Editing Althing (section)

=== Home rule ===
A [[constitutional amendment]], confirmed on 3 October 1903, granted the Icelanders [[home rule]] and [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary government]]. [[Hannes Hafstein]] was appointed as the Icelandic minister on 1 February 1904 who was answerable to parliament. The minister had to have the support of the majority of members of the Althing; in the case of a vote of [[no confidence]], he would have to step down. Under the constitutional amendment of 1903, the number of members was increased by four, to a total of forty. Elections to the Althing had traditionally been public – voters declared aloud which of the candidates they supported. In 1908, the secret [[ballot]] was adopted, with ballot papers on which the names of the candidates were printed. A single election day for the entire country was at the same time made mandatory. When the Constitution was amended in 1915, the royally nominated members of the Althing were replaced by six national representatives elected by proportional representation for the entire country.<ref name="ath"/>