1987 Icelandic parliamentary election

1987 Icelandic parliamentary election

←  1983 25 April 1987 1991  →
All 42 seats in the Lower House and 21 seats in the Upper House of Althing
Turnout	90.10%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Upper House Independence Þorsteinn Pálsson 27.17 6 −2 Progressive Steingrímur Hermannsson 18.92 5 +1 Social Democratic Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson 15.23 3 +1 People's Alliance Svavar Gestsson 13.35 3 0 Citizens' Albert Guðmundsson 10.86 2 New Women's List 10.13 2 +1 Lower House Independence Þorsteinn Pálsson 27.17 12 −3 Progressive Steingrímur Hermannsson 18.92 8 −2 Social Democratic Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson 15.23 7 +3 People's Alliance Svavar Gestsson 13.35 5 −2 Citizens' Albert Guðmundsson 10.86 5 New Women's List 10.13 4 +2 Justice & Equality Stefán Valgeirsson 1.24 1 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Steingrímur Hermannsson Progressive Þorsteinn Pálsson Independence

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 25 April 1987. ^[1] The Independence Party remained the largest party in the Lower House of the Althing, winning 12 of the 42 seats. ^[2]

The Independence Party and the People's Alliance experienced their worst election results to date. ^[3] Two new parties, the Citizens' Party (which had split from the Independence Party) and the Women's Alliance, received more than 10 percent of the vote each. ^[3] Commentators remarked that the election results suggested a further fracturing of the traditional four-party system in Iceland. ^[3]

Electoral reform

Prior to the election three extra seats were added to the Althing for Reykjavík (increasing representation from 11 to 14), ^[4] one in the Upper House and two in the Lower House. ^[5] The Hare quota replaced the D'Hondt method in the multi-member constituencies, although D'Hondt was still used for the compensatory seats. ^[4]

Four constituencies elected five members each, two elected six members each, and one elected eight members, while Reykjavík elected 14. At least eight of the remaining nine seats were to be allocated to the constituencies before the election in order to reflect population. One seat could be allocated after the election, in order to help ensure proportionality across parties. A party threshold was introduced at the constituency level at two-thirds of a Hare quota; seats were eliminated one at a time and the threshold was then recalculated. ^[6]

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Lower House	+/–	Upper House	+/–
	Independence Party	41,490	27.17	–11.50	12	–3	6	–2
	Progressive Party	28,902	18.92	–0.13	8	–2	5	1
	Social Democratic Party	23,265	15.23	+3.52	7	+3	3	1
	People's Alliance	20,387	13.35	–3.96	5	–2	3	0
	Citizens' Party	16,588	10.86	New	5	New	2	New
	Women's List	15,470	10.13	+4.65	4	+2	2	1
	Humanist Party	2,434	1.59	New	0	New	0	New
	National Party	2,047	1.34	New	0	New	0	New
	Association for Justice and Equality	1,893	1.24	New	1	New	0	New
	Alliance of Social Democrats	246	0.16	–7.14	0	–2	0	–2
Total		152,722	100.00	–	42	+2	21	+1
Valid votes		152,722	98.89
Invalid/blank votes		1,716	1.11
Total votes		154,438	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		171,402	90.10
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p962 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p976
3. Hardarson, Ólafur Th.; Kristinsson, Gunnar H. (1987). "The Icelandic parliamentary election of 1987" . Electoral Studies. 6 (3): 219–234. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(87)90033-3. ISSN   0261-3794.
4. Nohlen & Stöver, p955
5. Nohlen & Stöver, pp977-979
6. Renwick, Alan (2010). Helgason, Þorkell; Hermundardóttir, Friðný Ósk; Simonarson, Baldur (eds.). "Electoral System Change in Europe since 1945: Iceland" (PDF). Electoral system change since 1945. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.