Increasing numbers of adults living in Denmark can’t vote

An influx of immigrants is behind a trend that sees many Danish residents disenfranchised

Stephen Gadd

According to figures compiled by the national statistics keeper Danmarks Statistik, more than 9 percent of the population are unable to vote.

In Copenhagen and some other municipalities west of the capital the figure is over 15 percent.

The main reason is that they are not Danish citizens.

More foreigners
In January 2019 there were 434,000 foreign national aged 18 and over in Denmark unable to vote, comprising 9.4 percent of the adult Danish population. In 1980 only 1.8 percent were unable to vote.

“The number of people unable to vote because they are foreign nationals has greatly increased over the last 40 years, so the number who can’t vote is now greater than the adult population of Aarhus and Odense combined,” said Dorthe Larsen, a department head at Danmarks Statistik.

Ishøj holds the record
The number of foreign nationals is highest in Ishøj Municipality, where as of the beginning of the year, 23 percent of the adult population were not Danish citizens. Next came the municipalities of Copenhagen and Høje-Taastrup.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the figures revealed that the number of foreign nationals was highest in big city municipalities and lowest in the countryside.

In Pole position
As to their countries of origin, most of the adults in question come from Europe or Asia, with 45 percent from another EU country, 19 percent from another European country and 24 percent from Asia.

Polish citizens comprise the largest group with 33,500, followed by Romanians (25,700) and Turks (24,400).

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