An election was held for an constitutional assembly

Constitutional Assembly

The Constitutional Assembly was a body elected in 1955 to draw up a permanent constitution for the Republic of Indonesia. It sat between November 10, 1956 and July 2, 1959...

 in Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 on 27 November 2010. The Supreme Court of Iceland

Supreme Court of Iceland

The Supreme Court of Iceland holds the highest judicial power in Iceland. It is the oldest court of law in Iceland and the higher of the two court branches, while the District Courts of Iceland are the lower. Nine judges sit in the court and hold command over the President of Iceland in accordance...

 invalidated the results of the election on 25 January 2011 following complaints about several faults in how the election was conducted, while there was no evidence that the flaws in the process led to actual problems. Two reactions are considered possible: the Alþingi could appoint the elected candidates if their mandate is considered legitimate, or the elections could be repeated. In the end, the Alþingi appointed the candidates; the thus-appointed Constitutional Council is to hand its suggestions to the Alþingi in June.http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/search/news/Default.asp?ew_0_a_id=374647

The assembly will for the first time in Iceland's history review broad areas of the constitution:
The Assembly must convene by 15 February 2011 and finish its work no later than 15 April 2011. The 25 members will be elected using STV-PR under the Weighted Inclusive Gregory Method. Over 500 candidates filed to run in the election, more than double the most optimistic estimates.

Turnout in the election was only 36%. 15 men and 10 women were elected, fulfilling the quota of 40% women required; had fewer women been elected, up to six women closest to being elected under the regular method would have been declared elected to fulfill the quota. The full list of the 25 members elected to the Constituional Assembly are as followed:

Candidate	Profession	First Preference Votes
Þorvaldur Gylfason Thorvaldur Gylfason Thorvaldur Gylfason is an Icelandic economist who has been active in Icelandic public life. On November 27, 2010, he was elected to be a delegate at the Icelandic Constitutional Assembly in 2011.-Education:...	University Professor of Economics	7,192
Salvör Nordal	Director of the University of Iceland University of Iceland The University of Iceland is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern comprehensive university, providing instruction for about...  Ethics Institute	2,842
Ómar Þorfinnur Ragnarsson	Media Presenter	2,440
Andrés Magnússon	Physician	2,175
Pétur Gunnlaugsson	Lawer and Radio Presenter	1,989
Þorkell Helgason	Mathematician	1,930
Ari Teitsson	Farmer	1,686
Illugi Jökulsson	Journalist	1,593
Freyja Haraldsdóttir	Manager	1,089
Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir	Lecturer in International Politics	1,054
Örn Bárður Jónsson	Pastor	806
Eiríkur Bergmann Einarsson	Reader of Political Science	753
Dögg Harðardóttir	Manager of the Division of Architecture at Reykjavik Art Museum Reykjavik Art Museum Reykjavik Art Museum is the largest visual art institution in Iceland. It occupies three locations in Reykjavík; in Harbour House by the old harbour at Kjarvalsstaðir by Klambratún and in Ásmundur Sveinsson Sculpture Museum in Laugardalur...	674
Vilhjálmur Þorsteinsson	Chairman of Crowd Control Productions	672
Þórhildur Þorleifsdóttir	Theatre Director	584
Pawel Bartoszek	Mathematician	584
Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir	University Professor	531
Erlingur Sigurdarson	Former Museum Director and Teacher	526
Inga Lind Karlsdóttir	Media Presenter and University Student	493
Katrín Oddsdóttir	Lawer	479
Guðmundur Gunnarsson Guðmundur Gunnarsson Guðmundur Gunnarsson is an Icelandic electrician and union leader. The father of the singer Björk , he is a nationally known figure in his own right as the leader of the Icelandic Electricians' Union, Rafiðnaðarsamband Íslands .Guðmundur's parents were Gunnar Guðmundsson and Hallfríður...	Trade Union Chairman	432
Katrín Fjelsted	Physician	418
Ástrós Gunnlaugsdóttir	Political Scientist and University Student	396
Gísli Tryggvason	Consumer Spokesperson	348
Lýður Árnason	Filmmaker and Physician	347
Source: http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=370813

Changes

The changes proposed by the Assembly will likely be put to a referendum in 2012.

The proposals include:

• a referendum on abolishing the state church
  State church
  State churches are organizational bodies within a Christian denomination which are given official status or operated by a state.State churches are not necessarily national churches in the ethnic sense of the term, but the two concepts may overlap in the case of a nation state where the state...
  
   (polls indicate 73% would vote in favour of separation of church and state
  Separation of church and state
  The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
  
  );
• a number of changes to government, including not automatically making the biggest party's leader PM, introducing a ten-year limit for PM terms, and that a vote of no confidence should have to include a proposed replacement PM.
• obliging the state to provide internet access to all citizens;
• introducing a three-term limit for the president;
• allowing 15% of voters to put bills to parliament or call for a referendum on proposed laws;
• restricting government size to ten ministers, and barring ministers from being MPs at the same time; and
• declaring Iceland's natural resources public property.

The constitution draft was finished on 29 July 2011 and presented to parliament on the same day.

Election deemed null and void by the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Iceland

Supreme Court of Iceland

The Supreme Court of Iceland holds the highest judicial power in Iceland. It is the oldest court of law in Iceland and the higher of the two court branches, while the District Courts of Iceland are the lower. Nine judges sit in the court and hold command over the President of Iceland in accordance...

 invalidated the results of the election on January 25, 2011 following complaints about several faults in how the election was conducted. The election was challenged by three persons citing technical violations of election laws. However, there was no evidence that the flaws in the process led to actual problems. Parliament began the same day with deliberations on whether and how to continue the process. Two reactions are considered possible: the Alþingi could appoint the elected candidates if their mandate is considered legitimate, or the elections could be repeated.

After receiving their election certificate (kjörbréf) on December 2, 2010, the elected delegates were informed on January 27, 2011, that the election certificates had been revoked by the National Election Commission. The following day, all of the Commission members tendered their resignation citing the circumstances that had arisen and the harmony necessary for the Commission to carry out its functions.

It was decided on 25 February 2011 that the elected assembly members would instead be appointed to a Constitutional Council with basically the same role; only the Independence Party

Independence Party (Iceland)

The Independence Party is a centre-right political party in Iceland. Liberal conservative and Eurosceptic, it is the second-largest party in the Althing, with sixteen seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson and vice chairman is Ólöf Nordal....

was against this solution.