On Saturday, Icelanders will decide in a referendum whether the country should resume negotiations on EU membership, which have been suspended since 2013.

– There are two choices on the ballot paper: yes or no, writes Morgunblaðið .

Icelandic citizens who reside in Iceland and have reached the age of 18 on election day are entitled to vote, as are Icelandic citizens who have lived abroad for less than 16 years.

Polling stations open at 09.00 and will generally remain open until 22.00 this evening.

A high number of advance votes indicates that there is considerable interest in the referendum, writes the Icelandic newspaper.

As of yesterday, 59,364 people had cast advance votes, amounting to just over one-fifth of the 272,690 people on the electoral register. Never before have so many people cast advance votes in this country.

The campaign has been intense, and it is a close race between the Yes and No sides.

Towards the end, the No side appears to have gained ground. According to the latest Gallup poll, 51.6% intend to vote against resuming the accession negotiations, while 48.4% are in favour.

The EU referendum in Iceland is inevitably being followed with interest in Norway, where the battle lines on the issue are just as firmly drawn as among their kindred people to the west.