The elections to the Constitutional Assembly

The Constitutional Assembly

According to the Act on a Constitutional Assembly, a special Constitutional Assembly shall be a gathering for the purpose of reviewing the Constitution of the Republic, no. 33 of 17 June 1944. The Assembly shall be composed of a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 31 delegates and they shall be elected by direct personal election. The Assembly shall convene no later than 15 February 2011 and conclude its work on 15 April 2011.The Constitutional Assembly is permitted to submit a request to the Althingi for the duration of the Assembly to be extended by a parliamentary resolution by up to two months.

The Assembly is to prepare a proposal for a revised Constitution of the Republic and when the Assembly has passed the constitutional bill, it shall be sent to the Althingi for process.

The Act on a Constitutional Assembly

As mentioned before Althingi passed a new law, The Act on a Constitutional Assembly no. 90/2010 on 16 June 2010 in which a consultative Constitutional Assembly is summoned for the purpose of reviewing the Constitution of the Republic, no. 33 of 17 June 1944. 

The elections to the Constitutional Assembly will take place on 27 November 2010. Persons who qualify to stand for elections to the Althingi may stand for election to the Constitutional Assembly. However, the President of the Republic of Iceland, members of parliament, their alternates, cabinet ministers and members of the Constitutional Commission and the Organising Committee are not eligible to stand for the election. The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights shall prepare presentation material on candidates. The presentation material shall be distributed to all households in Iceland. The presentation material shall also be published on a website maintained by the Ministry.

A copy of a ballot, identified as a specimen ballot, shall be distributed to all voters in Iceland together with an explanation of the procedure of the voting. The specimen ballot shall also be published on a website maintained by the Ministry, together with explanatory notes. Voters may take the specimen ballot with them into the voting booth.