Danish constitutional referendum, 1939

Last updated

A constitutional referendum was held in Denmark on 23 May 1939. [1] Voters were asked whether they approved of a new constitution. Although it was approved by 91.9% of those who voted, a turnout of only 48.9% meant that the percentage of eligible voters approving it was only 44.46%, below the 45% required by the existing constitution of 1915. [2]

Denmark constitutional monarchy in Europe

Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country and the southernmost of the Scandinavian nations. Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), land area of 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million.

The Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution, is the constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark, applying equally in Denmark proper, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. In its present form, the Constitutional Act is from 1953, but the principal features of the Act go back to 1849, making it one of the oldest constitutions.

Contents

Proposed changes from the existing constitution

The two primary changes in the proposed constitution from 1939 was lowering the electoral age from 25 to 23 years, and replacing the Landsting with a new chamber of parliament, the Rigsting. [3] Additionally, the united parliament (Danish : den forenede rigsdag ) consisting of the members of the two other chambers was to become a third chamber of parliament. [4] The united parliament would handle the more important types of bills, including the Budget and proposed changes to the constitution. [3] Other bills could be proposed in either the Folketing or the Rigsting, and in order to pass they would have to go through three readings in the chamber, in which they were proposed, and two readings in the other. [4] This would have been a simplification of the existing process where all bills had to go through three readings in each of the two chambers.

Danish language North Germanic language spoken in Denmark

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in Denmark and in the region of Southern Schleswig in northern Germany, where it has minority language status. Also, minor Danish-speaking communities are found in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina. Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas, around 15–20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their first language.

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For966,27791.9
Against85,7178.1
Invalid/blank votes11,770–
Total1,063,764100
Registered voters/turnout2,173,42048.9
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

The Danish constitution was finally altered to its present form following a 1953 referendum.

Notes

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p524 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p505
  3. 1 2 Wendt, Frantz W. (1951). "Rigsdagen 1915-40", in Bomholt, J., Fabricius, K., Hjelholt, H., Mackeprang, M. & Møller, A. (eds.): Den Danske Rigsdag 1849-1949 bind II - Rigsdagens histore 1866-1949(in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag, pp. 554-556.
  4. 1 2 Skou, Kaare R. (2005). Dansk politik A-Å(in Danish). Aschehoug, pp. 579-580. ISBN   87-11-11652-8.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

Related Research Articles

A four-part referendum was held in Ukraine on 16 April 2000. The referendum was called by President Leonid Kuchma, and asked voters whether they approved of four amendments to the constitution that would increase the powers of the President and introduce an upper chamber.

Landstinget Historic house of the Parliament of Denmark

Landstinget was the upper house of the Rigsdag in Denmark from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished. The house had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of parliament hard to distinguish.

1915 Danish Folketing election

The Danish Folketing election of 1915 was held on 7 May 1915. As required to change the Constitution, the government called for the dissolution of both the Folketing and the Landsting in order for the new Rigsdag to be able to introduce the new constitution. However, as this was during World War I, no campaigning took place, and the election was settled without voting in 104 of 114 constituencies. Therefore, it is impossible to give numbers for the actual support the respective parties received from the voters.

April 1920 Danish Folketing election

Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 26 April 1920, except in the Faroe Islands, where they were held on 20 May. The election campaign was the most aggressive and bitter in Denmark in the 20th century. Voter turnout was 80.6% in Denmark proper and 58.8% in the Faroe Islands.

Landsting elections were held in Denmark on 11 May 1918, with the exceptions that the seats elected by the resigning parliament were elected on 20 March 1918, the Faroese member was elected on 13 May, and the electors that elected the candidates standing in the constituencies were elected on 30 April.

The first Danish Landsting election of 1920 was held on 10 August 1920, with the exceptions that the seats elected by the resigning parliament were elected on 26 June, the Faroese member was elected on 23 August, and the electors that elected the candidates standing in the constituencies were elected on 30 July.

The second Danish Landsting election of 1920 was held on 1 October 1920, with the exceptions that the seats elected by the resigning parliament were elected on 10 September, except for the representative of South Jutland County who was elected on October 7, the Faroese member was elected on 3 February 1921, and the electors that elected the candidates standing in the constituencies were elected on 24 September 1920.

