Icelanders back Constitution proposals: preliminary results

REYKJAVIK (AFP) - Icelanders backed proposals for a new basic law, preliminary results showed on Sunday, after a referendum on what has been dubbed the world's first "crowd-sourced Constitution".

Turnout was estimated at less than 50 per cent amid voter fears that the results of the non-binding referendum would be ignored by the small Nordic country's politicians.

The proposed new basic law for the island nation was drafted by 25 ordinary citizens with the help of hundreds of others who weighed in on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

On Saturday, that committee put six Constitution-related questions to voters in a referendum, to be answered by a simple yes or no.