ITU researcher investigates elections in Greenland
On 11 March 2025, the election for Inatsisartut (Greenland's parliament) will take place. For several years, researchers from ITU, led by Professor Carsten Schürmann and Center for Information Security and Trust, have been investigating election and the possibility of internet elections in Greenland, and the election today is no exception.
Carsten SchürmannCollaborationsResearchdemocracy
Written 11 March, 2025 13:21
The election for the Inatsisartut – Greenland's parliament – has been widely covered in both Danish and international media since Premier of Naalakkersuisut, Múte B. Egede, announced that the Greenlandic people would go to the polls on 11 March 2025. There are 31 seats in the Inatsisartut.
Since 2023, researchers from ITU have been investigating voter trust in Greenland and how to implement internet voting, when it becomes relevant. The project is entitled: ”Trust through software independence and program verification” and is part of Digital Research Centre Denmark (DIREC). You can read more about the project on DIREC’s website.
Great distances give great opportunities
In Greenland, the distances between towns are vast, and there are no roads between some inhabited places, making traditional voting with pen and paper more challenging than in other places with more accessible terrain. In 2020, Greenland passed a law enabling internet voting. Meaning that it will be possible to vote via the internet before the election day. This can be advantageous for Greenlandic citizens living in secluded areas. However, the election on 11 March 2025, will be conducted with pen and paper both on election day and for people voting before the election day.
“We wanted to witness how the election was conducted in an evolving geopolitical situation by interacting with different interlocutors about their reflection on the use of technology in elections,” says Carsten Schürmann. Alongside his collaborator Klaus Georg Hansen, he was supposed to be in Greenland for the election. A trip that was cancelled due to bad weather.
“Even though the law allows it, this election has not been held as an internet election. With the great attention there has been, and the insecurity an internet election can bring, I think it is good that this election is the old way, that we know and are comfortable with,” says Klaus Georg Hansen, who has administratively responsible for the past two elections for Inatsisartut.
Fear of disinformation
With the increased international interest in Arctic affairs and the conversation about the relationship between Greenland and Denmark, there is an increased risk of the spread of disinformation.
"It is a concern whether international interests in Greenland can activate troll farms and spread misinformation, which in the end could affect the election result," says Carsten Schürmann, "when many get their information from social media, they are vulnerable to fake news and disinformation."
Theis Duelund Jensen, Press Officer, phone +45 2555 0447, email thej@itu.dk