Icelandic presidential election, 2016
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Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
on 25 June 2016. President
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland from 1996 to 2016.Official CV. He was previously a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the People's Alliance and served as Minist ...
, elected in 1996, stepped down after serving five consecutive terms. The history professor
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson (; born 26 June 1968) is an Icelandic historian and politician serving as the sixth and current president of Iceland. He took office in 2016 after winning the most votes in the 2016 election, 71,356 (39.1%). He wa ...
was elected after receiving a
plurality Plurality may refer to: Voting * Plurality (voting), or relative majority, when a given candidate receives more votes than any other but still fewer than half of the total ** Plurality voting, system in which each voter votes for one candidate and ...
of 39.1% of the vote. He took office on 1 August, as the first new president of Iceland in twenty years.


Electoral system

The
President of Iceland The president of Iceland ( is, Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his second term as president, elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as ...
is elected by
plurality Plurality may refer to: Voting * Plurality (voting), or relative majority, when a given candidate receives more votes than any other but still fewer than half of the total ** Plurality voting, system in which each voter votes for one candidate and ...
in a single round of voting. Candidates must be Icelandic citizens and at least 35 years of age on election day.


Campaign

On 1 January 2016, incumbent president
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland from 1996 to 2016.Official CV. He was previously a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the People's Alliance and served as Minist ...
announced that he would not seek a sixth term in the office, wanting "to transfer the responsibilities of the president onto other shoulders". He later retracted and decided to run in April, citing political unrest after the fallout of the
Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
leak, which implicated Prime Minister
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (; born 12 March 1975) is an Icelandic politician who was the prime minister of Iceland from May 2013 until April 2016. He was also chairman of the Progressive Party from 2009 to October 2016. He was elected to th ...
and forced him to resign after large anti-government protests. In the following ten days five other candidates suspended their campaigns, one of them after endorsing Ólafur Ragnar. Former Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson declared his candidacy on 8 May, and Ólafur Ragnar withdrew from the race the following day, stating that there was now a supply of qualified candidates. A poll showing Ólafur Ragnar with only 25% support had been published the same day. Davíð Oddsson attacked Guðni Th. Jóhannesson in two TV-debates for allegedly having an unpatriotic view of the
Cod Wars The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each o ...
. Guðni, a historian of the Cod Wars, dismissed these charges and explained that his take on the Cod Wars was nuanced and supported by research. Davíð has also said that Guðni supported Icelandic responsibility for
Icesave The Icesave dispute was a diplomatic dispute between Iceland, and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom that began after the privately owned Icelandic bank Landsbanki was placed in receivership on 7 October 2008. As ''Landsbanki'' was one of ...
and is in favor of EU membership. Guðni responded, saying that his words were taken out context in both instances, and that he as President would make sure that the public would have a say in a referendum both on the resumption of EU accession negotiations and approval of any accession treaty. Furthermore, Davíð has alleged that Guðni will "undermine the Constitution" by supporting constitutional change. Halla is personally against EU membership and Andri Snær is undecided.


End-of-campaign developments

Despite an initial anti-establishment feeling, interest in the campaign waned in the last days due to the performance of the
Iceland national football team The Iceland national football team (in ) represents Iceland in men's international football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland, and have been a FIFA member since 1947 and an UEFA member since 1957. The team's nickn ...
in the
Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
. Like his predecessor, Guðni is opposed to membership of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. In the final debate the day before the vote, he said the result of the Brexit vote changes "much for the better for us Icelanders", implying that the European Economic Area agreement that non-EU members Norway and Iceland have with the EU could play a more important role with the United Kingdom on board. His campaign promises included vowing to "modernise political life" and give voters a chance of
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
initiatives.


Candidates

Candidates had to formally declare their intention to run on or before 20 May (five weeks prior to the election) and "be proposed by not less than 1500 voters". The number of candidates in previous elections had been six at most, but the announced departure of the incumbent president prompted an unprecedented number of people to consider running. A total of 21 people publicly declared their intention to run, and around ten more were reported to be seriously considering it. Finally, nine candidates fulfilled the requirements for ballot access.


