How to vote? Instructions for voting at the polling station
Most commonly, voters vote on election day. If this is not possible, the votes can be cast before election day, in an early voting.
Election on polling day
The polling station
The place where voting is conducted is called a polling station. The voter votes at a polling station in the municipality in which the voter is domiciled. Voters can look up where they can vote at a website of the National Register of Iceland.
Polling stations are generally open from 9 in the morning to 22 in the evening on election day. The polling station may be open for a shorter period, but information on opening hours can be found on municipal websites. Municipalities are the place where a voter lives, for example Reykjavík or Akureyri.
How is the election held?
At the polling station there are polling wards, sorted by address. The voter finds his/her polling ward. In smaller municipalities there is usually only one polling ward. A list of addresses and polling wards is most likely posted at the polling station. At most polling stations, staff can assist voters in finding their polling ward.
The electoral commission asks for the address of the voter and identification, for example a driver's license or passport, or by other means deemed satisfactory by the electoral commission. Digital driving licence are sufficient identification.
The electoral commission places a mark against the name of the voter in the electoral register and deliver a ballot. A voter shall take the ballot to a polling booth where he/she can vote in private.
The polling booth contains a writing instrument that is to be used to make an X into a square in front of the choice that the voter wants. Voters can get a Braille card to read and mark the ballot.
Once a voter has voted, the ballot is folded and placed in a ballot box outside the polling booth.
Voting is secret by law. The memorandum for a bill that became the Election Act states that it can be relatively easy to influence the conduct of elections or corrupt them by taking a picture of a ballot and sharing e.g. on social media.
If a voter marks something different than he intended, or the ballot paper is destroyed, the ballot can be handed over to the electoral commission and a new ballot paper can be obtained.