Never before have as many voters handed in empty ballots in municipal elections in Iceland as on Saturday. Empty and invalid ballots in the 58 municipalities where elections took place accounted for 6.4 percent of votes, up from 2.4 percent in the municipal elections in 2006.
Photo by Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir.
A total of 9,486 voters handed in empty ballots and 583 ballots were invalid. The percentage of empty and invalid ballots was 2.0 percent in the 2002 municipal elections and 2.7 in 1998, Morgunbladid reports.
The highest percentage of empty ballots was in Hafnarfjördur where 1,578 people, 13.6 percent of voters, didn’t vote for any party.
A total of 106 ballots were invalid in Hafnarfjördur, so the combined percentage of empty and invalid ballots was 14.5 percent. The turnout was also poor in Hafnarfjördur, only 65 percent.
In 12 of the 22 municipalities with 2,000 or more inhabitants, the majority was reelected. In six of these municipalities, the largest candidacy achieved a clear majority.
Click here to read other news of the municipal elections in Iceland.
