IFES
 

Sept. 25, 2021 Confirmed

Iceland

Republic of Iceland

Election for Althing (Icelandic Parliament)


General Information

Iceland Parliament 2021

At stake in this election:

  • 63 seats in the Iceland Althing

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: President Gudni Thorlacius JOHANNESSON
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister Katrin JAKOBSDOTTIR
  • Assembly: Iceland has a unicameral Parliament (Althing) with 63 seats.

Description of electoral system:

  • The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 4-year term.
  • The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
  • In Parliament (Althing), 54 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms and 9 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.
  • There are six multi-member districts. Each of nine compensatory seats is assigned by the election commission to correspond to a multi-member district. These seats are awarded to parties from the same open lists in order to make the parties' overall seat shares proportional to their national vote shares. Parties must clear a 5 percent threshold to win these compensatory seats.

Last Election:

  • The last election for the Althing was held on 28 October 2017

 

Main candidates in this election:

  • Party: Independence Party / Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn[1]
    • Leader: Bjarni BENEDIKTSSON
    • Seats won in the last election: 16
  • Party: Left-Green Movement / Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð[2]
    • Leader: Katrín JAKOBSDÓTTIR
    • Seats won in the last election: 11
  • Party: Social Democratic Alliance / Samfylkingin[3]
    • Leader: Logi Már EINARSSON
    • Seats won in the last election: 7
  • Party: Center Party / Miðflokkurinn[4]
    • Leader: Sigmundur Davíð GUNNLAUGSSON
    • Seats won in the last election: 7
  • Progressive Party / Framsóknarflokkurinn[5]
    • Leader: Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson
    • Seats won in the last election: 8
  • Pirate Party of Iceland / Píratar[6]
    • Leader: Halldóra MOGENSEN
    • Seats won in the last election: 6
  • People’s Party / Flokkur Fólksins[7]
    • Leader: Inga Sæland
    • Seats won in the last election: 4
  • Liberal Reform Party / Viðreisn[8]
    • Leader: Þorgerður K. GUNNARSDÓTTIR
    • Seats won in the last election: 4

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 373,72000[9]
  • Registered Voters: 254,681[10]

Gender Data:

  • Female Population: 1791,749[11]
  • Is Iceland a signatory to CEDAW: 24 Jul 1980[12]
  • Has Iceland ratified CEDAW: 18 Jun 1985[13]
  • Gender Quota: Voluntary party quotas[14]
  • Female candidates in this election: N/A
  • Human Development Index Position: 4[15]
  • Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A (2019)[16]

 

Disability Data:

  • Is Iceland a signatory to CRPD: 30 Mar 2007[17]
  • Has Iceland ratified CRPD: 23 Sep 2016[18]
  • Population with a disability: 49,788[19]

 


[1] https://xd.is/

[2] https://vg.is/

[3] https://xs.is/

[4] http://midflokkurinn.is/

[5] https://framsokn.is/

[6] http://piratar.is/

[7] https://flokkurfolksins.is/

[8] https://vidreisn.is/

[12] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4

[13] ibid

[14] https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/150/35

[15] http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/ISL

[16] https://www.genderindex.org/wp-content/uploads/files/datasheets/2019/IS.pdf

[17] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-15&chapter=4&clang=_en

[18] ibid

[19] http://electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/?q=iceland#tab

Election Modified: Aug 17, 2023

Most Recent Elections in Iceland

With Participation Rates