Presidential election in Iceland 1996
The 1996 presidential election in Iceland was held on June 29, 1996 . In it the fifth President of the Republic of Iceland was determined.
prehistory
After the first democratically elected female head of state in the world, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir , decided against running again after four terms, Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson announced on March 18, 1996 a presidential election for June 29, 1996. The following people then declared their candidacy:
- Ástþór Magnússon (* 1953, entrepreneur)
- Guðrún Agnarsdóttir (* 1941, doctor)
- Guðrún Pétursdóttir (* 1950, withdrew her candidacy on June 19)
- Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (* 1943, member of the Althing )
- Pétur Kr.Hafstein (* 1949, judge at the constitutional court)
Election result
194,705 voters were allowed to vote, corresponding to 72.4% of the Icelandic population. 167,334 of them, or 85.9%, took part in the election. 165,233 valid votes were cast:
candidate | be right | percent |
---|---|---|
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson | 68,370 | 41.4 |
Pétur Kr. Hafstein | 48,863 | 29.5 |
Guðrún Agnarsdóttir | 43,578 | 26.4 |
Ástþór Magnússon | 4,422 | 2.7 |
165.233 | 100.0 | |
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson won the election and became President of Iceland with effect from August 1, 1996 .