Main candidates

*
Andri Snær Magnason Andri Snær Magnason (born 14 July 1973) is an Icelandic writer. He has written novels, poetry, plays, short stories, and essays. Andri is also a director and producer of three documentary films that have premiered in IDFA and CPH:DOX. His wor ...
– author and environmentalist. * Davíð Oddsson – editor-in-chief of ''
Morgunblaðið ''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. History ''Morgunblaðið'' was founded by Vilhjálmur Finsen and Ólafur Björnsson, brother of ...
'' and former
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
for the
Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...
. *
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson (; born 26 June 1968) is an Icelandic historian and politician serving as the sixth and current president of Iceland. He took office in 2016 after winning the most votes in the 2016 election, 71,356 (39.1%). He wa ...
senior lecturer in history at the
University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...
and author. * Halla Tómasdóttir – entrepreneur and investor, co-founder of
Audur Capital Auður Capital was a financial service company, founded in 2007 by two Icelandic businesswomen, with the aim of incorporating feminine values into finance. Halla Tómasdóttir Halla Tómasdóttir (born 11 October 1968) is an Icelandic business pe ...
. * Sturla Jónsson – truck driver, protester, former parliamentary candidate and chairman of the Sturla Jónsson party.


Other candidates

*
Ástþór Magnússon Ástþór Magnússon Wium (born 4 August 1953) is an Icelandic businessman and peace activist, who is best known as a perennial candidate for the office of President of Iceland. Background and education After finishing the '' landspróf'' (na ...
– businessman and
peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...
; perennial candidate, who has run for
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
three times, in
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,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, and
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
. *
Elísabet Jökulsdóttir Elísabet Kristín Jökulsdóttir is an Icelandic author and journalist born in Reykjavík on 16 April 1958. She lived in Greece for a year in her youth and had a variety of jobs before writing. Her first book of poems came out in 1989. She has w ...
– author and freelance journalist. *Guðrún Margrét Pálsdóttir – nurse and founder of ABC Barnahjálp, an aid organization focusing on children in Asia and Africa. *Hildur Þórðardóttir –
ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...
, author, independent publisher and
healer Healer may refer to: Conventional medicine *Doctor of Medicine *Health professional Alternative medicine * Faith healer * Folk healer * Healer (alternative medicine), someone who purports to aid recovery from ill health * Spiritual healer F ...
.


Failed to get ballot access

Two candidates failed to collect enough signatures before the deadline expired. * Baldur Ágústsson – businessman, who also ran in
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
. Did not submit before the deadline. *Magnús Ingberg Jónsson – fish processing engineer and entrepreneur. Made an incomplete submission and was rejected by electoral authorities.


Suspended campaign

*Ari Jósepsson – entertainer and self-proclaimed "YouTube star". Declared in January and withdrew on 13 May due to lack of media coverage of minor candidates. *Benedikt Kristján Mewes – German-born dairy engineer and mailman, who wants to be the first gay president. Failed to collect enough signatures and withdrew on the last day to hand them in. *Bæring Ólafsson – former COO of
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
Bottlers Philippines. Declared in March and withdrew in late April. Endorsed Andri Snær Magnason. *Guðmundur Franklín Jónsson – businessman and former chairman of the Right-Greens. Announced in March and left in April. Endorsed Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. *Heimir Örn Hólmarsson –
electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
and project manager. Announced in March and withdrew on 19 April due to the incumbent seeking reelection. *Hrannar Pétursson – sociologist and former Human Resource- and Marketing Director for Icelandic
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
. Withdrew in April. *Magnus Ingi Magnússon – restaurateur and caterer. Declared in April, withdrew on 17 May due to lack of signatures, saying he considered running for the Althingi instead. *
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland from 1996 to 2016.Official CV. He was previously a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the People's Alliance and served as Minist ...
– Incumbent President. In January, he declared that he would not seek reelection, but decided to enter the race on 18 April after political unrest in connection with the
Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
leak. He subsequently withdrew on 9 May stating as his reason that other qualified candidates had now entered the race. *Vigfús Bjarni Albertsson – hospital chaplain. Announced his candidacy in March but withdrew on 18 April. * Þorgrímur Þráinsson – author, motivational speaker, and former
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player; announced he intended to run in November 2015, which he confirmed on 1 January. In April however, he said he would not go forth and implied he had not made a declaration.


