Southwest Iceland vote starts evenly split

Initial results from Iceland’s Southwest constituency were evenly split, mbl.is reported, with 19,800 ballots counted and 9,900 votes each for yes and no.

No blank or invalid ballots had been recorded. The constituency has 80,910 registered voters, and 44,054 had voted by 8pm, representing a turnout of 54.5 percent. Less than half of the ballots cast had therefore been counted.

After the initial results, yes held 51.2 percent of the counted vote, compared with 48.8 percent for no.

Counting had progressed more quickly in the Reykjavík constituencies, where about three quarters of cast ballots had been counted. The proportion was considerably lower in the other constituencies.

Polling has indicated a significant difference between views in the capital region and elsewhere in Iceland. In the latest Gallup poll on the referendum, 55 percent of capital-region residents said they intended to vote yes and 45 percent no. Outside the capital region, 37 percent intended to vote yes, compared with 63 percent for the opposing option.

If those proportions hold, the no side could gain votes in the final nationwide result from ballots counted outside the capital region. The Southwest constituency appeared likely to remain the main uncertainty.