Of those eligible to vote, only about half say they intend to do so for the upcoming constitutional assembly.
On 27 November, elections will be held for the constitutional assembly – a legislative body comprised of people not currently in positions of power, whose job it will be to write a new constitution for Iceland. 523 candidates are running for seats, and although social networking sites such as Facebook are showing a great deal of dialogue on the subject, this is not reflected by the number of potential voters who say they will cast ballots.
According to RÚV, only 55% of respondents said they intend to vote in this election. 34% are as yet still undecided and 11% said they don’t intend to vote at all. Furthermore, 57% said they haven’t familiarised themselves with any of the candidates or their positions.
One particularly hot topic with regards to the new constitution concerns separation of church and state. According to the last poll on the matter, about 74% of Icelanders favour separation of church and state, and there has been talk that this is precisely what may happen when a new constitution is drafted.
For more on how the constitutional assembly works, read Anna Andersen’s article on the subject.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
