Low Voter Turnout Among Young Icelanders

Voter turnout for the mayoral election this past May was lowest amongst younger voters, and the lowest overall voter turnout since 1928, reports RÚV.

Only 42% of 20-24 year olds registered to vote in Reykjavík cast their ballot. By comparison first time voters in the 18-19 demographic had a strong turn out with 45%.

This is the first time Reykjavík City Hall has collated mayoral voting data by age and overwhelmingly the older the voter, the likelier they were to vote.

Women also voted more than men, except in the oldest age group, women over 80 years of age were less likely to make it to the voting stations than men in the same group.

Overall voter turnout was 63% and has not been lower since 1928, in 2010 voter turn out was 73.5%.

Below is a graph charting the voter turnout by age for the mayoral election in May 2014. The graph is courtesy of Reykjavík City Hall.