Iceland's 'Pirate Party' Is Currently the Election Frontrunner

This was the year a third party could have made some waves.

Then, sadly, Gary Johnson happened.

Iceland, however, has found a new way to rock the political boat: the Pirate Party. On the eve of the Nordic island’s Oct. 29 election, local newspaper Morgunblaðið and the Icelandic Social Science Research Institute have released a poll showing the Pirates running at 22.6%, a point and a half ahead of the ruling Independence Party.

But don’t get your hopes up for an endless rum-and-pillage fest in Reykjavik.

This is a faction most concerned with online privacy — one proposal of theirs is for Iceland to act as a Switzerland for online data, where information stored there can’t be disclosed. Their leader, Birgitta Jonsdottir, was once a WikiLeaks activist.

And the party’s number one priority, according to their website? “Pirates emphasize critical thinking and well-informed decisions.”

Iceland uses proportional representation, meaning if the numbers hold, up the Pirate Party will end up with about 15 seats in a 63-member government.

Yar.