1934 Icelandic parliamentary election

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1934 Icelandic parliamentary election
Flag of Iceland (1918-1944).svg
←  1933 24 June 1934 1937  →
All 33 seats in the Lower House
and 16 seats in the Upper House of Althing
Turnout81.51%
PartyLeader%Seats+/–
Upper House
Independence Jón Þorláksson 42.326-1
Progressive Hermann Jónasson 21.916+1
Social Democratic Jón Baldvinsson 21.703+2
Farmers' Tryggvi Þórhallsson 6.451New
Lower House
Independence Jón Þorláksson 42.3214+1
Progressive Hermann Jónasson 21.919-2
Social Democratic Jón Baldvinsson 21.707+3
Farmers' Tryggvi Þórhallsson 6.452New
Independents —0.961+1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister beforePrime Minister after
Asgeir Asgeirsson.jpg Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
Progressive 		Hermann Jónasson
Progressive 		Hermann Jonasson.jpg

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 24 June 1934. [1] They were the first held after reforms to the electoral system that increased the number of seats in the Lower House from 28 to 33 and ensured that all members of the Althing were elected at the same election. The Independence Party emerged as the largest party in the Lower House, winning 14 of the 33 seats.

Contents

Electoral reform

In the previous election, the 28 members of the Lower House Althing had been elected in one- or two-member constituencies by plurality voting, except in Reykjavík, where the four seats were elected by proportional representation. Eight members of the Upper House were elected at the same time as the Lower House, whilst the remaining six members were elected in separate national elections using proportional representation. [2]

The reforms raised the number of seats in the Lower House to 33, of which 11 were to be compensatory seats. The compensatory seats were awarded to parties which had won at least one of the 22 standard seats, and were allocated according to their votes received divided by the seats they had won. [3] Once allocated to a party, the seats were then allocated based on a preferential basis: [3]

  1. The party's candidate who had won the highest number of votes in a constituency, but was not elected.
  2. The party's candidate who had won the highest percentage of the votes in a constituency, but was not elected.
  3. The top candidate on a party's nationwide list (if they had used one).
  4. The party's candidate with the second highest number of votes in a constituency, but was not elected.

Although a party could only have one compensatory seat in each constituency, this still left some constituencies over-represented. [3]

All seats in the Upper House seats were now elected at the same time as the Lower House, whilst the number was increased from 14 to 16. [4] In Reykjavík the number of seats was increased from four to six, with a subsequent lowering of the threshold to win a seat in the city. The voting age was lowered to 21, and those receiving poor relief were able to vote for the first time. [3]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
Lower
House		+/–Upper
House		+/–
Independence Party 21,97442.3214+16–1
Progressive Party 11,377.521.919–26+1
Social Democratic Party 11,269.521.707+33+2
Farmers' Party 3,3486.452New1New
Communist Party 3,0985.970000
Nationalist Party 3630.700New0New
Independents4990.961+10–1
Total51,929100.0033+516+2
Valid votes51,92999.02
Invalid/blank votes5160.98
Total votes52,445100.00
Registered voters/turnout64,33881.51
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p961 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p954
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nohlen & Stöver, p955
  4. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p978
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