# 2021 Election and the Recount (25 September 2021)

URL: https://allhistories.com/iceland/timeline/2021-2021-election-and-the-recount
Location: Borgarnes, West Iceland
Themes: Eruptions & Disasters

Katrín Jakobsdóttir's coalition of the Left-Green Movement, Independence Party and Progressive Party was the first in over a decade to complete a full four-year term, and it had won praise for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The election of 25 September 2021 was contested by ten parties. The Progressive Party under Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson gained five seats, giving the coalition 37 of the 63 seats. Initial results showed women winning 33 seats, which would have made Iceland the first European country with a female-majority parliament. However, a recount in the Northwest constituency the following day shifted the allocation of leveling seats and reduced the number of women to 30. It was then revealed that ballots had been left unsealed and unattended in a hotel in Borgarnes between counts, prompting complaints and a police investigation. The Althing's credentials committee nevertheless voted to accept the recount, and the European Court of Human Rights later found in 2024 that Iceland had violated the right to free elections. The coalition was renewed on 28 November 2021 with Katrín as prime minister and Bjarni Benediktsson as finance minister. The recount controversy led to reforms in the handling of ballots.

## Why it matters
The election extended Katrín's coalition while the recount scandal exposed weaknesses in Iceland's electoral administration.

Ruler at the Time: [Guðni Th. Jóhannesson](https://allhistories.com/iceland/rulers/gudni-th-johannesson)

Prime Minister of Iceland: Katrín Jakobsdóttir (Left-Green Movement)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — 2021 Icelandic parliamentary election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Icelandic_parliamentary_election)
- [Althingi](https://www.althingi.is/english/)
- [RÚV English](https://www.ruv.is/english)
- [Wikipedia — Crisis And Recovery (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%932011_Icelandic_financial_crisis)