In Denmark, politicians do everything to get in touch with potential voters. Now more can be found on dating apps like Tinder and Happn. What do Norwegian politicians think about the method?

“Maybe I’m here to hunt for voices, maybe I’m here to hunt for something else.”

This is what Danish Cille Hald Egholm writes on her Tinder profile.

There are only a few days until the local elections in the country on 16 November. 22-year-old Egholm is running for election for the first time, for the Liberal Party in Copenhagen.

She is one of several politicians who moved the voting to the dating app Tinder.

Swipe to the right of Left

– Everyone knows that you win the election digitally, and therefore I have tried to think about where you can meet the young voters. Then dating apps seemed like a very good idea, because the young people are there and you do not pay money to have a profile, Egholm says to Denmark’s radio.

And she is not the only one who now sweeps to the right to get more votes for the party Venstre.

“Am I your future” man “in Copenhagen?” ask her party colleague Daniel Askbo (40) on his Tinder. Then he lists his heart issues in this year’s election.

Askbo tells DR that he is trying to reach as many potential voters as possible. The interest has not been long in coming and he has received many messages from both men and women.

– I write nicely to those I match with “Thank you for becoming aware of my political profile” or “Thank you for showing interest”. But right after, I write what the purpose of my profile is, so I do not throw tears in the eyes of people, says Askbo who himself has a girlfriend.

Will not use Tinder for voter courtship

Mathilde Tybring-Gjedde (H) says she understands why some politicians try their hand at Tinder.

– In the beginning, I think it’s fun with all attempts to reach out to choose with its message. And it is a problem that fewer young people are getting involved in politics. So I understand well that young Danish municipal politicians have tried to think outside the box. It’s creative!

But the parliamentary representative still does not completely agree that Tinder and Happn are the right place to collect votes.

– It can be tiring enough to be single on Tinder if you do not also risk being tricked into matching with a person who just wants your ballot. Let single people date each other in peace, I think, she says with a smile.

For Tybring-Gjedde, it is not relevant to swipe to the right to collect votes for the Conservatives.

– Considering that I have a cohabitant, it would also have been double deception, she adds.

Nice with politicians on dating apps

– It is good with all types of election campaigns that connect politicians and people more closely. I think it’s good that politicians get on Tinder to talk to voters.

This is what the leader of Senterungdommen Torleik Svelle says. He is concerned that it should be easy for people to get in touch with politicians.

– We would rather have it close to Tinder where people can talk directly with the politicians, than that the politicians sit in a black dress and drive a helicopter, to put it a little on edge, he says.

Svelle is still divided on whether he wants to test it out himself:

– Jaja, njaaaaa, he hesitates before continuing:

– I’m probably not a Tinder king. It is very important for us in the Center Party to talk to people and be where things happen. People’s meetings with coffee may be closer than meeting people on Tinder, but I’m open to others in Senterungdommen being able to use Tinder.

Swell believes there is one thing dating apps will never beat.

– I think Tinder and Tiktok are good supplements, but it can probably never replace meeting physically. The most important thing is to meet people face to face, for example over a coffee or a meatball dinner. It’s more important than chatting a little, he says.

Svelle does not think there is a danger that anyone might be disappointed that an interested match was only a politician on the hunt.

– I’m not on Tinder myself, but I have the impression that on Tinder you send both the one and the other signal. I do not think people get the great love grief for a sweep on Tinder, he laughs.

Evenly before the election

In Denmark, it has reached a difficult level between the parties in the run-up to the election on Tuesday. There is great excitement about the result, and it is now quite similar between the Danish call red and blue block.

In recent weeks, the left, which is referred to as the red bloc, has had a decline. In October, opinion polls on the right, the blue bloc, showed a 0.8 percent lead.

But now a new poll shows that the red bloc, led by the governing party Socialdemokratiet (S), gets a narrow majority with 50.2 percent of the vote. It writes Danish TV 2.

The government, and the special prime minister Mette Frederiksen (S), have lately received a lot of criticism from the opposition. The background is that it has emerged that Frederiksen deleted text messages from the days before the government decided to kill all mink in the country in November last year.

However, the Social Democrats are well-liked in Denmark. 24.8 percent of those surveyed say they want to vote for the Social Democrats, writes Danish TV 2.

Tinder locked profile

After over 900 matches on Tinder, it stopped for Danish Cille Hald Egholm.

– I just started sweeping, and it worked very well. Maybe a little too bra, because Tinder ended up locking my profile, she says.

Now the 22-year-old has therefore switched to Happn, which is another popular dating app.

The young politician has not received positive feedback on the tactics. Several have argued that Egholm uses the look of sitting to mislead those who want to date her.

But even Egholm does not rule out that there may be more:

– I’m single, so this is a fun way to meet people. I do not want to rule out that I will go on a date later, she says.