Alþingiskosningar - 01.09.1995, Page 38

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Alþingiskosningar 1995
2. Voters on the electoral roll
The number of voters registered on the electoral roll for the
general elections of 8 April 1995, was 191,973, correspond-
ing to 71.8% of the population, which is estimated to have
totalled 267,500 in April 1995.
Summary 2 shows the number of voters on the electoral
roll in general elections, presidential elections and referenda
since the Althingi regained legislative power in 1874. The
rules goveming the right to vote in general elections also
applied to the referenda of 1918 (on the Danish-Icelandic
Union Act) and 1944 (on the abrogation of the Danish-
Icelandic Union Treaty and on the Constitution of the Repub-
lic) and in the presidential elections of 1952,1968,1980 and
1988. Furthermore, these rules were applied in the referenda
of 1908 (on the prohibition of alcohol imports) and 1916 (on
civil duty work), when the number of voters on the electoral
roll was identical to that for the general elections held at the
same time.
Different rules applied to the elections of separately elected
members of the Upper Chamber of the Althingi (who re-
placed the royally appointed members according to the
Constitutional amendments of 1915) on five occasions be-
tween 1916 and 1930, as well as in the referendum of 1933
(on the repeal of the prohibition of alcohol imports). Figures
for these elections have not been included.
The number of voters on the electoral roll was equivalent
to 9-10% of the population between 1874 and 1903. The
Constitution of 1874 stipulated that the right to vote was
reserved for males of unblemished character, who were
citizens of the Danish Kingdom and had been domiciled in
their constituency for at least one year. Voting rights were
further restricted to the following categories: Farmers having
grazing rights, town burghers paying at least 8 krónur a year
in local government tax, independent workers (i. e. house-
holders) paying at least 12 krónur a year in local govemment
tax, government officials and holders of certain educational
titles. The minimum age for voting was set at 25 years. The
right to vote was withheld from recipients of public mainte-
nance benefits who had not repaid the authorities and those
declared incapable of managing their own affairs.
An amendment to the Constitution in 1903 lowered the
minimum local govemment tax required for suffrage, previ-
ously set at 8 or 12 krónur, to 4 krónur a year. Between 1908
and 1914 the number of voters on the electoral roll amounted
to 14-15% of the population.
Women and dependent workers (i. e. farm workers and
others who were included in their employer’s household)
gained limited suffrage with the constitutional amendments
ofl915. Theirminimumagerequirementwassetat40years
and was to be lowered by one year each year for 15 years,
resulting in equal age limits for all voters by 1930. The four-
krónur local govemment tax requirement was abolished. A
new restriction on the right to vote was imposed, however, as
voters were required to have been bom in Iceland or domi-
ciled in the country for five years. The ratio of eligible voters
to the total population subsequently went up to 30% and
gradually increased in the following years as the minimum
age limit for new voters was progressively lowered.
In 1920 a new Constitution abolished the special age limit
for women and dependent workers, and the ratio of eligible
voters to the total population rose to 45%.
A constitutional amendment in 1934 brought down the age
limit for suffrage to 21 years, and acceptance of public
maintenance benefits no longer precluded the right to vote.
The requirement of a domicile in the constituency for one
year or more was a abolished. Eligible voters became a
maiority of the nation for the first time as their ratio went up
to 56%.
Changes in the proportion of voters to the total population
between 1934 and 1967 were caused by demographic devel-
opments. The ratio of eligible voters rose to almost 60% in
the 1940s, with large cohorts reaching voting age. A low in
the number of births in the 1930s meant that smaller cohorts
were added to the number of eligible voters in the 1950s, and
combined with a large increase in the number of births in the
late 1940s and 1950s this caused a fall in the proportion of
voters to 54% of the total population.
In 1968 the Constitution was amended to lower the mini-
mum voting age to 20 years. The requirement of a five-year
domicile in Icelandbefore the election was abolished. Voters
no longer had to be capable of managing their own affairs but
had to be of legal majority. As a consequence the proportion
of eligible voters to the population now rose to 56%. From
that time the ratio continued to rise until 1983, when it had
reached 64%. This development was caused by changes in
the age distribution of the population which meant that the
number of people under voting age remained fairly constant
while larger cohorts were added to the group of voters.
The right to vote was extended once more in 1984 through
new amendments to the Constitution. The minimum voting
age was lowered from 20 to 18 years. The deprivation of legal
majority does not cause the loss of the right to vote, and an
unblemished character is no longer a condition. Further-
more, an exemption from the condition of domicile in Iceland
can be effected through provisions in the General Elections
Act.
The General Elections Act was amended in this respect in
1984 and again in 1987, before the 1984 rules had been
applied for the first time. The right to vote in general and
presidential elections in Iceland was now extended to per-
sons:
1.18 years of age and over on election day,
2. holding Icelandic citizenship and
3. domiciled in Iceland or having been so within the last
four years up to 1 December prior to election day.
As a result of these changes, the proportion of eligible
voters reached 70% of the population in 1987.
In 1991 the General Elections Act was again amended and
now it states that the right to vote in general elections belongs
to every Icelandic citizen who has reached the age of 18 on
election day and is domiciled in Iceland. Furthermore, an
Icelandic citizen who has reached the age of 18 and has
previously been domiciled in Iceland has the right to vote for
eight years after emigration, counting from 1 December prior
to election day, and shall be entered on the electoral roll in the
municipality of his or her last domicile in Iceland.
Such a citizen also has the right to vote after this eight-year
period has expired, provided he or she applies to Statistics