1903 Icelandic parliamentary election explained

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland in June 1903.[1]

Electoral system

The 30 elected members of the Althing were elected from single or double member constituencies by a three-round system; in the first two rounds, a candidate receiving a majority of the vote was elected; if seats were still unfilled after the second round, a third round was held using first-past-the-post voting.[2] Voting took place at a single polling place in each constituency and was done publicly.[2] A further six members were appointed to the upper house by the Danish monarch.[3]

Suffrage was limited to men aged 25 or over who were not in receipt of poor relief and who met one of several set requirements including being a civil servant, being a graduate of a university or seminary, or meeting various tax criteria (for farmers, paying more than the minimum tax; for burghers or fishermen, paying eight króna of local taxes; for property owners, paying twelve króna of local property taxes).[3] This limited the number of voters to 7,786 from a population of 79,632.

Results

4,155 of the 7,786 registered voters participated in the elections.[4] The result was a victory for the Home Rule Party.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Participation in general elections to the Althingi. Statistics Iceland.
  2. Book: The Evolution of Electoral and Party Systems in the Nordic Countries. Arend Lijphart & Bernard Grofman. 2007. Algora Publishing. 103. 978-0-87586-168-5 .
  3. Book: Elections in Western Europe 1815–1996. Daniele Caramani. 2017. Springer. 518. 978-1-349-65508-3 .
  4. Book: Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver. 2010. Elections in Europe: A data handbook. 963. Nomos . 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  5. Book: Icelanders in North America: The First Settlers. Jonas Thor. University of Manitoba Press. 2002. 231. 978-0-88755-325-7 .