4 increadible reasons why the Ministry rejects Volt's request to run

4 increadible arguements which we question:

1. Getting Volt on the ballot could lead to a run on Danish democracy. 

‘One of these consequences would be that new parties whose party name is approved by the Electoral Board (...) solely on the basis of its membership of a major association of European parties that has obtained representation in the European Parliament in an election in one of the other 26 EU Member States could become eligible to stand in European Parliament elections.’ (Reply to Volt Denmark from the Ministry of the Interior and Health, doc. 595061)

A fear-based worst-case scenario that could lead to more participation in the Danish democratic process should not result in rejecting Volt's complaint.

2. The Electoral Unit believes that Volt's registration would circumvent §11 of the lawa, stating how many endorsements a party needs to be admitted to the ballot.

"One of these consequences would be that new parties, whose party name is approved by the Election Board for the purpose of collecting voter declarations pursuant to section 11(2) and (3) of the European Parliamentary Elections Act, could be authorised to stand as candidates for the purpose of participating in European Parliament elections solely on the basis of their membership of a major association of European parties that has obtained representation in the European Parliament in an election in one of the other 26 EU Member States.

However, it is unlikely that such a consequence is intended, as this would create a very significant opportunity to circumvent the requirement in section 11(1) of the European Parliamentary Elections Act for new parties wishing to stand for election to the European Parliament to collect a number of voter declarations corresponding to at least 2 per cent of all valid votes in the last parliamentary election held (currently 70,680)."

But the essence of section 10 is to recognise parties with MEPs as eligible to stand for election and thereby exempt them from collecting voter declarations. You cannot deny the use of section 10 by referring to section 11 when that is the purpose of section 10...

3. The electoral unit does not believe that Volt should be admitted to the ballot, simply because Volt gained representaion through 'an election in Germany'

"The purpose of the provision, which is now found in section 10(1) of the European Parliamentary Elections Act. 1, has thus, according to its genesis, been to ensure that Danish parties that wish to participate in the election of Danish members to the European Parliament and that have obtained representation in the European Parliament and continue to be represented in it, on an equal footing with Danish parties that wish to participate in the election of Danish members to the European Parliament and that have obtained representation in the Danish Parliament and continue to be represented in it, can become eligible to stand for election to the European Parliament without having to comply with a requirement to collect voter declarations."

The European Parliament elections are the same across Europe. The fact that it is executed differently is something the EU is doing away with. We also don't have 98 different ways to get ready to stand for the Danish Parliament.

Danish democracy is evolving and for the European Parliament elections in particular, we need to think European - the Ministry of the Interior's way of thinking goes against the development of a European community and that is not in Denmark's interests.

And remember: You still need to be voted in - it's not enough to get on the ballot paper.

4. The electoral unit concludes by saying that since there are only 14 Danish seats in the European parliament, there is no reason for Volt to even take part in the election process.

"The fundamental consideration behind this requirement is to ensure that the parties eligible for nomination enjoy a certain level of electoral support and thus have a real chance of being elected in a Danish election. The requirement for a certain level of electoral support should also be seen in light of the fact that only 14 MEPs are elected to the European Parliament in Denmark, and that the natural threshold is therefore quite high."

The electoral unit refuses to allow a law to apply with reference to the rule only applying to Danish parties - even though there are no national references in the preparatory work. It talks about parties elected to the European Parliament, no nationalities are mentioned.