The Slovak version of Google on September 30, 2023.
On September 30, Slovaks will elect 150 MPs to the highest legislative body.
The official name of the parliament is the National Council of the Slovak Republic.
Elections in Slovakia are universal, direct, equal and secret. They are always held on Saturdays, from 7:00 to 22:00 (in case of unexpected events, the time may be extended), and voting takes place for one day only.
Elections are usually held once every four years. If the government falls, they are held earlier. The early election of 2023 is the fourth early election in the history of Slovakia. The previous ones took place in 1994, 2006, and 2012.
1) Who can vote?
Every Slovak citizen who is 18 years old by election day. Those born after September 30, 2005 cannot vote in this election and will have to wait for the next one.
Slovaks who live abroad or are on holiday, study or work abroad at the time of the election can also vote. They must (also) hold Slovak citizenship. Permanent residence in Slovakia is not mandatory. They vote by post, not at the embassy. They must apply for an election by post and deliver the application by post or electronically through the official website of the Interior Ministry by August 9.
Voters with Slovak citizenship and without permanent residence in Slovakia cannot vote in Slovakia with their passport. They have to apply to vote by post.
Those who have to stay at home on election day due to health or other serious problems also have the right to vote. Voting outside the polling station (voting in a portable ballot box) must be requested from the municipality and the relevant district commission on the day of the election (by phone).
If a voter knows that they will be hospitalised on election day, they must obtain a voter's card. They inform the staff at the hospital that they want to vote.The hospital will publish the exact time and place where patients can vote. An improvised polling station is usually located on the hospital premises. A similar situation concerns prisons.
Only persons who have limited personal freedom due to the protection of public health do not have the right to vote.
2) Where do people vote?
Voters receive information on the place and time of elections by post no later than 25 days before the election, so that they know the exact address of their polling station and the number of their electoral district in time.
The polling station is always as close as possible to the place of their permanent residence. It is usually established in schools or in municipal offices.
Different rules apply to people who have obtained a voter's card or are voting from abroad.
3) What does a voter need at a polling station?
The only thing they need is a valid ID. The exception is if the voter requested a voter's card. In that case, they will present it together with their ID card.
Neither a passport nor a driver's license can be used to prove the voter's identity during elections.
4) Who supervises the elections?
The correct course of voting is ensured by the electoral division commission, which is supervised by the electoral district commission and the state commission. The State Commission for Elections and Control of the Financing of Political Parties is an independent body for controlling the financing of political parties and political movements, managing elections and ascertaining the results of elections.
The way these commissions are assembled creates the conditions for mutual cross-checking by running political parties; it is one of the main control mechanisms that ensures the transparency of elections.
One member and one substitute may be nominated to the electoral division and electoral district commissions by a political party or coalition whose slate has been registered. Each commission must have a total of five members.
5) How do people vote?
Upon arrival at the polling station, the voter presents an identity document. After registration, they will receive ballots from all 25 candidate parties and coalitions. Each party represents one ballot.
The voter first chooses a specific party or coalition. In practice, this means that they select one ballot on which the names of the candidates are printed. After choosing a specific party or coalition, they may (but not need) to circle one to four preferred candidates. The candidate's number is circled, not the name.
Subsequently, the voter inserts a ballot into an envelope and seals it. They then throw the envelope into the ballot box. Unused ballots shall be placed in the box designated for unused ballots. If the voter does not do this, they commit an offence for which there is a penalty of €33.
6) Why do some voters circle specific candidates?
When circling, i.e. assigning so-called preferential votes, specific candidates, the voter can influence the composition of the parliament. When circling their favourites, the voter may not exceed the permitted maximum of four candidates. If five or more candidates are circled, only the vote for the political party is counted. Preferential votes for specific candidates will not be counted.
Votes for preferred candidates are taken into account only if they receive at least 3 percent of the total number of votes allocated to the party for which they are running.
7) When and where are the first results published?
The first unofficial results could be known shortly after the closing of all polling stations, while the Statistics Office will update them continuously. Official results are traditionally published on Sundays around lunchtime after confirmation by the state election commission.
8) Why is it important for a political party to win parliamentary elections?
The winner of the election - the political party or coalition with the highest number of votes - is, according to the usual rule, entrusted with forming the government. Since the government must gain the confidence of the parliament, it needs the support of at least 76 MPs. In practice, this means that the winner of the election must come to an agreement with the number of political parties that will ultimately secure the necessary majority in the parliament. Without a minimum of 76 votes, the government has no real power to enforce anything in parliament. If the winner does not have the necessary support, another party/coalition may be asked by the president to try to form the government.
9) How are seats in the parliament distributed?
After the elections, a ranking of all running political parties is compiled to determine how many percentages each party won. Parties with less than 5 percent (in the case of coalitions it is 7 percent) do not advance to the stage where seats in the parliament are distributed, and their votes are no longer taken into account. Only those parties that exceeded the 5 percent threshold will be tallied.
This sum is then divided by 151 (this is the number of all seats in the parliament, which is increased by one - such a procedure is regulated by law). The aforementioned division will result in the so-called republican electoral number, which represents the number of votes needed to win one seat. The number of votes of each of the parties that advanced to parliament is then divided by the republican electoral number.
The result will be the number of seats the party will win.
With such a distribution of seats, it can happen that usually two or three seats of the total number of 150 remain unassigned. In such a case, the remaining seats will be allocated successively to those political parties or coalitions with the largest division balance (based on the highest number after the decimal point). If the balances are equal, the seat is assigned to the party that received a greater number of votes.
10) What is the coalition and opposition?
A coalition is a group of political parties formed in the government in order to achieve a certain political goal. The opposition are political parties that are not part of the government. An important role of the opposition is control and criticism of the government.
