Election Name: | October 1942 Icelandic parliamentary election |
Country: | Kingdom of Iceland |
Type: | parliamentary |
Ongoing: | no |
Previous Election: | July 1942 |
Election Date: | 18 and 19 October 1942 |
Next Election: | 1946 |
Seats For Election: | All 35 seats in the Lower House and 17 seats in the Upper House of Althing |
Turnout: | 82.35% |
Heading1: | Upper House |
Leader1: | Ólafur Thors |
Party1: | Independence Party (Iceland) |
Last Election1: | 6 |
Seats1: | 7 |
Percentage1: | 38.55 |
Leader2: | Jónas frá Hriflu |
Party2: | Progressive Party (Iceland) |
Last Election2: | 6 |
Seats2: | 5 |
Percentage2: | 26.60 |
Leader3: | Einar Olgeirsson |
Party3: | People's Unity Party – Socialist Party |
Last Election3: | 2 |
Seats3: | 3 |
Percentage3: | 18.53 |
Party4: | Social Democratic Party (Iceland) |
Last Election4: | 2 |
Seats4: | 2 |
Percentage4: | 14.17 |
Heading5: | Lower House |
Leader5: | Ólafur Thors |
Party5: | Independence Party (Iceland) |
Last Election5: | 11 |
Seats5: | 13 |
Percentage5: | 38.55 |
Leader6: | Jónas frá Hriflu |
Party6: | Progressive Party (Iceland) |
Last Election6: | 14 |
Seats6: | 10 |
Percentage6: | 26.60 |
Leader7: | Einar Olgeirsson |
Party7: | People's Unity Party – Socialist Party |
Last Election7: | 4 |
Seats7: | 7 |
Percentage7: | 18.53 |
Party8: | Social Democratic Party (Iceland) |
Last Election8: | 4 |
Seats8: | 5 |
Percentage8: | 14.17 |
Prime Minister | |
Before Party: | Independence Party (Iceland) |
After Party: | Independence Party (Iceland) |
Early parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 18 and 19 October 1942.[1] They were held after reforms were made to the electoral system following the July elections. The Independence Party emerged as the largest party in the Lower House of the Althing, winning 13 of the 35 seats.
In the previous two elections in 1937 and July 1942 the Independence Party had received the most votes, yet had received fewer seats than the Progressive Party, which had received more than 10% less of the vote.[2] However, following the July elections election, changes were made to the electoral system that reduced the over-representation of the Progressive Party.[3] This involved introducing proportional representation to the two six-member constituencies and increasing the number of seats in Reykjavík where PR was already in use, lowering its effective threshold from 11.3% to 8.7%.[3]
Whilst both parties received a similar number of votes as in July (the IP increased their vote tally by just 26, whilst the PP lost 164 votes), the Independence Party won two extra seats in the Lower House, whilst the Progressive Party lost four.[2]