Prime Minister Robert Fico cast his vote in the parliamentary election around 11:00 at a precinct in Bratislava’s Dlhe Diely neighbourhood (see photos at Slovak Spectator's Facebook page). An incident occurred during his voting in which his wife was given only 17 voting ballots instead of 18. As there are 18 parties running in the election, the candidates for each party are listed on separate ballots. The missing ballot was the ballot of Smer party of which Fico is chairman.
“I consider it a very bad joke,” Fico said after he left the polling room, refusing to comment further. He did not answer questions whether he would file a complaint with the Central Election Commission.
Young activists in t-shirts distributed by the Týždeň weekly, with the face of Robert Fico crossed with a red colour on them, waited for the prime minister outside the school where the polling station was located.
“We believe a change is necessary after this election,” one of them told The Slovak Spectator.
The highest representatives of the Slovak Democratic Left (SDĽ) party also gathered in front of the school, in protest against Fico’s accusations that they were damaging the image of Smer, leading a non-democratic campaign by falsifying his signature, and that there was a connection between SDĽ and the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU).
SDL leaders called it their last chance to express their opinion and defend themselves against Fico’s accusations. They called it “disgusting” that Fico had convened a press conference only one day before the election and attacked their party without leaving them a chance to defend themselves.
