COPENHAGEN -- Denmark's ruling Social Democrats remained the largest party in Tuesday's parliamentary election, according to preliminary official results based on vote counts in metropolitan Denmark, while counting in Greenland and the Faroe Islands is still ongoing.

As of 11:35 pm local time (2235 GMT), preliminary results from 1,306 of 1,314 polling areas in metropolitan Denmark showed the Social Democrats securing 21.9 percent of the vote, down from 27.6 percent in the 2022 election.

The Socialist People's Party came second with 11.5 percent, followed by Venstre, the Liberal Party of Denmark, at 10.3 percent, Liberal Alliance at 9.4 percent, and the Danish People's Party at 9.2 percent.

Although Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats won the most votes, the party fell short of an outright majority and is expected to see a significant drop in seats.

Frederiksen announced on Feb 26 that the election would be held to choose 179 members of the Folketing, Denmark's single-chamber parliament, including two representatives each from Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Under Denmark's multi-party parliamentary system, the outcome will be followed by negotiations to form a new government.