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Afstemning (Voting Sessions) Entity

The Afstemning entity represents voting sessions in the Danish Parliament, capturing when and how parliamentary votes were conducted. Each voting session contains detailed results and connects to individual vote records through the Stemme entity.

Overview

  • Entity Name: Afstemning
  • Endpoint: https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning
  • Total Records: Thousands of voting sessions
  • Primary Key: id (Int32)
  • Voting Types: 4 different session types

Field Reference

Core Identification Fields

Field Type Description Example
id Int32 Primary key, unique voting session identifier 1
nummer Int32 Voting session number 411

Results and Outcome

Field Type Description Example
konklusion String Detailed voting conclusion with party breakdown "Vedtaget\n\n108 stemmer for forslaget (V, S, DF...)\n\n0 stemmer imod forslaget"
vedtaget Boolean Whether the proposal was adopted true

Classification Fields

Field Type Description Example
typeid Int32 Voting type ID (foreign key to Afstemningstype) 2

Relationship Fields

Field Type Description Example
mødeid Int32 Meeting ID (foreign key to Møde) 17
sagstrinid Int32 Case step ID (foreign key to Sagstrin) null

Temporal Fields

Field Type Description Example
opdateringsdato DateTime Last update timestamp "2025-09-09T12:30:12.467"

Voting Types Reference

The API includes 4 different voting session types (Afstemningstype):

Type ID Name Description Purpose
1 Endelig vedtagelse Final Adoption Final vote on legislation
2 Udvalgsindstilling Committee Recommendation Committee recommendations
3 Forslag til vedtagelse Adoption Proposal Proposal adoption votes
4 Ændringsforslag Amendment Amendment votes

Common Query Examples

Basic Queries

# Get latest 5 voting sessions
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24top=5&%24orderby=opdateringsdato%20desc"

# Get specific voting session by ID
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning(1)"

# Count total voting sessions
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24inlinecount=allpages&%24top=1"

Filter by Voting Type

# Final adoption votes only
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=typeid%20eq%201&%24top=10"

# Committee recommendations
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=typeid%20eq%202&%24top=10"

# Amendment votes
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=typeid%20eq%204&%24top=10"

Filter by Outcome

# Adopted proposals only
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=vedtaget%20eq%20true&%24top=10"

# Rejected proposals
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=vedtaget%20eq%20false&%24top=10"

Recent Voting Activity

# Today's votes
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=opdateringsdato%20gt%20datetime'2025-09-09T00:00:00'&%24orderby=opdateringsdato%20desc"

# This week's votes
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=opdateringsdato%20gt%20datetime'2025-09-02T00:00:00'&%24orderby=opdateringsdato%20desc"

Search by Voting Number

# Specific voting session number
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=nummer%20eq%20532"

# Recent voting session numbers
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=nummer%20gt%20530&%24orderby=nummer%20desc"

Field Selection

# Only essential fields
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24select=id,nummer,vedtaget,opdateringsdato&%24top=10"

# Voting results only
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24select=nummer,konklusion,vedtaget&%24top=5"

Relationship Expansion

Core Relationships

# Voting session with meeting details
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Møde&%24top=3"

# Voting session with type information
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Afstemningstype&%24top=3"

# Voting session with case step
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Sagstrin&%24top=3"

Individual Vote Analysis

# Voting session with all individual votes
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Stemme&%24top=1"

# Voting session with individual votes and politician details
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Stemme/Aktør&%24top=1"

Large Response Warning

Expanding Stemme/Aktør returns extensive biographical data for each politician who voted. Use carefully with small $top values.

Meeting Context

# Full meeting context with agenda
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Møde/Dagsordenspunkt&%24top=2"

Data Analysis Examples

Voting Pattern Analysis

# Unanimous votes (all adopted)
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=vedtaget%20eq%20true%20and%20substringof('0%20stemmer%20imod',konklusion)&%24top=10"

# Close votes (controversial decisions)
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=substringof('stemmer%20imod',konklusion)%20and%20not%20substringof('0%20stemmer%20imod',konklusion)&%24top=10"

Party Voting Analysis

# Search for specific party involvement in voting conclusions
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=substringof('Socialdemokratiet',konklusion)&%24top=5"

# Find votes with abstentions
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=substringof('hverken%20for',konklusion)&%24top=5"

Legislative Process Analysis

# Final adoption votes with individual vote details
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Stemme&%24filter=typeid%20eq%201&%24top=3"

# Track amendment voting patterns
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24filter=typeid%20eq%204&%24select=nummer,konklusion,vedtaget&%24top=10"

Meeting-Based Analysis

# All votes from specific meeting
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Møde&%24filter=mødeid%20eq%2017&%24select=nummer,konklusion,Møde/titel"

Performance Optimization

Use Field Selection

# Good: Only request needed fields
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24select=id,nummer,vedtaget&%24top=100"

# Avoid: Large konklusion field when not needed
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24select=konklusion&%24top=100"  # Can be large text blocks

Efficient Pagination

# Paginate through voting sessions
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24skip=0&%24top=100&%24orderby=id"
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24skip=100&%24top=100&%24orderby=id"

