ABSTRACT
Local elections in the 98 Danish municipalities are quite open. The legal threshold to run is very low, and in addition to Danish citizens, most adult residents can cast a vote. In many cases, the voters have an important say regarding which candidates are elected: three out of four voters cast a preferential vote, and these votes count when the seats are distributed. At the same time, local elections are increasingly dominated by the nationwide political parties that are already represented in the national parliament. In fact, the two (and a half) major parties have a very dominant position, especially regarding the mayoral offices.