Declined

* Baldur Thorhallsson – Professor of Political Science at the University of Iceland. * Jón Gnarr – comedian and former Mayor of Reykjavík * Katrín Jakobsdóttir – leader of the
Left-Green Movement The Left-Green Movement ( is, Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð), officially the Left Movement – Green Candidature and also known by its short-form name ''Vinstri græn'' (VG), is an eco-socialist political party in Iceland. The Left-Gree ...


Statement of intent

*Snorri Ásmundsson – a conceptual artist, released a statement in which he claimed he intended to run for president of both Iceland and Mexico, joining the presidential offices of the two countries.


Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = top:20 bottom:60 right:20 left:20 AlignBars = late Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.95) id:lightline value:gray(0.80) id:darkline value:gray(0.30) id:Cand value:blue legend:Candidate id:Susp value:skyblue legend:Withdrew id:Incu value:orange legend:Incumbent DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:16/12/2015 till:15/08/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:lightline unit:month increment:1 start:01/01/2016 Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Candidates PlotData= width:15 fontsize:S textcolor:black anchor:till shift:(10,-4) barset:Candidates from:11/04/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Andri Snær Magnason" from:02/01/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Ástþór Magnússon" from:08/05/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Davíð Oddsson" from:31/12/2015 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Elísabet Jökulsdóttir" from:05/05/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Guðni Th. Jóhannesson" from:22/03/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Guðrún Margrét Pálsdóttir" from:07/03/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Halla Tómasdóttir" from:03/01/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Hildur Þórðardóttir" from:13/04/2016 till:25/06/2016 color:Cand text:"Sturla Jónsson" from:10/05/2016 till:24/05/2016 color:Susp text:"Magnús Ingberg Jónsson" from:02/05/2016 till:20/05/2016 color:Susp text:"Baldur Ágústsson" from:08/04/2016 till:20/05/2016 color:Susp text:"Benedikt Kristján Mewes" from:17/04/2016 till:17/05/2016 color:Susp text:"Magnús Ingi Magnússon" from:03/01/2016 till:13/05/2016 color:Susp text:"Ari Jósepsson" from:18/04/2016 till:09/05/2016 color:Incu text:"Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson" from:20/03/2016 till:27/04/2016 color:Susp text:"Hrannar Pétursson" from:18/03/2016 till:25/04/2016 color:Susp text:"Bæring Ólafsson" from:04/03/2016 till:19/04/2016 color:Susp text:"Heimir Örn Hólmarsson" from:06/03/2016 till:18/04/2016 color:Susp text:"Vigfús Bjarni Albertsson" from:20/03/2016 till:18/04/2016 color:Susp text:"Guðmundur Franklín Jónsson" from:01/01/2016 till:09/04/2016 color:Susp text:"Þorgrímur Þráinsson"# Arguably began in Nov.; first definite answer in Jan.; see talk page. LineData= layer:front at:20/05/2016 color:red width:1 layer:front at:25/06/2016 color:black width:1 TextData= pos:(110,30) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"Jan" pos:(206,30) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"Feb" pos:(303,30) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"Mar" pos:(402,30) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"Apr" pos:(493,30) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"May" pos:(588,30) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"Jun" pos:(685,30) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"Jul" pos:(482,47) textcolor:red fontsize:S text:"Deadline" pos:(598,47) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:"Election"


Opinion polls


Results

Guðni won the election with 39.1% of the votes. Halla received 27.9%, Andri Snær 14.3%, Davíð 13.7% and Sturla 3.5%. The turnout was 75.7%. After voting on his birthday, Guðni said that he was satisfied he had "managed to present to the people my vision of the presidency." He said that should he win, he would first "go to France on Monday and see Iceland play England."


References

{{Icelandic elections Presidential elections in Iceland
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...