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Elections in the Czech Republic

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All elections in the Czech Republic are based on the principle of universal suffrage. Any adult citizen who is at least 18 years old can vote, except those who have been stripped of their legal capacities by a court, usually on the basis of mental illness. Elected representatives are elected directly by the citizens without any intermediaries. Election laws are not part of the constitution, but – unlike regular laws – they cannot be changed without the consensus of both houses of the Parliament.[1] The Czech Republic uses a two-round plurality voting system for the presidential and Senate elections and an open party-list proportional representation system for all other elections. The proportional representation system uses the Sainte-Laguë method for allocating seats.

Elections are usually held over two days, from 14:00 to 22:00 on Friday and then from 8:00 to 14:00 on Saturday.

System of elections

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Presidential elections

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Any citizen aged 40 or over can stand for president, unless they have already served two terms in the office or have been found guilty of treason by the Constitutional Court. From 1993 to 2008, presidents were elected by both houses of the Parliament in three rounds of voting. Since the 2013 election the president is elected directly by the people in two rounds, where the top two candidates from the first round face each other again in the second round. Presidents are elected for five-year terms.

Chamber of Deputies elections

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Any citizen aged 21 or over can stand as a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies, which consists of 200 members elected for four-year terms. The Chamber of Deputies elections do not necessarily take place at fixed intervals as the Chamber of Deputies can be prematurely dissolved by the president, under conditions set by the Constitution. The president also decides the date of the elections, thereby starting the official election campaign, during which political parties' spending is capped by the law.

There are 14 voting districts for elections to the Chamber of Deputies, which correspond to the regions of the Czech Republic. Each of these voting districts has a different number of seats available, and parties submit ranked lists of candidates for each district. Candidates of a political party can only win a seat if their party received at least 5% of all valid votes nationally. Voters must choose only one political party to vote for, but they may use up to four preferential votes for particular candidates of that party, which affect the final order of the candidates on the party list. After the elections, the president nominates somebody (usually the head of the winning party) to form a new Cabinet.

Senate elections

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Any citizen aged 40 or over can become a senator. The Senate consists of 81 members, elected for six-year terms. Elections are held every two years, with one third of Senate seats contested each time. The country is divided into 81 senate constituencies with roughly the same number of voters. The elections consist of two rounds, in which the top two candidates from the first round face each other again in the second round. The Senate elections – and especially the second rounds – have had the lowest voter turnouts of all Czech elections.

European elections

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Any citizen aged 21 or over can represent the Czech Republic as a member of the European Parliament. The Czech Republic is assigned 21 out of 720 mandates in the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament are elected for five-year terms. There is only one constituency and one list of candidates for the entire Czech Republic. Voters must choose one political party to vote for, but can use up to two preferential votes for particular candidates of that party, which affect the final order of the candidates on the party list.

Regional elections

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Any citizen aged 18 or over can become a regional councilor. There are 13 regional councils, one for each region of the Czech Republic except the capital, Prague. The City Council of Prague has a special status and acts as both regional and municipal council. Members of regional councils are elected for four-year terms. Their number varies across the regions from 45 to 65. Candidates of a political party can only win a seat if their party gained at least 5% of all valid votes. Voters must choose one political party to vote for, but they can also use up to four preferential votes for particular candidates of that party, which affect the final order of the candidates on the party list. Voters can only vote in the region where they have registered their permanent address.

Unlike in the case of the national cabinet, there is no individual person nominated to form a new regional cabinet. Whichever coalition forms a majority in the regional council chooses the president of the regional cabinet. Political parties can switch sides, end their support for the current president of the regional council and form a new regional cabinet without the need for early elections.

Municipal elections

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Any citizen aged 18 or over can become a municipal councilor. Municipal councilors are elected for four-year terms. Voters can only vote in the municipality where they have registered their permanent address. The number of councilors for each municipality varies from 5 to 55. Each voter has a number of votes corresponding to the number of seats in that particular municipal council, which can be distributed freely across candidates of all political parties.

For a party to be eligible for representation, the total number of votes for a party divided by the number of seats in the municipal council and multiplied by the number of candidates nominated by that party must exceed 5% of the total number of valid votes cast in the municipality. The number of votes for a candidate of a party in proportion to the number of all votes cast for that party affects the final order of candidates on the party list.

