Introduction to the election system at the local and regional elections in Denmark (w/ Roger Buch)

Guest in this episode: Roger Buch from the Danish School of Media and Journalism, Research Associate Professor and Center Leader, Media Maker Space



If you meet the voting criteria, you will automatically be added to the electoral register in the municipality in which your CPR number is registered and a poll card will be sent to you by post approximately 5 days prior to election day.

Let's remind ourselves: Local and regional elections are held every four years. This year, election day will be on Tuesday, 16 November, 2021.



Inform yourself before you vote: The official list of candidates will be released 6 weeks before the election on 5 October, 2021 on Municipality’s website. You can use this information to do research on the candidates, parties, and their positions. You can also see the regional candidates on the Regional websites.

What are local and regional elections?

Local elections determine the city council members in each municipality (there are 98 of them), who then elect a mayor amongst themselves.

Some of the city council’s responsibilities include:

• education

• libraries

• childcare and elderly care

• integration

• employment

• transportation

• nature and the environment

Regional elections determine which leaders sit on regional councils (there are 5 regions). If you reside in North Denmark, you would be electing members to the North Denmark Regional council (Region Nordjylland).

Some of the regional council’s responsibilities include:

• hospitals and health care

• care for vulnerable groups and groups with special needs

• culture

• regional development (i.e., tourism, business, economy, etc.)

Learn more about the local and regional elections in Denmark: https://elections.im.dk/

Learn more about the International House of Northern Denmark: https://ihnd.dk/