Much Better Voter Turn-Out Expected This Year In Iceland

A higher voter turn-out for this Saturday’s municipal elections than in 2014 is expected, based on the volume of absentee ballots cast so far.

Absentee ballot casting was opened last Saturday, and will be ongoing through March 1 at Smáralind in Kópavogur, RÚV reports. If initial counts are any indication, voter turn-out this year should be higher than it was in 2014.

As of yesterday, 5,380 absentee ballots have been cast, in contrast with 4,665 at the same time in 2014, Bergþóra Sigmundsdóttir of county offices points out.

Furthermore, the county offices chose Smáralind as the sole location for casting absentee ballots, and the mall is located very near to the county offices themselves. This underlines the comparatively high level of participation in municipal elections this year.

With just days to go until election day, a Gallup poll conducted last week for Viðskiptablaðið shows a very strong likelihood that the current Reykjavík City Council will hold, even with the absence of Bright Future.

The Social Democrats are polling strongest, with the support of 31.2% of those polled, compared to 24.8% for the next-highest polling, the Independence Party. The boost to the Social Democrats is aided by rising poll numbers for both the Pirates and the Left-Greens. Furthermore, the Socialist Party has been steadily rising, and will very likely win a seat on City Council.

Municipal elections will be held on May 26. Follow our Elections 2018 tag for more coverage.