Politician and co-founder of Iceland’s Pirate Party Birgitta Jonsdottir and Asta Gudrun Helgadottir react to the election results. Photo: HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images

If you take a look at Iceland’s newly elected parliament, you’ll notice something striking: Almost half of all the officials are women. During the weekend’s national elections, Icelandic voters elected 30 women to parliament — a record number.

The country is now at the top of the list of governments with a high percentage of representation by women. The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Iceland the “most equal Parliament in the world” without a quota system, according to NPR. That’s no measly achievement, of course. Female politicians only make up about 20 percent of Congress in the United States, while Nordic countries continue leading when it comes to electing women into government.



While voter turnout was a record low for Iceland (just under 80 percent), women have been making political statements in recent weeks. Thousands of women took to the streets on Women’s Day in protest of the ongoing gender pay gap in Iceland. The government has also pledged to close the gender pay gap by 2022. Sounds like progress. </s> Women Win 30 Seats In Iceland's Parliament — More Than Any Party

Enlarge this image toggle caption Frank Augstein/AP Frank Augstein/AP

If they were a political party, women would need only two more seats to form a majority government in Iceland, after winning a record 30 seats in this weekend's national elections. Voter turnout was just under 80 percent — local media say that's a record low for Iceland.

With female candidates winning nearly half (48 percent) of the 63 seats, Iceland now has the "most equal Parliament in the world" without a quota system, according to the country's Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

For comparison, in the U.S. women currently make up nearly 20 percent of Congress. Worldwide, Nordic countries lead the way in electing women to legislatures, with an average of more than 41 percent, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Prime Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson — whose Progressive Party finished a distant fourth — resigned after the results became clear. Iceland now faces the daunting task of assembling a three-party coalition, six months after its political scene was thrown into chaos by revelations that Johannsson's predecessor had hidden millions of dollars in off-shore accounts while Iceland weathered a deep financial crisis.

One of the most famous female politicians in Iceland is Birgitta Jónsdóttir, whose Pirate Party more than tripled its seats. Like its namesakes in Sweden, Norway, and elsewhere, the four-year-old party stands for online freedoms, direct democracy and transparency. Ahead of Saturday's vote, the Pirates had captured both momentum and headlines. But the Pirates faded a bit at the finish, and their unique party platform could make the party a tough fit for a coalition government.

Iceland's Parliament is called the Althing, an anglicized form of the Alþingi. According to final election results quoted by Iceland Review, five parties drew support of more than 10 percent:

The Independence Party: 29 percent (21 seats)

The Left-Green Movement: 15.9 percent (10 seats)

The Pirate Party: 14.5 percent (10 seats)

The Progressive Party: 11.5 percent (8 seats)

The Reform Party: 10.5 percent (7 seats)

As the Two-Way's Scott Neuman reported when Iceland became the first country to elect Pirate Party MPs back in 2013, the new members of Parliament included "a WikiLeaks volunteer, a university student and a computer programmer."

The national vote comes six months after the Panama Papers — a database of millions of documents that detail secret financial dealings — sparked scandals in Iceland and other countries. Then-Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned his post just days after information about off-shore tax accounts was made public.

While advocates for women's equality in Iceland will likely welcome Saturday's election results, they're still working on another common problem: gender pay equity. Last Monday, Icelandic unions and activists urged female workers to leave their jobs at 2:38 p.m. — to reflect the time after which they're working for free, when compared to their male counterparts. </s> Iceland holds a parliamentary election today.

Following are some election facts in a nutshell, most of them compiled by RÚV:

Most polling stations close at 10 pm, at which time the first results will be published.

There are 246,515 registered voters. That’s an increase of 8,780 since the last parliamentary election, in 2013. The number of men and women is about even.

Iceland is divided into six voting districts, each with its own number of members of parliament. They are the Northwest, Northeast, South and Southwest districts, in addition to Reykjavík South and Reykjavík North. Most MPs, or 13, come from the Southwest voting district, which consists of municipalities in the vicinity of Reykjavík. The Northwest district has the lowest number of MPs, or 8.

Twelve parties are on the ballot, nine of them running in all voter districts.

Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, has sixty-three members, all of whom will be elected today.

At least 32 MPs are needed for parties to form a majority government. Based on recent polls, there is no chance a two-party government can be formed.

Voter turnout seems to be somewhat lower than in the 2013 parliamentary election. In 2013, the voter turnout was 81.5 percent, the lowest ever in a parliamentary election.
Icelandic voters elect 30 women to parliament, the most ever for the island nation. Voter turnout was under 80 percent, the lowest ever.