According to initial forecasts based on exit polls, the Social Democrats led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will once again be the strongest force in Denmark's parliamentary elections.
While the Social Democrats may have topped the vote, the exit polls by broadcasters DR and TV2 on Tuesday evening indicated an unclear majority, meaning it was uncertain whether Frederiksen would be able to continue to govern.
The new party of former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was predicted to have a strong result, while the liberal-conservative Venstre party he used to belong to faces clear losses.
Løkke's new centrist-liberal party The Moderates has positioned itself in the middle between the two traditional political blocs.
It is unclear whether the centre-left bloc headed by Frederiksen's Social Democrats will come to a majority without Løkke, despite a lead over the centre-right bloc headed by Venstre leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen.
If the predicted figures are confirmed in the course of election night, Denmark is likely to face protracted negotiations on future government cooperation.
A majority in the Danish parliament in Copenhagen requires 90 of the 179 seats. In the DR forecast, the left-leaning red camp initially came to 85 mandates, the blue bloc led by Venstre to 73. Løkke's moderates were forecast to win 17 seats, which would be decisive for a majority in that case.
Two parliamentary seats each are designated for representatives of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, which officially belong to the kingdom of Denmark.
Frederiksen has led Denmark since 2019 with a Social Democratic minority government, which mostly relies on parliamentary support from left-leaning parties, but also on votes from the right, for example when it comes to strict immigration policy.
This time, the 44-year-old head of government is aiming for a broad, cross-bloc government with parties from both sides.
She said in the last TV debate of the party leaders on Monday evening that this would also be the case if her left-wing camp were to achieve a majority again. Observers, however, say that in the event of a majority for the red bloc, she could also fall back on this camp.
Almost 4.3 million Danes were eligible to cast their ballots; among them were an estimated 200,000 first-time voters.
The campaign focused on domestic issues as well as the fight against inflation and high energy prices.
