According to the Constitution of Iceland the President of Iceland shall be elected by a direct vote for a period of four years, commencing 1 August of the election year. Five persons have held the office of the President of Iceland since the Establishment of the Republic 17 June 1944 until 1 August 2012.
A presidential election was held in Iceland 30 June 2012. Matters regarding the eligibility to vote and the electoral register were resolved in the same manner as in the parliamentary general elections to the Althingi.
The total number of voters on the electoral roll was 235,743 or 73.8% of the total population. Participation of voters in the election was 163.294 or 69.3%. Participation of male voters was 65.8% and female voters 72.7%. The participation in previous presidential elections was highest in 1968, 92.2% but lowest in 2004, 62.9%.
The number of absentee votes was unusually high in the presidential election now, 38,140 votes or 23.4% of votes cast.
Six candidates took part in the election. Valid votes were 159,207. The results of the election were the following:
Andrea Jóhanna Ólafsdóttir 2,867 votes (1.8%)
Ari Trausti Guðmundsson 13,764 votes (8.6%)
Hannes Bjarnason 1,556 votes (1.0%)
Herdís Þorgeirsdóttir 4,189 votes (2.6%)
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson 84,036 votes (52.8%)
Þóra Arnórsdóttir 52,795 votes (33.2%)
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was thus re-elected President of Iceland for the period 1 August 2012 until 31 July 2016.
Presidential election 30 June 2012 - Statistical Series
Statistics