2010 Velkanian general election

An **election** was held in the Velkanian Isles on 20 March 2010 to elect all members of the Orthing. Parliament decided the election's date after passing legislation on 14 December 2009, with the election being constitutionally mandated to fall between 1 March and 31 May 2010.

In the lead-up to the election, polling predicted a widespread increase in seats for the Liberal-Conservatives at the hands of the Social Democrats and Independence Party, largely due to the growing popularity of Heinrekur Jón Jónsson and his continued reform of the party. Meanwhile, Independence Party leader Eybjört María Hólmsteinnsdattir began facing criticism within her own party with calls for her retirement; she had previously fended off a leadership challenge just one year before the election, yet continued to allege that she was fully capable of leading the party.

After the conclusion of the election, polling was shown to be incorrect as the Liberal-Conservatives gained only three seats, much below their expected margin of victory. Despite tying with the Green-Socialists for the greatest amount of seats gained, they remained only the third-largest party represented in parliament. Both the Social Democrats and Independence Party only faced minor losses, losing two seats each. Eybjört took this result as proof that the Velkanian people had not tired of her leadership, which was met with widespread criticism for party members as the party still was one of the biggest losers of the election.

The Social Democrats remained the largest party in parliament, and party leader Davíð Brynnsteinsson was tasked with forming his third government. He opted to continue the party's three-party majority coalition with the Green-Socialists and People's Party. The new government was later sworn in on 29 March 2010. The results of the election resulted in a resignation from Eybjört as leader of the Independence Party.

## Date

On 14 December 2009, the Orthing passed legislation to hold the election on 20 March 2010. The Velkanian constitution mandates that all scheduled elections be held four years following the previous, between the first of the preceding month and the last of the succeeding month. This meant that the election could have been held between 1 March and 31 May 2010. The Velkanian constitution also allows for snap elections.

## Electoral system

The 105 members of the Orthing are elected at-large, with the Velkanian Isles having no individual electoral constituencies. Prior to the election, each party that is standing creates an electoral list of 105 candidates. All members of the electoral list must also have an assigned deputy should they be elected to parliament and subsequently resign; this prevents any seat from being vacant during a legislative term.

During the election, each voter casts their vote for one of the party lists. The system uses closed lists, meaning no voter can vote across lists or cross off names from the list they are voting for. Seats are then allocated using the d'Hondt method, with a 5% electoral threshold.

Only Velkanian citizens who are aged 17 and older on the day of the election may vote, while only Velkanian citizens aged 18 and older who have resided in the Velkanian Isles for a continuous period of at least five years may stand as candidates. Voting-eligible Velkanians who are residing abroad may also vote, but their ballots must be mailed-in at least four days prior to the date of the election.

## Contesting parties

The following parties were represented in parliament following the 2006 election.

## Aftermath

Following the certification of the results, it emerged that the Social Democrats had won a plurality of seats, meaning that it was highly likely that Davíð Brynnsteinsson would continue as prime minister. Hrafnhildur III entrusted Davíð with forming a government on 22 March 2010.

In the aftermath of the election, the three-party majority coalition of the Social Democrats, Green-Socialists, and People's Party maintained a majority, meaning that it was highly likely the coalition government would continue. On 24 March, all three respective party leaders confirmed that they would be continuing with their three-party coalition government, and began discussing ministerial appointments. The cabinet was later announced on 29 March, and they were sworn in later that day as the third Davíð Brynnsteinsson cabinet; much of the cabinet consisted of holdovers from the second Davíð Brynnsteinsson cabinet.