October 1959 Icelandic parliamentary election

Early parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 25 and 26 October 1959.[1] Following the electoral reforms made after the June elections, the Independence Party won 16 of the 40 seats in the Lower House of the Althing.[2]

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Electoral reforms

The June 1959 elections had ended with both the Independence Party and the Progressive Party winning 13 seats, despite the IP receiving 42.5% of the vote to the PP's 27.2%.[3] The electoral system involved a mix of single member constituencies, two-member constituencies elected using proportional representation (PR) and one large multi-member constituency for Reykjavík that also used PR.[4]

The reforms saw the creation of eight multi-member constituencies elected using PR together with 11 compensatory seats.[4] The number of seats for Reykjavík was also increased,[4] increasing the overall total in the Lower House from 35 to 40 and in the Upper House from 17 to 20.[5]

Results
Party Votes % Lower House Upper House
Seats +/– Seats +/–
Independence Party33,80039.716+38+1
Progressive Party21,88225.711–260
People's Alliance13,62116.07+23+1
Social Democratic Party12,90915.26+23+1
National Preservation Party2,8833.40000
Invalid/blank votes1,331–––––
Total86,42610040+520+3
Registered voters/turnout95,63790.4––––
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p961 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p976
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, pp970-976
  4. Nohlen & Stöver, p955
  5. Nohlen & Stöver, pp976-978
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