2024 Icelandic presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Iceland on 1 June 2024. Incumbent president Guðni Th. Jóhannesson announced that he would not seek a third term. Entrepreneur Halla Tómasdóttir was elected as his successor and will take office on 1 August.

Background
The previous presidential elections on 27 June 2020 saw incumbent president Guðni Th. Jóhannesson re-elected for a second four-year term with 92% of the vote, over Guðmundur Franklín Jónsson. The office of President is not term-limited; however, despite being eligible to serve a third term, Guðni announced in his New Year's address to the Icelandic people on 1 January 2024 that he would not stand for re-election again.

Electoral system
The President of Iceland is directly elected by first-past-the-post voting, with a simple plurality of votes needed to win. Candidates must be Icelandic citizens and at least 35 years of age on election day.

On election day, polling opened at 09:00 and ran until 22:00.

Candidates
Prospective presidential candidates had until 26 April 2024 to collect more than 1,500 voter signatures to secure ballot access. Eighty candidates sought voter signatures by that date. The following individuals have received media attention for their potential candidacy for the position of president. On 29 April 2024, the National Electoral Commission announced which candidates had secured ballot access.

Confirmed candidates
Below is a list of verified candidates.

Withdrew or failed to get ballot access
These candidates failed to collect enough signatures before the deadline expired.
 * Agnieszka Sokolowska, project manager at the Capital Region Fire Service.
 * Angela Snæfellsjökuls Rawlings, artist-researcher, on behalf of "Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta", a geocultural intervention to nominate the non-human candidate Snæfellsjökull.
 * Axel Pétur Axelsson, conspiracy theorist
 * Guðbergur Guðbergsson, real estate agent and former stunt man
 * Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson, former electrician and the world's first double-arm and shoulder transplant receiver
 * Húni Húnfjörð, business administrator, teacher and former basketball player
 * Kári Vilmundarson Hansen, disc jockey. Endorsement list declared invalid on 29 April.
 * Margrét Friðriksdóttir, editor. Withdrew on 28 March after seeking voter signatures for five days.
 * Sigríður Hrund Pétursdóttir, investor. Declared on 12 January and Withdrew on 26 April.
 * Tómas Logi Hallgrímsson, rescue worker. Declared on 5 January and withdrew on 20 March (endorsed Baldur Þórhallsson)

Declined

 * Alma Möller, Director of Health
 * Andri Snær Magnason, writer and a candidate in the 2016 presidential election
 * Björgvin Páll Gústavsson, handball player
 * Björn Zoëga, CEO Karolinska University Hospital
 * Dagur B. Eggertsson, former Mayor of Reykjavík
 * Guðmundur Franklín Jónsson, businessman and a candidate in the 2020 presidential election
 * Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland from 2016 to 2024
 * Gylfi Þór Þorsteinsson, team manager of the Icelandic Red Cross's fundraising and promotion department
 * Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, former leader of the Social Democratic Alliance, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mayor of Reykjavík
 * Jakob Frímann Magnússon, musical artist and MP for the People’s Party (endorsed Katrín Jakobsdóttir)
 * Magnús Geir Þórðarson, artistic director of the National Theatre of Iceland
 * Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, businessman and writer
 * Páll Pálsson, real estate agent
 * Róbert Spanó, former President of the European Court of Human Rights
 * Víðir Reynisson, police officer and the Chief superintendent of the Office of the National Commissioner of the Police
 * Þorgrímur Þráinsson, writer
 * Þórólfur Guðnason, doctor who serverd as the Chief Epidemiologist of the Icelandic Directorate of Health
 * Þóra Arnórsdóttir, documentary film maker, media personality and a candidate in the 2012 presidential election

Campaign issues
Presidential debates have featured Iceland's membership in NATO, military aid for Ukraine, the possible sale of the state energy firm Landsvirkjun and the use of veto powers by the Presidency. Questions were also raised on whether Katrín Jakobsdóttir's background as a politician and prime minister would affect her tenure in office, to which she said that she "can rise above party politics". Halla Tómasdóttir ran her campaign on issues such as the effects of social media on the mental health of youth, tourism development and the role of artificial intelligence.

Reactions
After her victory was confirmed, Halla Tómasdóttir was congratulated by former prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.