Eighty-five candidates out of the almost 3,000 that were initially included on the slates of the 26 parties running in this Saturday's Slovak parliamentary elections will not now take part, the TASR newswire reported on Thursday, March 8. This is the definitive number of drop-outs as the deadline for candidates to withdraw, or for parties to remove candidates from their slates, expired on Thursday, March 8, at 7:00.
The number of departures is several times higher than for any previous general election. Sixty-six people chose to opt out, one died and the rest were withdrawn by the parties. In terms of the number of candidates who cancelled their bids, Ordinary People and Independent Personalities' (OĽaNO) lost 37 candidates, followed by Nora Mojsejová's Free Speech Party (SSS), 12 of whose candidates quit.
In terms of the number of candidates withdrawn by the parties, the list is topped by the Law and Justice (PAS) party with six candidates, followed by OĽaNO with three candidates. The Slovak National party (SNS) withdrew its fourth-place candidate, former education minister Ján Mikolaj.
Voters will be informed about withdrawn candidates when they arrive at polling stations on Saturday; any preferential votes cast for those candidates will be disregarded.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
