A curious incident marked the presidential election in the village of Medzany in the eastern-Slovak region of Presov.
Anton Vano, a member of the municipal council, stole the ballot box from the room where the election is taking place.
Slovaks elect their new president Read more The polling station in the village remained closed for one hour and 16 minutes, which means that it will stay open until 23:16. This also means the countrywide moratorium on publishing results, including results of exit polls, will be prolonged until then.
All the ballots have been found
"A voter came and took the ballot box. People failed to catch him, he ran out onto the street. He threw it on the ground, and since it is made of paper, it fell apart. The ballot box is broken, and the ballots are scattered around," the Medzany Mayor Jozef Kipikaša said, as quoted by the Sme daily. He said he has never seen anything like that happen as a mayor. He has served in the post since 1990.
The voter was reportedly intoxicated and "nobody knows why he did it, not even he does".
The police oversaw the local election commission as they counted the scattered ballots and found that the number corresponded with the number of those who had voted before the incident. The police guarded the ballots throughout the process, the local election commission member told the press.
Police found the culprit in the bushes
The locals reported that the man came from a celebration, but they are astonished by what he did because "he used to be able to control himself, even after he had been drinking".
The police found the man hiding in the bushes. He faces criminal prosecution for the crime of marring elections.
