Talk:2016 Icelandic presidential election

A news item involving 2016 Icelandic presidential election was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the In the news section on 2 July 2016.

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Elections and Referendums

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Snorri Ásmundsson

Snorri Ásmundsson isn't considered as a declared candidate by the Icelandic press. It was clearly a happening, not an actual announcement. Any objections to removing him?--Batmacumba (talk) 20:33, 22 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Main candidates

This election is essentially a two horse race between Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and Andri Snær Magnason with Halla Tómasdóttir as the only other significant candidate. The rest are also rans. How many polls do we need before its acceptable to organize the article accordingly?

Sure, but why was Halla removed? She may not have reached 10%, but even her lowest rate (at time of writing) compares to all the trailing ones combined. Brilliantwiki2 (talk) 21:59, 9 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I removed her when she went down to 3%. She is at 1.7% in the latest MMR. That is not "main candidate" level. We can always put her back in that category if she becomes a factor in the race.--Batmacumba (talk) 22:53, 9 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Davið Oddsson

While Davið Oddsson can be assumed to get substantial support after ORG withdrew, we need polls (well, at least one) to establish him as a main candidate, or another credible source.--Batmacumba (talk) 16:12, 9 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Interview with well-respected Icelandic political scientist used as source. DO predicted to have a potential of 30%.--Batmacumba (talk) 18:06, 9 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Signatures

Baldur Ágústsson, Benedikt Kristján Mewes, Elísabet Jökulsdóttir, Magnús Ingberg Jónsson and Magnús Ingi "Texas-Maggi" Magnússon hadn't collected the required 1,500+ signatures on the 13th, which is the day signatures should be handed in. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, Guðrún Margrét Pálsdóttir, Halla Tómasdóttir, Hildur Þórðardóttir og Sturla Jónsson all claim to have collected the required number of signatures. They now need to be verified and checked for double entries etc. Candidates can declare right up to the 20th, but that would be unheard of, so it looks like there will be nine candidates, unless one or two of the minor ones fall short. The final candidate list will be published on May 27, but we should be able to reduce the list before then. Mewes seems to have given up.--Batmacumba (talk) 11:14, 13 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Both Elísabet Jökulsdóttir and Magnús Ingi Magnússon says they only need some from the three thinly populated quarters and expect to get them.--Batmacumba (talk) 12:52, 13 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Timeline

There are some problems with the timeline. The six original early January candidates (declaring right after New Year) were Þorgrím Þráinsson, Elísabet Jökulsdóttir, Árni Björn Guðjónsson (who we didn't include because he withdrew the day after he declared), Ástþór Magnússon, Hilda Þórðardóttir and Ari Jósepsson. I have corrected three of them, and will move Þorgrím Þráinsson unless it can be sourced he declared in November. It would be great if an Icelandic poster could check the rest of the dates.--Batmacumba (talk) 18:23, 13 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Sources say Þorgrím Þráinsson declared in January, after the president declined to run again. Timeline adjusted accordingly.--Batmacumba (talk) 18:31, 13 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Generally the timeline should match the sources we give for each candidate.--Batmacumba (talk) 18:33, 13 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I moved Þorgrímur back to November for now as that seems to be the only time he was serious about running. I've sifted through all the main news sources from November-January and found that he never declared with any certainty. He said he was 95% sure in November and again in December. On 1.1.2016 he said he was "still determined" regardless of the President's actions, but nothing was heard from him after that. In April he talked like he had never clearly declared. Should we perhaps move him to the "declined" section? Brilliantwiki2 (talk) 00:41, 14 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I think its the most natural (if you do not consider his January 1 statement as a declaration, which Icelandic journalists seems to have - he is mentioned as a candidate after that). He seems essentially to have said: "Well, I had planned on running, but the lads need me in France, so unfortunately I can't". Which must count as a "decline".--Batmacumba (talk) 00:56, 14 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Although... he did give the reporter a definite "YES" on 1 January. Gee I don't know anymore Brilliantwiki2 (talk) 10:08, 14 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I think using January 1 is the most sensible. It seems to have been assumed from then on that he was running.--Batmacumba (talk) 10:38, 14 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Renewed sources: Elísabet 31 Dec (personal facebook page) 1 Jan (publicly); Ástþór 2 Jan; Ari 3 Jan (exact date not stated); Hildur 3 Jan. Brilliantwiki2 (talk) 04:10, 14 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Sturla