Smart Expansion

# Only expand when you need the relationship data
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Afstemning?%24expand=Møde&%24filter=mødeid%20eq%2017&%24top=5"

Understanding Voting Results

Konklusion Field Format

The konklusion field contains detailed voting breakdowns in Danish:

Vedtaget

108 stemmer for forslaget (V, S, DF, RV, SF, EL, LA, KF, UFG)

0 stemmer imod forslaget

Format elements: - Outcome: Vedtaget (Adopted) or Forkastet (Rejected) - For votes: X stemmer for forslaget + party abbreviations - Against votes: Y stemmer imod forslaget + party abbreviations - Abstentions: Z hverken for eller imod (when present)

Party Abbreviations

Common Danish parliamentary party abbreviations found in voting conclusions:

  • V - Venstre (Liberal Party)
  • S - Socialdemokratiet (Social Democrats)
  • DF - Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People's Party)
  • RV - Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals)
  • SF - Socialistisk Folkeparti (Socialist People's Party)
  • EL - Enhedslisten (Red-Green Alliance)
  • LA - Liberal Alliance
  • KF - Konservative Folkeparti (Conservative Party)
  • UFG - Uden for folketingsgrupperne (Independent)

Common Use Cases

1. Recent Parliamentary Activity Monitor

def get_recent_votes(hours_back=24):
    """Get voting sessions from last 24 hours"""
    since = (datetime.now() - timedelta(hours=hours_back)).isoformat()
    filter_query = f"opdateringsdato gt datetime'{since}'"
    return get_voting_sessions(
        filter_query=filter_query, 
        select="nummer,konklusion,vedtaget,opdateringsdato",
        orderby="opdateringsdato desc"
    )

2. Voting Pattern Analysis

def analyze_voting_patterns(politician_name):
    """Analyze how a politician votes"""
    # Get voting sessions with this politician's votes
    filter_query = f"Stemme/any(s: s/Aktør/navn eq '{politician_name}')"
    return get_voting_sessions(
        filter_query=filter_query,
        expand="Stemme/Aktør",
        top=50
    )

3. Controversial Vote Finder

def find_controversial_votes():
    """Find close/controversial votes"""
    # Look for votes that mention opposition
    filter_query = "substringof('stemmer imod', konklusion) and not substringof('0 stemmer imod', konklusion)"
    return get_voting_sessions(
        filter_query=filter_query,
        select="nummer,konklusion,vedtaget",
        orderby="opdateringsdato desc"
    )

4. Meeting Voting Summary

def get_meeting_votes(meeting_id):
    """Get all votes from a specific meeting"""
    filter_query = f"mødeid eq {meeting_id}"
    return get_voting_sessions(
        filter_query=filter_query,
        expand="Møde",
        select="nummer,konklusion,vedtaget,Møde/titel",
        orderby="nummer"
    )

Important Notes

Data Freshness

  • Real-time Updates: Voting sessions updated within hours of parliamentary activity
  • Latest Example: 2025-09-09T12:30:12.467 (session #532, same day)
  • Business Hours: Most updates during parliamentary session times

Voting Session Numbers

  • Sequential: Session numbers increment sequentially (e.g., 530, 531, 532)
  • Unique: Each voting session has a unique number within the parliamentary system
  • Historical: Numbers continue across parliamentary periods

Individual Vote Tracking

Each Afstemning connects to multiple Stemme records: - One Stemme record per politician who voted - Vote types: For (1), Against (2), Absent (3), Abstain (4) - Full politician biographical data available through expansion

Performance Considerations

  • Large Expansions: Stemme/Aktør expansion can return 100+ records with full biographical data
  • Pagination: Use $top and $skip for large result sets
  • Field Selection: konklusion field can be large text blocks

The Afstemning entity connects to:

  • Afstemningstype - Voting session types (4 types)
  • Stemme - Individual vote records (one per politician)
  • Møde - Parliamentary meetings where votes occurred
  • Sagstrin - Case steps (when vote relates to specific legislation)
  • Aktør - Through Stemme entity, connects to all voting politicians

Example Records

Final Adoption Vote: 

{
  "id": 10377,
  "nummer": 532,
  "konklusion": "Vedtaget\n\n108 stemmer for forslaget (V, S, DF, RV, SF, EL, LA, KF, UFG)\n\n0 stemmer imod forslaget",
  "vedtaget": true,
  "mødeid": 17,
  "typeid": 1,
  "opdateringsdato": "2025-09-09T12:30:12.467"
}

Committee Recommendation: 

{
  "id": 1,
  "nummer": 411,
  "konklusion": "Vedtaget\n\n108 stemmer for forslaget (V, S, DF, RV, SF, EL, LA, KF, UFG)\n\n0 stemmer imod forslaget",
  "vedtaget": true,
  "mødeid": 17,
  "typeid": 2,
  "sagstrinid": null,
  "opdateringsdato": "2014-09-09T09:05:59.653"
}

The Afstemning entity provides the foundation for analyzing Danish parliamentary democracy in action, showing how decisions are made and which actors participate in the democratic process.