Alþingiskosningar - 01.03.2002, Page 30

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Alþingiskosningar 1999
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
Republic) and in the presidential elections of 1952, 1968,
1980,1988 and 1996. 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 ofthe Upper Chamber ofthe Althingi (who replaced
the royally appointed members according to the Constitutional
amendments of 1915) on five occasions between 1916 and
1930, as well as in the referendum of 1933 (on the repeal of
the prohibition ofalcohol imports). Figures forthese 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: F armers having
grazing rights, town burghers paying at least 8 krónur a year
in local government tax, independent workers (i. e.
householders) paying at least 12 krónur a year in local
government 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 maintenance benefits who had not repaid these to the
authorities and those declared incapable of managing their
own affairs.
An amendment to the Constitution in 1903 lowered the
minimum local government tax required for suffrage,
previously 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
of 1915. Theirminimum age requirement was set at 40years
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 government tax requirement was abolished. A
new restriction on the right to vote was imposed, however, as
voters were required to have been born in Iceland or domiciled
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 anew 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 benefíts no longer precluded the right to vote.
The requirement of a domicile in the constituency for one
year or more was also 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
developments. 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
minimum voting age to 20 years. The requirement ofa five-
year domicile in Iceland before 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. 4Te deprivation of
legal majority does not cause the loss ofthe right to vote, and
an unblemished character is no longer a condition.
F urthermore, 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 persons:
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 I 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
priorto 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
Iceland for entry on the electoral roll. A special application
form has to be used, stating full name and identity number,
date of emigration, domicile abroad and last domicile in
Iceland. The application form assumes that the applicant