Icelandic presidential election, 2016

Presidential elections will be held in Iceland on 25 June 2016. The winner of the election will take office on 1 August.

Electoral system

The President of Iceland is elected by plurality in a single round of voting. Candidates must be Icelandic citizens and at least 35 years of age on election day.

Background and events

On 1 January 2016, incumbent president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson 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 leak, which implicated Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson 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 May 8, 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.

Campaign

Davíð Oddsson attacked Guðni Th. Jóhannesson in two tv-debates for having an unpatriotic view of the cod war, and having argued for Icelandic responsibility for Icesave and in favor of EU-membership. Furthermore Davíð alleges that Guðni will "undermine the Constitution" by supporting constitutional change. Guðni Th. has said that he will remain neutral on the EU question, Halla is personally against EU, while Andri Snær is undecided.

Candidates

Candidates must 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 has been six at most, but it is expected to be significantly higher this time.

Main candidates

• Andri Snær Magnason - author and environmentalist.
• Davíð Oddsson – editor-in-chief of Morgunblaðið and former Prime Minister for the Independence Party.
• Guðni Th. Jóhannesson - historian, author and senior lecturer at the University of Iceland.

Other candidates

• Ástþór Magnússon – businessman and former peace activist; perennial candidate, who has run for president three times, in 1996, 2004, and 2012.
• Elísabet Jökulsdóttir – author and freelance journalist.
• Guðrún Margrét Pálsdóttir - nurse and founder of ABC Barnahjálp, an aid organization focusing on children in Asia and Africa.
• Halla Tómasdóttir - entrepreneur and investor, co-founder of Audur Capital.
• Hildur Þórðardóttir - ethnologist and healer.
• Sturla Jónsson – truck driver, protester, former parliamentary candidate and chairman of the Sturla Jónsson party.

Suspended

• Ari Jósepsson – entertainer and self-proclaimed "YouTube star". Declared in January and withdrew on May 13 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 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 and project manager. Announced in March and withdrew on 19 April due to the incumbent seeking reelection.
• Hrannar Pétursson - sociologist and former Human Ressource- and Marketing Director for Icelandic Vodafone. 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 - Incumbent President. In January, he declared that he would not seek reelection, but decided to enter the race on April 18 after political unrest in connection with the Panama Papers leak. He subsequently withdrew on May 9 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 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.

Failed to get ballot access

Two candidates failed to collect enough signatures before the deadline expired.

• Baldur Ágústsson – businessman, who also ran in 2004. Did not submit before the deadline.
• Magnús Ingberg Jónsson - fish processing engineer and entrepreneur. Made an incomplete submission and was rejected by electoral authorities.

Declined

• Jón Gnarr - comedian and former Mayor of Reykjavík, had significant support in several polls before exiting.
• Katrín Jakobsdóttir - leader of the Left-Green Movement, had significant support in several polls before exiting.

Others

• 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

Opinion polls

Poll	Date	Olafur Ragnar Grímsson	Guðni Th. Jóhannesson	Andri Snær Magnason	Halla Tómasdóttir	Davið Oddsson	Others
MMR	April 22–26	52.6	–	29.4	8.8	–	9.2
Fréttablaðið	May 2–3	45	38	11	3	–	3
MMR	May 6–9	25.3	59.2	8.8	1.7	3.1	1.9
Fréttablaðið	May 10	3.2	69.0	10.7	1.0	13.7	2.4
Maskína	May 10–13	–	67.2	12.1	2.9	14.8	3.0
Félagsvísindastofnun HÍ	May 14	–	67.1	7.8	1.5	17.4	6.2
MMR	May 12-20	–	65.6	11.0	2.2	18.1	3.0
Gallup	May 19-25	–	57.2	10.9	5.4	22.0	4.6

† based on 27% of the poll.