Last Week in Denmark

Voting Rights for Internationals, Tax Perks or Election Tricks, and Denmark’s Aging Crisis: LWID S4E13

• Season 4 • Episode 13

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Voting rights, tax breaks, and tough truths. This week, Katie and Kalpita dive into Denmark’s local elections, revealing what internationals need to know before casting their votes.

This week’s episode explores how democracy and welfare intersect in Denmark — from mobilizing international voters and new tax breaks to deeper concerns about inequality, digital privacy, and social care. With municipal elections on November 18, the hosts unpack how internationals can confirm eligibility, vote early, and even get paid to help on election day. They also question whether Denmark’s new tax deductions for gym and music lessons are genuine relief or just election-month optics, while highlighting growing issues like high food prices for the elderly, welfare cuts, and the debate over Denmark’s withdrawn EU “chat control” plan.

Topics:

(01:39) Boosting International Voters

(12:10) Become a Polling Helper

(13:44) Tax Breaks Explained

(16:47) Fixed-Price Medicine Plan

(19:32) Elderly Food Costs

(21:11) Emergency rent subsidy

(21:59) Democracy Meets Daily Life

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🎵 Music,Jack Leatherbarrow @ Wizmedia: https://wiz-media.co.uk/

Katie:

Welcome to this week's episode of Last Week in Denmark. Hi, this is Katie and I'm with the wonderful Kalpita today. How are you doing, Kalpita? How's your early Danish grey winter going?

Kalpita:

Hello. Hello. I'm well, thank you. I think I'm quite all right. I was in the countryside for the weekend and--

Katie:

Ooooh, very nice.

Kalpita:

Yeah, I've been out decorating graves of family, taking long, long walks on the beach because that's what the soul needs. So pretty, pretty decent. I am already, dare I say, in Christmas mood, but I'm not ready to get a tree and decorate it. But I am very much ready to be cozy, sit in, by the fire, be out in the countryside most of my weekends if I can, and get the most out of all the hyggelig winter family time together. How about you?

Katie:

Yeeees, I too have switched in. We started watching the Harry Potter movies yesterday, which I feel is the epitome of Christmas time.

Kalpita:

Oooh, yeah, absolutely.

Katie:

Yeah. I think we're unfortunately a little busy. Sometimes we have to start the Harry Potter marathon early to make sure we get through all the movies by the time we get to Christmas because for some reason it's a Christmas movie. I don't know why, but it is.

Kalpita:

We usually watch Love Actually--

Katie:

Ah, yes

Kalpita:

Because that's a very Christmas film to watch as well.

Katie:

I love The Holiday. That's my go to Christmas movie.

Kalpita:

Yeah, yeah, that's my mother in law. She loves watching The Holiday every Christmas.

Katie:

She's right. It's the best one.

Kalpita:

Yeah.

[both laugh]

Katie:

But anyway, anyway, we're on a podcast. We're going to talk about news. Annnnd so today we are talking about all things election month. We are in November. There is an election on the 18th of November. So this episode is very much to make sure everybody has the information they need. They know how to vote and the different ways they can vote. And then to also give you more information on the tax breaks we can expect to see in the coming months. But first, I have a question for you, Kalpita, and there is only one correct answer to this. Will you be voting in the upcoming election in Denmark?

Kalpita:

I am eligible, so I will be voting. 

Katie:

Yaaaaay! 

Kalpita: 

If I don't get my voting card, then I will have to go to the citizen service. But I did get mine last year, which I didn't know I was eligible for. And I was a complete, insert any word you feel appropriate when you're totally unprepared. 

Katie:

[laughs]

Kalpita:

That was me. But this time I'm much prepared. Thanks to Last Week in Denmark and the Votholm podcast, I kind of know, parties, who's who and who does what. And this year we have two... Not this year, but every local elections, we have one for the municipality and one for the region state, so I kind of know, I'm not super confident yet. I still have time and I'm doing my best to read up as much on the candidates I see plastered all over the town. How about you? Are you eligible?

