63% of immigrants in Denmark refuse to vote

Berlingske reports that ...

A very large proportion of foreigners and people of foreign origin don't vote in Denmark, and the number is increasing. In their words, "we are opting out of democracy". From 1997 to 2009, Copenhagen saw an 11% drop in immigrant election participation, while in Århus the drop was 17%. This is according to results published by the Integration Ministry. This is harmful for democracy, says Kasper Møller Hansen, professor in political science at Copenhagen University, who authored the report.

"It is a drastic drop which is definitely not good for democracy." Negative socialization is occurring, where immigrants meet other immigrants who don't vote. It is a vicious circle. The Council for Ethnic Minorities is looking for volunteers to educate immigrants about the political process. "It is important that municipalities begin doing this proactively long before an election and help creative faith in the system amongst immigrants. I meet many immigrants who believe it's useless to vote" says Lally Harpal Parwana, the Council's chairman.

Integration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech of the Liberals is disappointed with the results, but maintains that the efforts made by the government to "get immigrants off the sofa" have been adequate.

So lots of immigrants don't vote, it's not really important why, as long as it's our fault. Our lack of faith in the system? Clearly a result of the standard immigrant failings like laziness and an inability to appreciate a democracy when one is thrust up us. Why, it's probably a good thing we don't vote, because if we did, we'd probably just break something, like those immigrants on a building committee who voted to block the sale of alcohol next to a school. Terrible stuff.

Who exactly is the Council for Ethnic Minorities anyway, and why are they always speaking on my behalf. I didn't vote for them - why would I support a toothless committee whose only function is getting other immigrants to drink the government Kool Aid? Since its inception this Council has done nothing to challenge the government's hard and unreasonable line on integration. I pay the same tax Danes pay, therefore I expect the same level of representation, nothing less, certainly not a committee that exists solely to serve the Integration Minister, when said Minister is the thing I most need protecting from.

Now the Council is looking for volunteers to advise us - on what exactly? What part of Danish politics have we misjudged all this time? Or they simply trying to placate us, tell us to be patient and have a bit more faith in our superiors, try a little harder because one day we'll see, it will all work out. Yes, in a strange arbeit macht frei kind of way.

Also, immigrants are very, very stupid. We shove knitting needles into a power outlets because other immigrants have tried it, and they say it's great fun. Additionally, we can contract political disaffection without realizing it, not at all unlike Danes catch chlamydia. It's never about issues, it's never that we may just have valid concerns. No, never listen to the immigrants. Never talk to them, never ask them why they don't want to vote, because doing so make you dirty, or even worse, politically apathetic too!

Sarcasm and ranting aside, this shows yet another serious failing in Denmark's integration process. Not just that immigrants aren't voting, but that the Danish government is clearly far from interested in finding out why. I'm sure they know - I'm sure the people behind this report did their homework and asked all the right questions and got all the predictable answers, but how can they publish that? How can they reveal that immigrants don't want to vote because they perceive all Danish political parties to be against us, and that it makes no difference if we vote, because at the end of the day it's not going to diminish the grip Pia Kjærsgaard has on us? Saying that would be admitting that the political gulf between Danes and immigrants is wider than ever, and will remain there for the foreseeable future, because Denmark's immigration policy isn't going anywhere. It's stable, it's what Danes want, and now we need to find ways to live with it. Or pretend to, at least.

Yes, a majority of immigrants not voting is clearly not good for democracy, though not nearly as harmful as a allowing a bunch of deranged bigots to hijack said democracy and use it as a legal platform to disseminate hate and intolerance. And probably not as damaging as ignoring all criticism and repeatedly shoving all the blame onto all things "non-Danish".

Immigrants can't be bothered to vote because all political parties in Denmark want tighter immigration control, along with the forced cultural scrubbing of existing immigrants, aka integration. What immigrant wants to vote for that? Yet Danes seem genuinely upset that immigrants can't accept that. These restrictions are part and parcel of Danish culture - they're as Danish as the flag and the Queen. Danes need immigrants to accept this, move on with life, and focus on the other shareable parts of life here. But the reality is that for many immigrants, getting here and terms under which we stay here are some of the biggest issues in our lives, they are issues that we know are entirely out of our control, and we don't see the point in putting on a show for the benefit of our flubbing hosts. The situation as it stands is like a marriage where one partner has all the money and power and insists that the other partner makes the best of it, even though said other partner feels trapped and completely taken for granted.

Immigrant voter apathy is hardly a new problem - Danes have been sounding off on it for years. But bizarrely, Danes have also gone to great lengths to withhold political power and influence from immigrants. Participation in local elections is tied to permanent residence, which has become extremely difficult to get, and citizenship is required to vote in Parliamentary elections. Each year the route to citizenship gets longer and more difficult. Denmark forces immigrants to wait nine years to vote, and then only after an offensively difficult and irrelevant test. How can you instill confidence and respect for a system when you consistently use the very same system to undermine people?