After the EU parliamentary election on June 9, the deadline for removing election posters has passed, but several candidates still have posters hanging around the country. In Copenhagen, for example, you can still see election posters of Kira Marie Peter-Hansen from the Socialist People’s Party (SF) and Christel Schaldemose from the Social Democrats by Dronning Louises Bro. Both candidates were re-elected to the EU Parliament, with Peter-Hansen receiving 178,438 personal votes, and Schaldemose receiving 142,198 votes. Near Torvehallerne close to Nørreport, there are still posters from the Liberal Alliance, including those featuring Mads Strange. In Køge, posters have been seen featuring Bergur Løkke Rasmussen from the Moderates (Moderaterne), as well as the lead candidate Stine Bosse, who secured the party’s one seat. At Ordrup Station, you can find Venstre posters, including those of Morten Løkkegaard, who received 174,048 personal votes, the second most of all candidates. Additionally, in Copenhagen, there are still posters of the Venstre candidate Alexandra Sasha, who withdrew her candidacy during the campaign due to media coverage of Russian connections. Despite Venstre’s assurances to remove her posters before election day, some still remain. Sasha received 1,500 personal votes. The deadline for removing the election posters expired on June 17, when both the posters and the materials used for hanging, such as ties and strings, were supposed to be taken down.
Now, the responsible candidates face potential bills from municipalities and the Danish Road Directorate (Vejdirektoratet) for the removal of the posters. The City of Copenhagen states that they can remove posters that pose a danger to traffic safety or do not comply with the rules, and then send the bill to the responsible parties. The Danish Road Directorate says it costs 524 Danish kroner per poster they have to remove. The posters were legally hung up from May 18 at 12:00. In this election, the Socialist People’s Party (SF) became the largest party with 17.4% of the votes, which gave them three out of the 15 Danish seats. The Social Democrats also obtained three seats, but the party decreased by 5.9 percentage points compared to the 2019 election, which the party’s leadership has described as disappointing. Eleven Danish parties participated in the election, with only Alternativet not securing a seat in the EU Parliament.