Reykjavík South (Althing constituency)


Reykjavík South is one of the six multi-member constituencies of the Althing, the national legislature of Iceland. The constituency was established in 2003 when the existing Reykjavík constituency was split into two. The constituency currently elects nine of the 63 members of the Althing using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2024 parliamentary election it had 47,619 registered electors.

History

In March 1843 King Christian VIII of Denmark issued a royal decree converting the Althing into a consultative assembly. It consisted to 20 members popularly elected from single-member constituencies, one of which was Reykjavík. In the subsequent decades the electoral process, size of Althing and constituencies changed several time. Reykjavík became a two-member constituency in 1903. In 1920 it became a four-member constituency using proportional representation. It became a six-member constituency in 1934 and an eight-member constituency in 1942.
One of the main reasons for the changes was the shift in population from rural to urban areas, particularly Reykjavík. The changes however always lagged behind population shifts. This resulted in rural constituencies being over-represented in the Althing. The disproportionately in the voting power of rural and urban voters was as high as 10:1 by the mid 20th century. The over-representation of rural constituencies favoured the Progressive Party, whose support base was mostly farmers. The party was over-represented in Althing even after the introduction of compensatory seats in 1934.
The constituencies were radically altered in 1959 when the single and two-member constituencies were abolished and replaced by seven multi-member constituencies using proportional representation. The number of seats allocated to Reykjavík was increased from 8 to 12 at the same time. This reduced the disproportionately in the voting power of rural and urban voters to 3:1.
In September 1997 Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson appointed a committee headed by Friðrik Klemenz Sophusson to review the division of constituencies in Iceland and the organisation of elections. The committee's report was published in October 1998 and recommended, amongst other things, that the number of constituencies be reduced and that they be more equal in population size. The Althing passed an amendment to the constitution in June 1999 which removed the reference to specific eight constituencies contained within Article 31 and instead simply stated that there would be six or seven constituencies and that the Althing would determine the boundaries between the constituencies. The amendment also required that if, following an election to Althing, the number of registered electors per seat in any constituency is less than half of that in another constituency, the National Electoral Commission shall change the allocation of seats so as to reduce the imbalance. This reduced the disproportionately in the voting power of rural and urban voters to 2:1.
Reykjavík South was one of six constituencies established by the "Elections to the Althing Act no. 24/2000" passed by the Althing in May 2000. The Act required that, when an election to Althing had been called, the National Electoral Commission had to determine the boundaries between the Reykjavík South and Reykjavík North constituencies so that the number of registered electors per seat is approximately the same. The Act initially allocated eleven seats to the constituency - nine constituency seats and two compensatory seats.

Electoral system

Reykjavík South currently elects nine of the 63 members of the Althing using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. Constituency seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method. Compensatory seats are calculated based on the national vote and are allocated using the D'Hondt method at the constituency level. Only parties that reach the 5% national threshold compete for compensatory seats.

Election results

Detailed

2020s

2024
Results of the 2024 parliamentary election held on 30 November 2024:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2021 parliamentary election held on 25 September 2021:
The following candidates were elected:

2010s

2017
Results of the 2017 parliamentary election held on 28 October 2017:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2016 parliamentary election held on 29 October 2016:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2013 parliamentary election held on 27 April 2013:
The following candidates were elected:

2000s

2009
Results of the 2009 parliamentary election held on 25 April 2009:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2007 parliamentary election held on 12 May 2007:
The following candidates were elected:
Results of the 2003 parliamentary election held on 10 May 2003:
The following candidates were elected: