Polls open in Icelandic vote on constitution

Polls opened in Iceland on Saturday for the country to vote on elements of a new constitution which has been drafted by 25 ordinary citizens with the help of hundreds of others who chipped in online. In the consultative referendum, voters are to answer six questions on topics such as the role of the country's natural resources and of the national church with a simple yes or no. The six questions were chosen by a committee of 25 ordinary citizens elected in 2010 to review the country's constitution: they in turn took to the Internet to solicit the views of their fellow Icelanders. The complexity of the ballots means results are not expected to be announced until Sunday. Katrin Theodorsdottir, head of the election committee in Reykjavik's northern constituency, told the daily Frettabladid on Saturday that the committee had decided against using computers. "It did not show a reliable enough outcome and there were some errors," she said. As of Friday, around 13,000 people had cast their ballots early, slightly fewer than before last year's Icesave referendum, when voters decided whether to approve a deal to compensate Britain and The Netherlands for the 2008 collapse of Icesave bank. The draft legislation for a new constitution was submitted to the country's parliament, the Althing, at the end of July 2011. In May this year it was decided to seek the opinion of the island's inhabitants on six issues. The country's basic law dates back to Iceland's independence from Denmark in 1944 and it has long been accepted that it needs revision. Demands that any new constitution be drawn up by ordinary citizens surfaced in the wake of Iceland's financial collapse in 2008, which provoked huge social movements in the country.