“I have lived in this country for ten years. Is that enough? I do not know. But does it make sense that in twenty years, if I am not Danish, I still cannot vote? It is odd.”
Those are the words of Simone Giuseppe Uggeri, an Italian national, former candidate for the 2025 municipal elections, and now the founder and leader of Our Voice, an organisation and political movement for internationals in Denmark.
The Danish Dispatch met with Uggeri in a café in Kolding to hear more about Our Voice and its work.
Started with Billund International
In 2025, Uggeri was the lead candidate for Billund International, a political party that fielded candidates in Billund Municipality and promised to be a “dedicated voice advocating for international residents”.
The party ran a small campaign, with a budget of only 3,500 Danish kroner. However, it received significant national media attention from outlets such as DR and TV 2.
It ended up taking 215 votes across the municipality, receiving votes in all polling places. It did not win any seats, though Uggeri said, “The goal has never been to be elected.”
He went on to elaborate, “I did that as a bit of a stunt, to get people to understand that we can participate not only by going to vote, but actually by running for election.”
Instead, he highlights that the party was intended to make internationals feel represented: “In my mind, I thought: if we create a party made by internationals, called Billund International, even if you are completely out of politics, when you have the opportunity to go and vote you will read ‘international’.”
Pushback from locals and internationals
When asked whether he and the rest of Billund International received pushback for their campaign, he said they had.
He noted, “The biggest pushback I received was not from Danes. It was from internationals. Big time. Internationals who had been scared to speak up.
“They said: ‘Ok, but now you are sending the wrong signal. You are sending a signal that you do not agree with Danish politics, that you could do it better, that you can make a party only for internationals.’ That has never been the case.”
However, he does not agree with these suggestions: “I disagree, because democracy is open to everybody, and participation is not arrogant. It would be arrogant if we said we can do it better. We never thought or said it that way.”
He also acknowledged that some pushback had come from locals, though he qualified this by noting that “most of the interactions I had with locals I had never met before were on Facebook. And Facebook is so toxic that you cannot say whether they said it because people are like this, or because they are on Facebook”.
Other parties and politicians were more open
The experience with candidates from other parties was, however, very positive. Uggeri describes it as follows: “From the other parties, in my experience, very positive. All of them. I talked to every single representative of the local parties.
“One thing that stuck out was the word ‘respect’. Huge respect for participating. At the end of the day, all these people who put effort into local politics, we share the passion for democracy.”
So positive was the reception that other parties wanted to form a valgforbund (an electoral pact) with Billund International.
Uggeri said, “We received an offer for a valgforbund from Venstre, from the Conservatives (Det Konservative Folkeparti), from the Alternative (Alternativet), from the Green Left (Socialistisk Folkeparti), and from the Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet).
“That is a very broad spectrum. We were open, but I cannot link Billund International to an already existing party, otherwise I am saying I am doing this for somebody else.”
On founding Our Voice
Six months ago, Uggeri wanted to use his experience from Billund International to build something else. He says, “The experience with Billund International really opened my eyes. Most likely it is a problem we have in the whole country.”
Speaking about the period leading up to the founding of Our Voice, he says, “It was the period when drones were all over Danish airports, and the Greenland crisis was taking place. As a father, you are like, okay, I actually do not have any influence on which direction this country will take.
“I can at most have a little bit of influence in my local community, but nationwide I cannot, because I do not have the right to vote. I thought: let’s try to create influence without having the right to vote.”
And those were the thoughts that led to Our Voice, which Uggeri describes as less of an organisation and more of a political movement.
When asked why he chose to proceed with this structure rather than a political party, he says, “I do not think a party is the best way to approach a kind of cultural change, to say we are the ones representing internationals. That is not the goal.
“The best case is that many people from Our Voice will join parties, from the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) to the Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti), whatever. It does not matter.
“We will respect that fully and help them campaign too. Then they can show Danes that we can also contribute at this level. Just like we do in global companies.”
For inspiration, Uggeri points to the Danish climate network Jordskred, which had three of its representatives elected to the Folketing earlier this year for two different political parties.
Our Voice’s mission
The end goal for Our Voice is equal parts simple and ambitious: “Starting from the most unrealistic: guaranteeing permanent residents the right to vote. We see this as a progressive response to a new reality, and to a new kind of democracy.”
In Denmark, many internationals can vote in municipal and regional elections; however, Uggeri hopes to see this extended to general elections for the Danish parliament, the Folketing.
“And it is not only about Denmark. Everywhere in the world it should be like this. But who am I to change it? I just try to say what I feel, because in a democracy I can.
“I can vote in Italy for the rest of my life, in every national election, even if I do not live there. My neighbour, who came from China in the nineties and has a shop, could live in Italy for fifty years and still not vote at national level if they are not Italian.
“From one human being to another, does that make sense? I have lived in this country for ten years. Is that enough? I do not know. But does it make sense that in twenty years, if I am not Danish, I still cannot vote? It is odd.”
In the shorter term, the movement has another goal too: “Our dream is that 80 percent of internationals with the right to vote will actually vote in the next local elections. That would be amazing.
“I am very aware that the people we are activating now are already voters, people who already have the political fire. It is not the moment for a strategy aimed at the others. But we will get there.”
On Our Voice today
Before Our Voice gets there, Uggeri suggests the movement offers another thing to internationals today: “Belonging. That is something I hear a lot.”