Katie:

I am eligible. And I did the candidate test on Day Air, which was super helpful because I have no idea about anything in Danish politics. And I can ask my partner, but she is very like set in her ways. She always votes for SF. So I was like, "I don't know that we have the same opinions on things." So that's why I was like, I'm going to do my research, which was one test on Day Air. And it's really, really good. It takes like 10, 15 minutes and it basically asks you what you think about different policies and then if it doesn't matter to you, you can skip it. And then, like any candidate test, it will tell you who you match up the most with. So I really recommend that.

Kalpita:

Yeah, I've heard that it's a bit flawed. I don't mean to burst a bubble, but it is a bit flawed.

Katie:

I'm not doing any more work on this. I'm sticking with my candidate test. But go on, tell other people why it's flawed.

Kalpita:

But I think. I think it's a super handy tool for everyone who doesn't know where to start and who the candidates are, what kind of parties they closely resonate with. I totally understand that it is a daunting process to go through every party and what they stand for, and you still don't fully get who's who and what is what. Uh so the test is sort of a great starting point. What I tried to do is I did take the test and I did not completely agree with the people that showed up. So it for me it was a bit like the policies. certain things I agree with, certain things I don't agree with. And of course I have my middle way of certain things that are being proposed, for example. Right? So I need to find someone and some party that comes closest to what I think, what I want and how I see Copenhagen because I live here, and my local area as well. So the candidates that were suggested were sort of a great starting point to find out: "Oh okay, if it's so and so person," then I go and find them and I read up on them, and who they are and what party they stand for and stuff like that. And I like that the test gives you about three options, and then you can look for more that you are closest resonating to through the test, which I really like, because it's not necessarily that I agreed to the first three that were given to me. So it was nice to get like the highest rated and the highest ones that I resonate most with according to the test. So it was a bit Buzzfeedy. If you've ever used BuzzFeed. And they've of different quizzes.

Katie:

Yeah, I love BuzzFeed. I love their stupid quizzes. Like, what ice cream flavor am I? I don't know. 

Kalpita:

[laughs]

Katie:

And they never made sense. But what I did like, as you say, it's a really good place to start. And then you get your list of candidates and it tells you the position of each candidate on the things you voted on.

Kalpita:

Yeah.

Katie:

Like you're saying you can go through and kind of find, "okay, I agree with this party in these ways, but I really don't like this." I also think I might be a little like, eager to find, I think there's two parties in particular that have made more of an effort, I think, with internationals. So I think it was Radikale Venstre that did the science in different languages. And then there was another one, but I forgot who they are. They did Facebook ads in different languages. So that obviously has a big impact on me because I do feel like, and we talk about it a lot on this podcast, that there is a bit more of an anti international sentiment, particularly certain kinds of internationals. So anyone who's making an effort to make sure we can be heard and we are an important voice, we're going to be 10% of all voters, I think, this election.

Kalpita:

Yes. Out of the 16 that exist. Yeah, That's a big number. I think that's about 3 to 400,000 people in Denmark.

Katie:

Yeah, it's crazy. So we have a voice that matters and we can have our say in, in how things are run here. And that's I suppose as well, something that we want to drive home is that previously in the 2021 elections, the turnout among international citizens was under 30% compared to 72% among Danes. So like we can increase that super easily by just, even just to challenge ourselves to ask our international friends, like are you voting? Are you eligible? If they don't know, show them how to find out. But then also just to talk about it openly and say kind of like, do you know where to find this information? It's better to do the candidate tests and then decide. You think it's stupid than to just not do anything and not be informed at all.

Kalpita:

Yeah, absolutely.

Katie:

Increasing it just 5, 10% gives us more of a voice and makes us, you know, like our input matters more. And then maybe there'll be more efforts towards the international community in coming elections. It's all very exciting.

Kalpita:

I totally agree. I know a few people who think that, you know, oh, I'm not going to vote because my vote doesn't matter. But then you also have to understand that when you don't vote, you can't complain [Katie murmurs in agreement] and someone else is making decisions on your behalf and that's affecting you as well. So you're just continuing to be miserable just because you think you are being a revolutionary by not participating in, in voting. So don't be silly. Make sure you practice your rights.

Katie:

Yes, absolutely.