Referendums

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The Constitution of the Czech Republic mentions referendums only in the context of "a referendum concerning the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union".[2] There are no other provisions concerning referendums. As such, the only state-wide referendum ever held in the Czech Republic was the Czech European Union membership referendum in 2003. The government of the Czech Republic approved a referendum bill in 2005,[3] but it was never passed by the parliament.

Results of the latest elections

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Latest presidential election

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CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Petr PavelIndependent1,975,05635.403,359,15158.33
Andrej BabišANO 20111,952,21334.992,400,04641.67
Danuše NerudováIndependent777,08013.93
Pavel FischerIndependent376,7056.75
Jaroslav BaštaFreedom and Direct Democracy248,3754.45
Marek HilšerMarek Hilšer to the Senate142,9122.56
Karel DivišIndependent75,4751.35
Tomáš ZimaIndependent30,7690.55
Total5,578,585100.005,759,197100.00
Valid votes5,578,58599.215,759,19799.51
Invalid/blank votes44,2270.7928,3430.49
Total votes5,622,812100.005,787,540100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,245,96268.198,242,56670.22
Source: Czech Statistical Office

Latest Chamber of Deputies election

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PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Spolu1,493,90527.79+5.3671+29
ANO 20111,458,14027.13–2.5172–6
Pirates and Mayors839,77615.62–0.3637+9
Freedom and Direct Democracy513,9109.56–1.0820–2
Přísaha251,5624.68New0New
Czech Social Democratic Party250,3974.66–2.620–15
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia193,8173.61–4.160–15
TricolourSvobodníSoukromníci148,4632.76+1.2000
Free Bloc71,5871.33New0New
Green Party53,3430.99–0.4700
We Will Open Czechia21,8040.41New0New
Swiss Democracy16,8230.31New0New
Moravané14,2850.27New0New
Alliance for the Future11,5310.21–0.1100
Koruna Česká8,6350.16New0New
Sources Movement8,5990.16New0New
Urza.cz6,7750.13New0New
Alliance of National Forces5,1670.10+0.0900
Pensioners 213,6980.07New0New
Moravian Land Movement1,6480.03New0New
The Left6390.01New0New
Right Bloc5860.01+0.0000
Total5,375,090100.002000
Valid votes5,375,09099.32
Invalid/blank votes36,7940.68
Total votes5,411,884100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,275,75265.39
Source: Volby (results), E15 (seats)

Latest Senate election

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Party First round Second round Seat totals
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Won Not up Total +/–
Civic Democratic Party 140,293 14.07 0 82,377 18.23 5 5 13 18 +3
Mayors and Independents 122,948 12.33 1 104,538 23.13 10 11 8 19 +7
ANO 2011 115,202 11.55 0 39,473 8.74 1 1 4 5 -1
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party 82,814 8.30 0 65,397 14.47 3 3 9 12 -3
Czech Social Democratic Party 81,105 8.13 0 18,175 4.02 0 0 3 3 -10
Freedom and Direct Democracy 60,284 6.04 0 0 0 0 0
TOP 09 46,575 4.67 0 33,938 7.51 2 2 3 5 +2
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia 40,994 4.11 0 0 0 0 0
Czech Pirate Party 36,717 3.69 0 18,804 4.61 1 1 1 2 +1
Senator 21 32,884 3.30 0 25,071 5.55 2 2 1 3 0
Tricolour Citizens' Movement 25,609 2.57 0 0 0 0 0
Green Party 11,315 1.13 0 8,085 1.79 0 0 1 1 0
Freeholder Party of the Czech Republic 11,213 1.12 0 8,499 1.88 0 0 0 0 -1
Party of Free Citizens 9,297 0,93 0 8,433 1.87 1 1 0 1 +1
Mayors and Personalities for Moravia 7,778 0.78 0 8,723 1.93 0 0 0 0 0
Hradec Králové Democratic Club 7,445 0.75 0 15,138 3.35 1 1 0 1 +1
Severočeši.cz 1,645 0.16 0 0 1 1 0
Marek Hilšer for Senate 916 0.09 0 0 1 1 0
Independents 26,119 2.61 0 0 4 4 0
Invalid or blank votes 24,527 1,812
Number of registered voters and voter turnout 2,815,827 36.29% 2,711,956 16.74%
Source: Volby.cz

Overview of past elections

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Constitution of the Czech Republic". Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Constitution of the Czech Republic". Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  3. ^ Lazarová, Daniela (2005-03-10). "Czech government approves referendum bill". Radio Praha. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
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