Danish Folketing election, 1943

Danish Folketing election, 1943

23 March 1943

All 149 seats to the Folketing 75 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Hans Hedtoft Christmas Møller Knud Kristensen Party Social Democrats Conservative People's Venstre Last election 64 seats, 42.9% 26 seats, 17.8% 30 seats, 18.2% Seats won 66 31 28 Seat change 2 5 2 Popular vote 894,632 421,523 376,850 Percentage 44.5% 21.0% 18.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jørgen Jørgensen Arne Sørensen Frits Clausen Party Social Liberals Danish Unity National Socialists Last election 14 seats, 9.5% 1 seat, 0.5% 3 seats, 1.8% Seats won 13 3 3 Seat change 1 2 0 Popular vote 175,179 43,367 43,309 Percentage 8.7% 2.2% 2.1%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader P. Gregersen Valdemar Thomsen Party Justice Farmers' Last election 3 seats, 2.0% 4 seats, 3.0% Seats won 2 2 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 31,323 24,572 Percentage 1.6% 1.2%

Prime Minister before election Erik Scavenius Nonpartisan Elected Prime Minister Erik Scavenius Nonpartisan

Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 23 March 1943 alongside Landsting elections,^[1] except in the Faroe Islands where they were held on 3 May. They were the first elections during the German occupation, and although many people feared how the Germans might react to the election, the event took place peacefully.^[2] The voter turnout was at 89.5%, the highest of any Danish parliamentary election, and became a demonstration against the occupation. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 66 of the 149 seats. After the elections, leading German newspapers expressed disappointment and indignation with the lack of political evolution among the Danish voters.^[2]

The Communist Party of Denmark had been banned since 1941 and could not participate in these elections.

95% of the vote went to the four biggest, traditional democratic parties. In the years since, there has been some debate about whether this can be seen as democratic support for the government's "cooperation" policy (samarbejdspolitikken) with the German occupation authorities.^[3] Some have argued that the result showed a broad unity of opinion in the population and among politicians in support of the relatively cooperative line taken by the government. Bertel Haarder, citing Knud Kristensen, has argued that the vote was sold as one of solidarity with the Danish constitution, democracy, and a rejection of totalitarian elements in society, and cannot therefore be seen as an explicit endorsement by the population of the government's line.^[3]

Results

Denmark

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Social Democratic Party	894,632	44.5	66	+2
Conservative People's Party	421,523	21.0	31	+5
Venstre	376,850	18.7	28	–2
Danish Social Liberal Party	175,179	8.7	13	–1
Danish Unity	43,367	2.2	3	+2
National Socialist Workers' Party	43,309	2.1	3	0
Justice Party of Denmark	31,323	1.6	2	–1
Farmers' Party	24,572	1.2	2	–2
Independents	28	0.0	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	29,800	–	–	–
Total	2,040,583	100	148	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote
A			44.49%
C			20.96%
D			18.74%
B			8.71%
R			2.16%
N			2.15%
E			1.56%
F			1.22%
Others			0.00%

Faroe Islands

The Faroes seat was won by Þ Petersen, an independent who was a member of the People's Party. However, his election victory was not recognised until 16 August 1945,^[4] only two and a half months before the elections that year.

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Independent	3,452	48.2	1	+1
Venstre-Union Party	2,308	32.3	0	–1
Social Democratic Party	1,385	19.4	0	0
Invalid/blank votes		–	–	–
Total	7,155	100	1	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p524 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nordengaard, J. P. (1949). Valgene til Rigsdagen gennem 100 Aar (in Danish). Roskilde Dagbladstrykkeri. pp. chapter III, pp. 7–8.
3. Bertel, Haarder (21 September 2005). "Nye myter om samarbejdspolitikken" (in Danish). Information. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
4. Nohlen & Stöver, p540