Kalpita:

Yeah. Having said that, there has been a survey done on how satisfied people are with their local authorities and municipality and lo and behold, 41% say they are satisfied, which is very interesting because there has been a lot of negative media and press coverage about local authorities and how, what, why, they have done wrong. Which is interesting, because most parties and candidates are not allowed to advertise on social media or promote themselves on social media. So it's interesting that how the press is really having the power to influence people in these times and they're just taking it in the whole wrong direction, I think. But like you mentioned last time, there were some Facebook ads that got you interested in, in, in politics and in your local elections. And I think in some way, I think social media not being part of social media, politics not being part of social media, is a great incentive because there's so much that we can be bombarded by and we have been bombarded by. We already know the whole Facebook saga and how people were influenced and stuff. But what do you think about the satisfaction survey? Are you satisfied with your local municipality?

Katie:

I think if I'm completely honest, I have no idea. Like, I suppose I come from a country where change doesn't really happen and the government is highly criticized because of their inaction and they just kind of continue to don't do anything. So whenever there's something that's new or nice, I'm like, that's nice. Or like, we learn about all kinds of things that have been proposed in the finance bill. We talk about them at length on this podcast. So it is like, "oh, I'm like, that's nice." But I don't actually know how much the municipality has control over that. How much do they actually contribute to my day to day life overall? I actually really don't know. I'm surprised by the number because it seems pretty high, in my opinion. I think people generally are unhappy, for some reason, whether it's the fault of the politicians or not. So it's a good thing to see that people are relatively happy. But in terms of my own opinion, I honestly have no idea. I'm quite clueless about it. And I think voting in this election is very much the beginning of my journey to understanding what's going on in Danish politics and also how you can affect change. Because up until now I've been just like, "la la la la la la la la la. Ooh, isn't it nice? There's lots of trees. What a great time."

Kalpita:

[laughs] Yeah. I would strongly advise that you listen to the Vote Home podcast because in that we have interviewed a mayor, we have interviewed local council chairmans, who actually talk about what their role is and what they actually do in local municipalities. But so you know, I mean, your public transport, your parks, schools, housing, all of that is what affects your daily life. The streets you walk on, the parks you actually take walks in, all of those things are what are affecting you. Even your local transport. Like the last time when we spoke about buses and trains not being on time or they just take too long and stuff like that. All of that is also local, local politics, which affects your daily life. Bike lanes, bin pickups and sorting for, food waste sorting and all those kinds of things are also what the local government looks after.

Katie:

We do have too many bins. I would like there to be less bins to sort into. I get very overwhelmed. There's too many and there's still. Where do I put wood? I don't know where wood goes. Is that? Does that? Where? Never mind.

Kalpita:

I mean, but that's the thing that your local municipality will decide. So maybe look for someone who's very passionate about trash picking and maybe that's one of the things on the agenda. But these kind of things will be what you should look out for, really. And go listen to our Vote Home podcast. You'll learn a lot over there.

Katie:

I will. That sounds great.

Kalpita:

I mean, these wonderful, wonderful tax breaks and subsidies and all of that is also, very much an election gimmick that we've been hearing for so many weeks and months now. But before we get into that, I must remember that we need to tell everyone that all local municipalities are looking for helpers. And that's going to be a paid gig for election day. You can look into your local citizen service or call your local citizen service and find out what the requirements are. It's for a couple of hours, you get paid for it. And it's basically to facilitate every person that comes in to vote and help them vote.

Katie:

Yes! So you can get paid to be part of democracy, but as well, just to remind people that you can, if you're not available on November 18th, that you can vote early if it's before November 14th. So there is still time. If you're not going to be available for election day, you can Google brevstemme, the correct way to spell that, and say that is in the newsletter and the name of your municipality and find out how you can vote early. It's usually in a local library and you just need your yellow card. Otherwise, voting day on November 18, you should get an election card, like Kalpita. But if you don't, you can just go to the nearest school again, bring that yellow card. That's the most important piece. And you'll be able to vote anyway.

Kalpita:

Yeah, absolutely. And if you are one of the helpers, you will absolutely be able to vote before you begin your shift for helping. And what better way of participating in democracy and getting paid for it?

