Context →
Saturday, 29 August 2026
The question on the ballot
Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?
Original (Icelandic): „Á Ísland að hefja á ný aðildarviðræður við Evrópusambandið?“
Iceland applied to join the EU in 2009 and began accession talks the following year, but the government shelved the negotiations in 2013 without a final decision on membership. This referendum asks voters only whether those talks should restart — it is not a vote on EU membership itself.
The vote is advisory, meaning Parliament isn’t legally bound by the result, though the governing coalition has said it will treat the outcome as a mandate. If accession talks resume and eventually produce a membership agreement, that agreement would be put to a separate referendum before Iceland could actually join.
Eligible voters
~272,690
Polls open
09:00–22:00
Result type
Advisory
Source: Government of Iceland, National Electoral Commission (kosning.is)
Results →
By constituency, plus national total. Hover a bar for exact figures.
⚠ Placeholder data — real figures will be displayed as constituencies report on election night (29 Aug 2026).
Yes No
Referendum: 29 August 2026. Counted in six constituencies by the National Electoral Commission (Landskjörstjórn).
Referendum Polling: Yes vs No →
Each point is one poll, plotted at the midpoint of its fieldwork period. Hover a point for details.
Yes No
Referendum: 29 August 2026. Fieldwork dates shown on hover.
Party Positions on the Referendum →
Current party positions, with European Parliament political group affiliation shown below each party.
Supports
Samfylkingin (government)
PES
Viðreisn (government)
ALDE
Opposes
Vinstri græn
European Left
Sósíalistaflokkurinn
No Europarty
Flokkur fólksins (government)
No Europarty
Framsóknarflokkurinn (opposition)
No Europarty
Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn (opposition)
EPP (associate)
Miðflokkurinn (opposition)
ECR
Neutral
Píratar
European Pirates
European affiliation reflects each party's current Europarty membership or affiliation.
Demographic breakdown Maskína poll for DV, fieldwork 22–29 July 2026 · 2,255 respondents, 1,865 took a position. Figures among those who took a position, unless noted. Yes % is labeled on the blue bar; No % is shown at right. Including undecided: 43.8% Yes, 38.9% No, 13.5% don't know, 3.8% declined to say.
Electoral History YES (of decided voters)53.0%
NO (of decided voters)47.0%
Gender
Women
53.7%
46.3%
Men
52.3%
47.7%
Age group
18–29
56.7%
43.3%
30–39
54.3%
45.7%
40–49
51.1%
48.9%
50–59
48.8%
51.2%
60–69
48.7%
51.3%
70 and older
57.6%
42.4%
Region
Reykjavík
61.4%
38.6%
Capital-region suburbs
54.6%
45.4%
South Iceland & Reykjanes
47.0%
53.0%
North Iceland
41.9%
58.1%
West Iceland & Westfjords
33.4%
66.6%
East Iceland
31.8%
68.2%
Education *Source only said "more than half say No" — bar is illustrative, not an exact figure.
University degree
61.5%
38.5%
Primary / secondary only
~45%*
~55%*
Monthly income (ISK)
Under 800k
49.7%
50.3%
800k–999k
59.5%
40.5%
1,000k–1,399k
54.5%
45.5%
1,400k–2,000k
60.2%
39.8%
Over 2,000k
52.4%
47.6%
Party currently supported (Europarty affiliation) * = no current Europarty membership.
Source: Maskína poll for DV, fieldwork 22–29 July 2026, n=2,255 (1,865 took a position), reported by DV, 30 July 2026. Liberal ALDE Centre-left PES European Left European Pirates Centre-right EPP National-conservative ECR No Europarty
Viðreisn
ALDE
95.8%
4.2%
Samfylkingin
PES
94.7%
5.3%
Vinstri græn
European Left
93.4%
6.6%
Píratar
European Pirates
89.3%
10.7%
Sósíalistaflokkurinn
*
79.2%
20.8%
Flokkur fólksins
*
53.3%
46.7%
Framsóknarflokkurinn
*
24.0%
76.0%
Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn
EPP (associate)
13.4%
86.6%
Miðflokkurinn
ECR
9.0%
91.0%
Iceland has held eight national referenda since becoming self-governing. Turnout is share of registered voters who cast a ballot.
1908 — Prohibition of alcohol 10 September 1908
Should the import of alcohol be banned?
1916 — Community Service 21 October 1916
1918 — Sovereignty / Act of Union with Denmark 19 October 1918
Approve the Act of Union making Iceland a sovereign state in personal union with Denmark?
1933 — Repeal of alcohol prohibition 21 October 1933
Should the 1908 alcohol import ban be repealed?
1944 — Independence: end union with Denmark & adopt republic 20–23 May 1944
Two questions: abolish the union with Denmark, and adopt a new republican constitution?
Figures shown are for "abolish the union"; the republic question passed almost identically (98.5% for).
2010 — Icesave I (bank debt repayment) 6 March 2010
Approve the state guarantee to repay the UK and Netherlands for Icesave depositor losses?
2011 — Icesave II (renegotiated terms) 9 April 2011
Approve a renegotiated, less costly Icesave repayment deal?
2012 — Constitutional reform (advisory, 6 questions) 20 October 2012
Q1: Should the Constitutional Council's proposals form the basis of a new constitution?
All 6 questions passed. Q3 (national church, 57.1% yes) was the only result that ran counter to the Council's own recommendation. As of the most recent update, the proposed changes still hadn't been enacted by Parliament.
2026 — Resume EU accession negotiations 29 August 2026
Should Iceland resume accession negotiations with the European Union?
Sources: Wikipedia (Icelandic referendum results pages), Statistics Iceland, IFES Election Guide, Iceland Review.
Contributors: Rithwik Narendra, Tobias Gerhard Schminke
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