The Czech Republic is voting for new municipal councils and 27 of the 81 seats in the Senate. The elections will be held on Friday, October 9, and Saturday, October 10, with the vote for the upper house covering 27 constituencies.
Polling stations will be open on Friday from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If none of the Senate candidates receives more than half of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff will take place on October 16 and 17.
Fewer candidates for the Senate since 1998.
154 candidates have registered for the 27 senatorial seats. According to Czech Television, this is the lowest number of participants in a regular rotation of one-third of the Senate since 1998. The reason is mainly due to agreements between opposition formations on joint nominations or mutual support.
The opposition parties have nominated joint candidates in approximately half of the districts. The ruling ANO movement, on the other hand, is running independently in all 27 districts, without a joint candidacy with its coalition partners SPD and the Motorists.
“It will be very difficult for the ANO movement to achieve the maximalist option - to win a majority in the Senate, although this is mathematically possible“, commented the journalist from “Denik N“ Jan Tvardon to “Czech Radio Plus“.Tvardon points out that the result will also depend on the parties' ability to turn the local and Senate votes into a national political race. The Senate is elected according to a majoritarian system, which usually makes it difficult for smaller and more extreme formations.
Voting throughout the country
In the local elections, voters will determine the composition of municipal councils for the next four years. They can support a single party list, individual candidates from different lists, or combine the two. Senators will be elected only by citizens who live in one of the 27 districts, including Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pilsen, and Zlín.
In five municipalities - Kobilnice, Krchlebe, Pišt, Rokytovec, and Slavníč - local elections will not be held because the number of registered candidates does not reach the required number. The Ministry of the Interior specified that in Krchlebe and Pišt, a vote for the Senate will nevertheless be held.
Voters have received ballots for the local elections, and in districts with a Senate vote - a ballot for the first round. For the possible run-off, Senate ballots will be provided directly to the polling stations.
Sources: irozhlas.cz, ct24.ceskatelevize.cz