Sturla J. was mentioned as a candidate in January 2, and Icelandic wiki mention him as declaring in January, but he was later (in April) interviewed in Morgunladid to the classic declaration article: http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2016/04/13/sturla_bydur_sig_fram/. So did he declare January 2, or April 13?.--Batmacumba (talk) 11:42, 22 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

He sent out a formal declaration to the media on 13 April and that's how the media and his supporters saw it apparently. His supporters had already taken care of the signatures though. The linked 2 January article doesn't place him among the confirmed ones but still quite certain. I'll add more sources. Brilliantwiki2 (talk) 21:41, 22 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Took a look at his facebook page; he was collecting signatures as early as February, but still no decision by then. Brilliantwiki2 (talk) 21:59, 22 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Postal voting

Regarding this edit comment by Batmacumba, "not a future election - postal voting has been ongoing for several weeks (starts 6 weeks before election day": I wonder - how does that work, given the fact that the final list of candidates was released only on May 25? Candidates had time until May 20 to gather enough signatures for their candidacy, and until the announcement of May 25, it wasn't definitively known who made it. So, people could already vote for presumptive candidates who now, actually, didn't get ballot access? Gestumblindi (talk) 13:17, 29 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

You simply write the name of your preferred candidate - if that candidate later turns out not to be on the final candidate list, you can revote (well, you can actually change your mind and revote anyway). Icelandic election law allows postal voting six weeks prior to an election, while the Constitution sets a four week deadline for presidential candidates, so there is a discrepancy. Historically there was few candidates and they were known well in advance so it hasn't been a problem before, but was criticized this time (because of the situation with the large number of candidates).--Batmacumba (talk) 13:37, 29 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

In this article Ragnheiður Ríkharðsdóttir from IP calls it "a travesty":

http://www.mbl.is/frettir/kosning/2016/05/12/kosningaloggjofin_skripaleikur/

@Batmacumba: Thanks, that's interesting... and certainly rather strange! ;-) Gestumblindi (talk) 20:27, 30 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Request for comment: Order of the list of candidates in the infobox

What should the order of the list of candidates in the infobox be? See Talk:United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Order of the list of candidates in the infobox Sparkie82 (t•c) 11:29, 31 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Icelandic public broadcaster RUV chose to include the four candidates polling above 2.5%: Halla, Andri Snær, David and Gudni Th. in their debate. Either those four or just the three men (based on Halla never getting double digits and usually far less) and then in alphabetical order. Four looks nice graphically.--Batmacumba (talk) 12:36, 31 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

This is an invitation to editors to comment on an RfC on the U.S. presidential election 2016 article at Talk:United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Order of the list of candidates in the infobox. Sparkie82 (t•c) 02:10, 1 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Seems like spamming.--Batmacumba (talk) 13:03, 1 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Campaign

So far the article has mostly been "bookkeeping" about which candidates are in and out. We need more content about what the candidates actually campaign on.--Batmacumba (talk) 13:03, 1 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Political parties

Candidates in Iceland's presidential elections don't run on a party platform. Davíð Oddson who was the chairman of Iceland's Independence Party was previously listed in the info box of this page as a candidate for that party. In Iceland, the presidency is mostly considered a non-political role, even though the constitution gives certain political powers to the president. I suggest the infobox is changed to not include a political party.Castor8pollux (talk) 10:11, 21 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]