2006 Velkanian general election

An **election** was held in the Velkanian Isles on 29 April 2006 to elect all members of the Orthing. Parliament decided the election's date after passing legislation on 4 January 2006, with the election being constitutionally mandated to fall between 1 March and 31 May 2006.

In the lead-up to the election, polling predicted that the Social Democratic Party would see an increase in seats, while the Liberal-Conservative Party would also see a significant rebound in their support. Meanwhile, the Independence Party was expected to lose seats, with its leader Eybjört María Hólmsteinnsdattir facing criticism within her own party for her leadership and refusal to resign from the position.

Following the conclusion of the election, the Social Democrats and Liberal-Conservatives were seen as the election's big winners, gaining four and six seats, respectively. However, the Independence Party lost no seats, instead gaining one, which led Eybjört to further shrug off challenges to her leadership, despite losing their parliamentary plurality. Government coalition partners the Green-Socialist Party and Velkanian People's Party lost seats, with commentators contributing their loss to voters ignoring the parties in favor of their main coalition partner the Social Democrats. The Centrist Party was the election's big loser, losing six seats, which commentators contributed to centrist voters abandoning the party for the Liberal-Conservatives.

The Social Democrats became the largest party in parliament, as the Independence Party became only the second-largest. Social Democratic party leader Davíð Brynnsteinsson was subsequently tasked with forming his second 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 17 May 2006. The results of the election resulted in a resignation from Úlrik Jóhann Ingiþórsson as leader of the Centrist Party.

## Date

On 4 January 2006, the Orthing passed legislation to hold the election on 29 April 2006. 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 2006. 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 2002 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 1 May 2006.

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 4 May, 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 16 May, and they were sworn in later that day as the second Davíð Brynnsteinsson cabinet.