Katie:

Yeeeees. Practically a politician.

Kalpita:

I mean, so close. So, so close. 

Kalpita:

Yeah. Let's get back to the tax breaks and stuff. Those look quite interesting.

Katie:

Yeeeees.

Kalpita:

Almost entertaining.

Katie:

Yes! I mean, I always love to hear about free money. Money that will be there that was not there. Because Denmark's so expensive, they're going to be bringing in a tax break for fitness and music lessons. So this is starting in 2026, that adults over 30 will be able to deduct up to 1,750 DKK a year for activities like gym classes, yoga, dance or private music lessons.

Kalpita:

Mind you, this is not for gym membership. It's only for gym classes.

Katie:

I don't think they even know what it's for. I think it's. The language is very vague and I'm like, January is very soon for you to not be sure what this is about. But yeah, I think it's one of these things where it's like tax break, but it's a little bit more of a. They're offsetting a new EU rule that adds that to group lessons. So I think depending on how that rule has that attached to group lessons will depend what we're actually able to deduct for in the coming year. So I guess they decided people being healthy was important, erm so they would offset this new EU rule instead of giving what, I would call a true tax break. I think it will wind up costing about the same for everybody. What do you think?

Kalpita:

I mean, it's not that important for them, is it? It's like just 1,750 a year.

Katie:

Yeah.

Kalpita:

And it has to be a group activity. You can't be an independent person or you can't be an introvert that just likes to go to gym and lift weights. Then you're just like, "nah, you're not considered because, oh, you want to be fit but you're just going to gym so you're not good enough for us." That's a bit, I know I sound biased, but listen, I go to gym, I really love picking weights and I love the adrenaline that comes with it and I'm never going to go to a spinning class or yoga or...

Katie:

[laughs] You don't want to wear the little shoes to go on the bike.

Kalpita:

Absolutely not. I think it's, it's. Yeah. In Danish you say "det er skamne". I think it's a bit embarrassing. I am embarrassed on behalf of other people who do spinning classes or just cycling on, just on their own. It's like, "oh, come on." But no judgment towards them. I'm actually cheering them on because I can see their stats and that, that's wild. But listen, that person also has the right to get some kind of deduction. Right. Because they're self motivated and doing it on their own. They don't need to be in a group to do it. And I wonder what the motivation for this is, because why group lessons?

Katie:

Yeah, but private music lessons. But group gym lessons, why is that? Like, that's. And that's why, again, I think it's quite vague that I don't think they even know what they're offsetting. They're just like "tax break!" because it's election month and not really kind of giving enough details for anyone to say whether it will or won't happen.

Kalpita:

Yeah. It's like reducing prices on chocolate and coffee and stuff. I was just, just, "Are you out of your mind?" But anyway, moving on. [Katie laughs] There's a fixed price on medicine for low income residents now. 

Katie:

Yeeees!

Kalpita:

Or it's a proposal. The government will invest 21.55 million Danish kroner in a new digital subscription system that lets people pay a steady monthly amount of prescription medicine instead of facing big payment spikes. And the plan is supposed to help those who skip medication due to cost, and replaces the current manual system with a simpler, nationwide, more predictable one. This sounds more like it's more or less set in stone and just needs to be passed in the parliament. But what do you think of this new digital subscription system? I think Denmark loves subscriptions.

Katie:

It loves to put everything in the cloud, like MitID. Oh, my God. In some ways I'm like, "oh my God. Amazing. Everything's connected." But in other ways, like, you know when you go to the doctor and they're like, "cool, I'm going to prescribe this for you." And you don't get a little piece of paper. And I'm like, "but how do I know it's in the cloud? How do I trust it?" I also think with all the cybersecurity stuff happening, I'm like, "oh, does it make sense to keep putting everything online?" But at the same time, I'm like, this seems like it's been coming for a long way.

Kalpita:

Yeah, it's funny you say that, because elections don't happen digitally. You get a paper and pen, pencil, whatever, to mark your vote. So that bit is not digital, which is kind of a paradox for living in Denmark, which is like a digital first country.

