections or referendums, you will be sent a polling card in the mail about five days before the election.

If you move abroad and are deregistered from the Danish Civil Register, you cannot vote in Danish parliamentary elections or referendums due to the requirement for permanent residence in Denmark. However, certain groups of people may, upon application, be included on the electoral roll and thus vote in these elections or referendums, regardless of whether they live abroad. You can read more at the website of the Ministry of the Interior and Health.

As a newcomer to Denmark, you can vote in municipal and regional elections. This applies even if you are not a Danish citizen.

This requires that you are at least 18 years of age, have permanent residence in the municipality or region, and meet at least one of the following conditions:

• You are a Danish citizen
• You are a citizen of one of the other EU Member States
• You are a citizen of Iceland, Norway or the UK
• You have been permanently resident in the Danish Commonwealth (Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland) for the four years previous to the election day.

Residence is counted from the day you were registered in the Danish Civil Register (CPR).

However, you cannot vote if you are have tolerated residence status or have been expelled from the country, regardless of whether you still have a registered address in Denmark.

If you are entitled to vote in a municipal or regional election, you will be sent a voting card in the post about five days before the election.

If you are a citizen of an EU country other than Denmark, you can vote in elections to the European Parliament in Denmark if you are permanently resident in Denmark and are aged 18 or over. This only applies if you do not at the same time vote in your home country.

If you are a citizen of one EU country but resident in another, you can choose whether you wish to vote in the European Parliament election in your home country or in your country of residence. However, you may only vote in one of these places.

If you are an EU citizen, live in Denmark and wish to vote in the European Parliament election in Denmark, you must apply to your municipality of residence no later than five weeks before the day of the election. You will receive a letter about this by Digital Post about three months before the election day.

If you are expelled from the country, however, you cannot vote even if you still have a registered address in Denmark.

If you are entitled to vote in a European Parliament election, you will be sent a voting card about five days before the election.

More information