2018 Slovak local elections

The 2018 Slovak local elections were held on Saturday, 10 November 2018, to elect deputies to municipality councils, city councils and mayors, including mayors of boroughs and members of their councils in Bratislava and Košice.[1]

The turnout slightly increased compared to last elections in 2014 to 48.67%.[2] The highest turnout rate was recorded in Prešov Region (53.18%), and the lowest turnout rate in Bratislava Region (43.74%). Locally the highest percentage of votes cast was in Chorváty, Košice-okolie District (89.88%, 80 out of 89), and the lowest in Košice's borough Luník IX (19.44%, 862 out of 4,434).[3]

In 762 cities and municipalities, only one candidate ran for mayor, therefore, these candidates needed only one vote to be elected. These included two cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, Brezno and Šaľa. In five municipalities, there was no candidate for mayor.[4]

Electoral system

The commune elections in Slovakia use the one-round system for all elected seats. Mayoral elections utilize the first-past-the-post voting system compared to local councils where voters choose from the list same number of candidates as are representing theirs electoral district. The candidates with the highest number of votes are elected.[5]

Overall results

The following tables summarize the elected mayors and council deputies by their party affiliation.

Mayor elections

Summary of the 10 November 2018 mayor election results in Slovakia[6][7]

Parties and coalitions		2014 Results		2018 Results
		%	Total number	%	Total number
	Independent candidates (NEKA)	37.95	1,104	42.42	1,232
	Direction – Social Democracy (SMER-SD)	29.11	847	20.38	592
	Coalitions of government parties (SMER-SD, SNS, MOST-HÍD)	—	—[lower-alpha 1]	8.03	234
	Other parties and coalitions	18.35	552	7.19	222
	Slovak National Party (SNS)	1.40	41	5.50	160
	Christian Democratic Movement (KDH)	4.19	122	5.40	157
	Most–Híd	2.99	87	4.37	127
	Party of the Hungarian Community (SMK-MKP)	3.67	107	3.96	115
	Coalition of Most–Híd and Party of the Hungarian Community (SMK-MKP)	1.03	30	1.06	31
	Coalitions of opposition parties (SaS, OĽaNO, NOVA and Sme rodina)	0.63	19[lower-alpha 2]	0.59	18
	TOGETHER – Civic Democracy (SPOLU)	—	—[lower-alpha 3]	0.55	16
Total			2,909		2,904
Single party government of SMER-SD Coalitions of opposition parties (KDH, OĽaNO, Most–Híd, SDKÚ-DS and SaS) Did not exist.

Council deputies

Summary of the 10 November 2018 council deputies election results in Slovakia[6][7]

Parties and coalitions		2014 Results		2018 Results
		%	Total number	%	Total number
	Independent candidates (NEKA)	37.95	6,000	35.36	7,301
	Direction – Social Democracy (SMER-SD)	24.68	5,123	17.88	3,692
	Other parties and coalitions	20.14	4,179	11.42	2,359
	Christian Democratic Movement (KDH)	10.55	2,190	11.38	2,350
	Slovak National Party (SNS)	4.05	841	8.12	1,678
	Party of the Hungarian Community (SMK-MKP)	5.54	1,151	6.04	1,248
	Most–Híd	3.99	829	4.43	915
	Coalitions of government parties (SMER-SD, SNS, MOST-HÍD)	—	—[lower-alpha 1]	2.18	453
	TOGETHER – Civic Democracy (SPOLU)	—	—[lower-alpha 2]	1.38	285
	Coalitions of opposition parties (SaS, OĽaNO, NOVA, Sme rodina)	0.45	104[lower-alpha 3]	1.00	214
	National coalition	1.61	336[lower-alpha 4]	0.73	151
Total			20,753		20,646
Single party government of SMER-SD Did not exist. Coalitions of opposition parties (KDH, OĽaNO, Most–Híd, SDKÚ-DS and SaS) As Party of Democratic Slovakia (SDS)

