(1) New parties wishing to participate in a general election must apply for registration with the Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior not later than noon 15 days prior to election day. This application must be accompanied by declarations from voters whose number corresponds to 1/175 of all valid votes cast in the last general election as a minimum. No voters’ declarations are required in the case of the party of the German minority.

(2) Before a new party begins to collect declarations from voters in accordance with subsection (1), 2nd sentence, the name of the party must be approved by the Election Board, cf. section 17. The approval is applicable for a period of three years from the date of approval. An application for approval of the name of a new party whose name is non-approvable, cf. section 13, cannot be filed until 30 days before expiry of the period during which the name cannot be approved. 

(3) The Election Board may extend approval of the party name by one year upon request, to be calculated from expiry of the previous approval if there is reason to believe that registration of the party will take place within the time of the extension. In special cases extension may be granted more than once. Any request for extension, apart from exceptional circumstances, must be received by the day the previous approval expires. If a request for extension of approval is received by the ultimate date of the previous approval, the approval shall be upheld until the validity of the request has been decided.

(4) If the party has not been registered within the stipulated time of approval for the name of the party, including any extension allowed, cf. subsections (2) and (3), the person in respect of which the name of the party has been approved cannot apply for approval of the same party name until one year after the previous approval has expired. Notwithstanding that one year has not yet elapsed since the expiry of the previous approval, the person who has obtained approval of the party name may file an application for approval of the same party name if others are unable to obtain approval of the party name under the rules set out in section 13(1)(ii) and (v) and (2).

(5) At the time when the declaration is submitted, the voter must meet the conditions for the right to vote in elections to the Folketing.

(6) A voters’ declaration is valid for a period of 18 months from the date of submission. After such period, the voters’ declaration must be destroyed unless the declaration has been submitted for a party registered with the Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior, cf. subsection (8). A voter may not submit a declaration for another party as long as the voter’s declaration under subsection (1) is valid or, once the party has been registered under subsection (1), as long as the registration of the party is valid, cf. subsection (7). A voter may withdraw his or her declaration until the date of registration of the party. A voters’ declaration which has been withdrawn under the 4th sentence hereof must be destroyed.

(7) The registration of a party is valid until the next general election to the Folketing is held, subject to a minimum period of 18 months from the date of registration.

(8) A valid voters’ declaration which the voter has not withdrawn, cf. subsection (6), must be retained for as long as the approval of the party name or the registration of the party is valid and then be destroyed.

(9) Voters’ declarations collected for the purpose of registering a new party which wishes to participate in general elections to the Folketing, cf. subsection (1), must not be used for any other purpose.

(10) The Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior will lay down rules for the design, collection, handling, control and destruction of voters’ declarations for new parties.

(11) By virtue of subsection (10), the Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior may lay down rules providing that voters’ declarations must be collected through a digital system provided by the Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior. In this connection, the Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior will lay down rules on

(i) the exemption of voters from the use of a digital system;

(ii) the elapse of a period of time from the voter’s declaration of support for a new party to the voter’s final submission of a declaration subject to subsection (1), 2nd sentence;

(iii) the collection of information from the Civil Registration System (CPR) to establish whether the condition mentioned in subsection (5) is met;

(iv) the processing of information included in the digital system, including information retrieved from the Civil Registration System (CPR); and

(v) the retention and destruction of information, cf. subsections (6) and (8).