Iceland holds a parliamentary election today.
Following are some election facts in a nutshell, most of them compiled by RÚV:
Most polling stations close at 10 pm, at which time the first results will be published.
There are 246,515 registered voters. That’s an increase of 8,780 since the last parliamentary election, in 2013. The number of men and women is about even.
Iceland is divided into six voting districts, each with its own number of members of parliament. They are the Northwest, Northeast, South and Southwest districts, in addition to Reykjavík South and Reykjavík North. Most MPs, or 13, come from the Southwest voting district, which consists of municipalities in the vicinity of Reykjavík. The Northwest district has the lowest number of MPs, or 8.
Twelve parties are on the ballot, nine of them running in all voter districts.
Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, has sixty-three members, all of whom will be elected today.
At least 32 MPs are needed for parties to form a majority government. Based on recent polls, there is no chance a two-party government can be formed.
Voter turnout seems to be somewhat lower than in the 2013 parliamentary election. In 2013, the voter turnout was 81.5 percent, the lowest ever in a parliamentary election.