1939 Danish Folketing election

Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 3 April 1939, except in the Faroe Islands where they were held on 19 April. They followed a dissolution of both chambers in order to call a referendum on changing the constitution. The referendum was held on 23 May but failed due to a low voter turnout. The result of the elections was a victory for the Social Democratic Party, which won 64 of the 149 seats. Voter turnout was 79.2% in Denmark proper and 47.8% in the Faroes.

The Danish Landsting election of 1939 was held on 14 April 1939, with the exception that the electors that elected the candidates standing in the constituencies were elected on 3 April.

A referendum on the sale of the Danish West Indian Islands to the United States of America was held in Denmark on 14 December 1916. The non-binding referendum saw 283,670 vote in favor of the sale of the Danish West Indian Islands and 158,157 against. The residents of the islands were not allowed to vote on the matter, but in an unofficial vote on St. Croix arranged by David Hamilton Jackson, 4,027 voted in favor of the sale and only seven voted against. As a result of the referendum the islands were formally relinquished to the United States by the Treaty of the Danish West Indies on 31 March 1917 as the United States Virgin Islands for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold.

A constitutional and electoral age referendum was held in Denmark on 28 May 1953. Both proposals were approved by voters, leading to both a new constitution taking effect on 5 June, and the electoral age being lowered from 25 to 23 years, also starting on 5 June. Voter turnout was 59.1% for the constitution question and 57.1% for the voting age question.

A constitutional referendum was held in Denmark on 6 September 1920. It was held in order to make changes to the constitution of Denmark from 1915 that had been made necessary to facilitate the reunification of Southern Jutland into the kingdom of Denmark. The changes were approved by 96.9% of voters, with a 49.6% turnout. A total of 614,227 of the 1,291,745 registered voters voted in favour, meaning that 47.6% of eligible voters had voted for the proposals, above the 45% required by the constitution.

The Danish Landsting election of 1924 was held on 23 September 1924, with the exception that the electors were elected on 18 September.

The Danish Landsting election of 1928 was held on 21 September 1928, with the exceptions that the electors were elected on 14 September, that the candidates elected by the resigning parliament were elected on 15 August, and that the Faroese candidate was elected on 23 August.

The Danish Landsting election of 1932 was held on 13 September 1932, with the exception that the electors were elected on 5 September.

The Danish Landsting election of 1936 was held on 22 September 1936, with the exceptions that the electors were elected on 15 September and that the candidates elected by the resigning parliament were elected on 14 August.

The Danish Landsting election of 1943 was held on 6 April 1943, with the exception that the electors were elected on 23 March. Along with the corresponding Folketing election, it was the first election during the German occupation, and although many people feared how the Germans might react to the election, the event took place peacefully.

Treaty of the Danish West Indies

The Treaty of the Danish West Indies, officially the Convention between the United States and Denmark for cession of the Danish West Indies, was a 1916 treaty transferring sovereignty of the Virgin Islands in the Danish West Indies from Denmark to the United States in exchange for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold.

2006 Italian constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum was held in Italy on 25 June 2006. Voters were asked whether they approved of amending 57 articles of the constitution. The reforms were proposed by the Silvio Berlusconi government, which had lost power in the April 2006 elections. They would have given more power to the Prime Minister by allowing him or her to dissolve parliament, appoint and sack ministers and control government policy. The Chamber of Deputies would have been given responsibility for foreign policy, defence and immigration, and the Senate responsibility for federal law. The proposals would also have increased the power of the regions, giving them control of education, healthcare, law and order, as well as giving them representation in the Supreme Court. The proposals were opposed by the incumbent Prime Minister Romano Prodi, and were rejected by 61.3% of voters.

Thirteen referendums were held in Switzerland during 1994. The first five were held on 20 February on federal resolutions on roadbuilding, continuing existing truck tolls and varying tolls based on engine power or mileage, as well as a popular initiative "for the protection of the alpine region from through traffic" and an amendment to the aeronautical law. All five were approved by voters. The second set of referendums was held on 12 June on federal resolutions on an article on the Swiss Federal Constitution on the promotion of culture and a review of the procedure for naturalising young immigrants, as well as a federal law on Swiss troops in peacekeeping operations. Whilst the resolutions were both approved by a majority of voters, they did not receive the approval from the majority of cantons, so were rejected, as was the law on troops.