Katie:

It also seems like you should be able to use your MitID to just vote. You shouldn't have to go to a place like, I wonder why that is.

Kalpita:

Yeah, I imagine you could. You could just sit at home and give your vote. You wouldn't have to go anywhere. There wouldn't have to be a big setup. But I do know it's because you cannot tamper with it digitally, if you vote, you can tamper with it. And physical votes when are given on paper and pen, you, you just can't cheat. Apparently that's, that's the logic behind it because I looked into it. But if you go to an apotek, your medical store, you will find a medicine there because they just magically know what medicine was prescribed. Et voila.

Katie:

Yeah, it's an odd one. You just trust it. Crazy.

Kalpita:

But I love that system in some, in some sense because then I don't need to keep a big thick record of my, my medical history. I can just go on MinLæge app and just see my journal for all the have been in Denmark. I can look into it and see, "oh, I had this blood test and oh, this year I had that thing." Or even when I got vaccinated as well for COVID and stuff which is still gives me the creeps.

Katie:

Yeah, it's almost just like, o"h God, how many times have I been to the doctor." [laughs]

Kalpita:

Yeah, yeah. But there's a, there's a serious food price crisis happening with the elderly in fact, which is... I mean we've spoken about high food prices in the past and this is about 62 municipalities. Nursing home residents pay the maximum allowed price for meals, which is over 4,100 Danish kroner per month. There's a organization called  Ældre Sagen, which is Elderly cases, or sager, warns that some seniors may skip the communal meal plan due to cost, risking malnutrition. A few new towns keep prices lower by prioritizing local cooking, while others argue flexibility would only raise costs. The group urges,  Ældre Sagen, national action to make elderly meals more affordable. Now isn't that something that the government should take cognizance of?

Katie:

Yeah, it's one of -- it's a bit like the fixed price medicine plan for low income residents. It's like, "why has it taken this long to identify this vulnerable group of people and identify like whether it's medicine or it's food", [laughs] pretty critical and making sure that people have what's available. Like they are very happy to talk about the tax breaks. This imaginary," oh, you might get some money back on something, we've increased the price of next year" as opposed to these are real people that have real problems and they can't access the basic things that they need. So it is; They're definitely picking and choosing what to talk about. And these kind of very important things are flying under the radar.

Kalpita:

Yeah. Which is also the other, other thing that we have over here to talk about is Lars Lykke Rasmussen admits welfare reform risks more homelessness. So the government's new cash benefit reform lowers payments for thousands. And even Moderaterne, which is Social Liberals leader Lars has warned that it could push vulnerable citizens onto the streets. And he's proposing an emergency rent subsidy, allowing municipalities to support those at risk, while waiting for cheaper public housing to build. So, I mean, it all sounds really doom and gloom, but we are very well aware that it is election time next year as well, which maybe not all internationals are allowed, but homelessness, high food prices, especially in elderly homes, and then, by the way, you get a tax benefit for your gym classes. How about that?

Katie:

[laughs] Don't worry about it. If you go and do your spin class, you'll be able to afford your food in the elderly home, no problem.

Kalpita:

Yeah. Which is just not even 1800 a year.

Katie:

[laughs]But the good thing is there is awareness. So this is in the news, people are talking about it, so hopefully they will go, yeah, people who are low income or homeless or old and need food, then someone will prioritize them somewhere. I don't know if that's been the tagline on any of the political posters, but surely someone is looking into this so we don't lose all of our vulnerable people.

Kalpita:

Yeah, it's a bit strange for me as well, because like you said, these are things, Why are these things not being considered earlier? Why is it now? Why is it being highlighted now? So there's clearly vulnerable sections of society that are ignored or not given enough importance, like in the budgets or in political agendas. Take, for example, there was this news about the EU chat control plan where Denmark just dropped, withdrew its proposal to force tech companies to scan private messages for child abuse material. And it was Germany who came with a very strong opposition, saying that it risks surveillance that would violate basic freedoms, mass surveillance that would violate basic freedoms. Denmark is known for catching child abusers and very, very good at scouting people who are using offensive material on their personal or whatever devices. Right? And then to withdraw this proposal comes...comes as a shock to me, but I also understand that it's at the EU level. But at the same time, it does, it does make it a bit difficult to actually find these people and find these violators, which also makes me question what are our priorities?

