The domain “valgtest.eu” is used by the Danish People’s Party to deliberately mislead voters, according to Social Democrats’ (Socialdemokratiet) lead candidate. “Disaster! You have landed on the Social Democrats!” This is the result of the Danish People’s Party’s election test on the website “valgtest.eu.” Christel Schaldemose, the Social Democrats’ lead candidate for the European Parliament elections, believes that the Danish People’s Party is conducting a campaign of misinformation and manipulation with the election test. “It is problematic that the Danish People’s Party buys a domain that can deceive Danes into believing it is an objective electoral test. I think that is dangerous in a democracy where misinformation is already a challenge,” she says.
When you google the words “election test” and “EU,” the test comes up as one of the first three results. “So voters think they have arrived at a genuine election test that presents arguments and answers like the media. Instead, they find a test that is misleading and manipulative,” she says. According to the website, 30,000 Danes have taken the test. “When I look very specifically at what they write about us, it appears as if we want Turkey as an official candidate country for EU membership.”
However, the vote they refer to is not about that. It is just a report on the situation in Turkey. “I find that problematic,” she says. When asked if the Social Democrats could do something similar, the answer is: “No. And they should clearly withdraw their election test,” she says. The Danish People’s Party’s lead candidate for the European Parliament elections, Anders Vistisen, does not understand Christel Schaldemose’s accusations.
“The election test is based on recent votes we have had in the European Parliament in recent years. If anything, it is enlightening and makes people aware of things,” he says. Regarding the specific example with Turkey, he does not see the problem either. “Here, Christel and the other Social Democrats have voted for Turkey to continue as a candidate. I don’t see a problem in us pointing that out—unless, of course, you do not want the Danes to know,” he says.
He points out that if the voter agrees most with Christel Schaldemose, the result will be the Social Democrats. “It is said with a twinkle in the eye because it is the Danish People’s Party that is behind it, and because of course we believe that our policies are better than others.” He does not buy the premise that certain voters can be misled by taking the test. “There is a ‘DF’ logo on the election test website. We are not trying to hide that we are the senders of it. I think it is quite a wild accusation to call it misleading. I do not understand why that language is being used.”
Asked if the Danish People’s Party will withdraw the test, the answer is: “No, we will not. We are happy that so many Danes have taken the test,” says Anders Vistisen.