Illustrative stock photo (source: SITA)
The fifth regional election in Slovakia is over. Most polling stations in a total of 2,927 municipalities closed at 22:00, but some in Trenčín Region stayed open until 23:15 due to power failure. The first preliminary results are gradually being published on two websites (www.volbysr.sk and www.statistics.sk).
The official results will be published and confirmed on November 5.
Voters, including foreigners had the opportunity to elect 416 members of regional parliaments and eight regional governors. There were 2,864 candidates altogether running for the seats in the regional parliaments. There were 78 candidates for the governorships.
What you should know
The self-governing regions (known under the acronym VÚC) are funded by taxes paid directly to the regions, including personal income and motor vehicle tax as well as through grants from central government ministries and European structural funds.
Unlike previous years, the regional governors will be elected in the first round. Moreover, the regional governors and deputies will be elected for five years. This is only a one-off measure as MPs want to unify the days for holding regional and municipal elections in 2022, TASR wrote.
The reason for such step is low turnout in the regional elections. In 2013, it was only 20.11 percent of eligible voters.
