Denmark

Abstract

Four provincial consultative assemblies which met for the first time in 1836 were the first elected bodies in Denmark. A property franchise limited the electorate to two to three per cent of the population. In 1848 a constituent assembly was elected on a broad franchise of all self supporting men aged over 30. The June 1849 Danish Constitution established a two-chamber Parliament, the Rigsdag, in which each house had equal powers. The wide franchise was retained; all men over 30, except those in the service of others and not householders and those in receipt of poor relief, could vote in elections to both the Folketing, the lower house, and the Landsting, the upper house; 73 per cent of men over 30 were enfranchised in 1849, rising to 84 per cent by 1901. Folketing elections were held in single-member constituencies. Voting was first by show of hands. The candidate who won a plurality of the vote in the opinion of the election committee was declared elected. If the election committee’s decision was challenged, a roll-call vote took place; in the case of a single candidate, the electors simply voted yes or no. If in such cases the candidate did not win a majority on the yes/no roll-call, a second and final vote took place a week later. In 1901 open voting was replaced by the secret ballot. In constituencies where there was only one candidate, the candidate was declared elected unless at least 50 electors called for a vote. Landsting elections were indirect with the Folketing electorate choosing electors who then voted for Landsting members by plurality in multi-member districts.