Parliamentary elections were held in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

on 24 June 1934.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p961 They were the first held after reforms to the electoral system that increased the number of seats in the Lower House from 28 to 33 and ensured that all members of the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

were elected at the same election. The Independence Party emerged as the largest party in the Lower House, winning 14 of the 33 seats.

Electoral reform

In the previous election, the 28 members of the Lower House

had been elected in one- or two-member constituencies by plurality voting, except in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, where the four seats were elected by proportional representation. Eight members of the Upper House were elected at the same time as the Lower House, whilst the remaining six members were elected in separate national elections using proportional representation. The reforms raised the number of seats in the Lower House to 33, of which 11 were to be compensatory seats. The compensatory seats were awarded to parties which had won at least one of the 22 standard seats, and were allocated according to their votes received divided by the seats they had won.Nohlen & Stöver, p955 Once allocated to a party, the seats were then allocated based on a preferential basis: #The party's candidate who had won the highest number of votes in a constituency, but was not elected. #The party's candidate who had won the highest percentage of the votes in a constituency, but was not elected. #The top candidate on a party's nationwide list (if they had used one). #The party's candidate with the second highest number of votes in a constituency, but was not elected. Although a party could only have one compensatory seat in each constituency, this still left some constituencies over-represented. All seats in the Upper House seats were now elected at the same time as the Lower House, whilst the number was increased from 14 to 16.Nohlen & Stöver, p978 In Reykjavík the number of seats was increased from four to six, with a subsequent lowering of the threshold to win a seat in the city. The voting age was lowered to 21, and those receiving

poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

were able to vote for the first time.

Results

References

{{Icelandic elections

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Parliamentary elections in Iceland