Katie:

[hums] That's true. I think when it comes to these, like, legal questions, I am always a bit uncertain of the context because obviously if you say, like, okay, "we want to do this to catch people who are hurting children", then everyone's like, "why wouldn't you do that?" But I wonder as well, like, there was a time in Ireland when there was a legislation to get rid of, when you send LGBT people to a camp to unLGBT them and it was basically a law to get rid of that. And it was like, oh, you know, politicians oppose bringing in this law, but it was because legislatively it didn't make sense. It didn't define what actually makes a program something that's trying to stop people being gay. And it wasn't, basically, it wasn't thorough enough. And I wonder if that's the case here, because when we talk about, like, when you say "we're using this to catch child abusers", it sounds a little bit like a slippery slope kind of mentality of like, "oh, you don't want to stop child abusers. Okay, then we won't surveil." As opposed to the fact of, like, they can say they're using it one way, but what's stopping them using it a hundred other ways? And why would they only use it to look for child abuse? Why wouldn't they use it for general crime? How are, you know, people who are moving ship drug shipments around? They must be communicating some way. So the vagueness of it is making me think that actually at an EU level, the legislation isn't good enough to protect people from that surveillance piece while also finding those people who are hurting children..but I don't know.

Kalpita:

Yeah, I do. I do understand Germany's point of view of mass surveillance, but there is mass surveillance in other non EU countries, and they do a very, very good job with that. I do understand violating personal boundaries with mass surveillance as well. I remember the time when I worked with Twitter of how they gave permission to different authorities to look into people's tweets and DMs and stuff like that. And that's the way things work right now. You need to go to the platform and get legal permission from them to look into a person's, Because that person under suspicion, for example. Yeah, and that's, that's what they did for Facebook as well. For different kinds of cases. You do get access, but that is something that you need to have reason to get access to a person's private account and private messages. While I do understand that's great, if I have done something wrong, which I hopefully haven't, I'll be more than happy to give up, up my account and for people to survey my private messages. But at the same time, I saw this documentary about French police who were able to hack into burner phones, and this was during COVID and you couldn't really physically be present to catch people and surveil them, but they could do that because one of their technicians was able to crack the code to get into these burner phones and they got into burner phones of some criminals who were, who were moving some heavy ammunition and guns and things like that through their phones and they did business only on those burner phones. So it is possible for authorities to work things around. But my point is that the time it takes and the resources it takes is really, really paramount in these situations, especially when it comes to serious crime like child abuse. But I do hope that at some point this is sorted out and that specific people, just to keep Germany happy, are allowed to get into private messages and things like that. But mass surveillance is also a big debate, which I don't think we have time for today.

Katie:

[laughs] Maybe the next podcast. But yeah, I think that's everything we're covering on today. Thank you for your time, Kalpita. It's wonderful as always.

Kalpita:

Absolutely. Likewise. And people, do not forget to go vote on the 18th of November, or go to a local library and find out if you would like to vote earlier before the 14th of November and look into polling station helping. Call your municipality and find out how you can do that and get paid to be part of democracy.

Katie:

Yay democracy. Woo!

Kalpita:

Have a good one, Katie. Talk to you next time. 

Katie:

You too. Talk to you soon. Bye.

Fionn:

Did you know that the Last Week in Denmark newsletter is available in 8 languages? Hey there! This is Fionn from the Last Week in Denmark podcast and every week you guys are tuning into me and my fellow co-host talk about the news of the week in English! But lets be real, we are all internationals, so not only are you speaking English everyday, probably also speaking a bit of Danish, but you probably got your own native language as well, like the multilingual master you are. So why not treat yourself to the luxury of reading Danish news each week in your own, native, language, so head on over to lastweekdk.substack.com, that's  lastweekdk.substack.com and sign up for our newsletter, delivered to you, every Sunday. 




Head Shot

LWID

Host
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Kalpita Bhosale

Guest
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Katie Burns

Guest