Results in major cities

Bratislava

The incumbent mayor Ivo Nesrovnal elected as independent candidate decided to run for second term, however, he was defeated by architect and civil activist Matúš Vallo, supported by Progressive Slovakia and Together - Civic Democracy who became new mayor and another independent candidate and former director-general of Radio and Television of Slovakia, Václav Mika.[8]

Out of 17 new elected mayors of boroughs were 10 independent candidates and 7 candidates with the support of different centre-right coalitions - each with Freedom and Solidarity, We Are Family and New Majority.[9]

Summary of the 10 November 2018 elections in Bratislava[10][11]

Mayor				City Council
Candidate		Votes	%	Diagram	Parties and coalitions		Seats
	Matúš Vallo (Team Vallo, PS-SPOLU)	58,578	36.54			Independent candidates (NEKA)	17
	Václav Mika (NEKA)	36,661	22.87			Centre-right coalition[lower-alpha 1]	15
	Ivo Nesrovnal (NEKA)	29,531	18.42			Coalition of PS-SPOLU	13
	Ján Mrva (OĽaNO, SaS, Sme rodina, KDH and others[lower-alpha 1])	27,689	17.27
	Iveta Plšeková (NEKA)	2,445	1.53
	Roman Ruhig (SNJ-sv)	2,010	1.25
	Others	3,390	2.11
Total		160,304					45
Valid votes		160,304	98.01
Invalid votes		3,264	1.99
Votes cast / turnout		163,558	40.68
Registered voters		402,062
OĽaNO, SaS, Sme rodina, KDH, OKS, NOVA, Zmena zdola, DÚS

Košice

The previous mayor, 2014-elected Richard Raši (SMER-SD), resigned from office after his appointment to new government as Deputy Prime Minister.[12] Responsibility for the mayor office was taken over by Martin Petruško (SMER-SD). The campaign was influenced by rumored child harassment scandal of opposition candidate, Jaroslav Polaček that caused his loss of support from few major political parties. These rumors were later demented and Polaček won the election.[13][14]

Out of 22 new elected mayors of boroughs were 13 independent candidates, 7 candidates with the support of different centre-right coalitions - each with Freedom and Solidarity and Christian Democratic Movement, 1 candidate of Direction – Social Democracy and 1 from Party of the Romani Coalition.[15]

Summary of the 10 November 2018 elections in Košice[16][17]

Mayor				City Council
Candidate		Votes	%	Diagram	Parties and coalitions		Seats
	Jaroslav Polaček (SaS, KDH, SMK-MKP, NOVA, OKS)	29,157	43.29			Independent candidates (NEKA)	18
	Martin Petruško (SMER-SD, SNS)	16,044	23.82			Centre-right coalition led by SaS[lower-alpha 1]	12
	Alena Bašistová (NEKA)	10,001	14.85			Direction – Social Democracy	4
	Viliam Novotný (Šanca)	6,084	9.03			Centre-right coalition led by OĽaNO[lower-alpha 2]	4
	Vladimír Vágási (Most-Híd)	1,325	1.97			Sport for Košice and the East (ŠKV)	1
	Džemal Kodrazi (NEKA)	1,061	1.58			TOGETHER – Civic Democracy	1
	Štefán Horváth (Národná koalícia)	733	1.09			Party of the Romani Coalition	1
	Others	2,943	4.37
Total		67,348					41
Valid votes		67,348	95.30
Invalid votes		3,319	4.70
Votes cast / turnout		70,667	35.72
Registered voters		197,859
SaS, KDH, SMK-MKP, NOVA, OKS OĽaNO, Sme rodina, Zmena zdola, DÚS, DS

Prešov

Andrea Turčanová - the incumbent mayor elected with support of center-right coalition confirmed in February 2018 intention to candidate for re-election. Her biggest rival was the former mayor (2006-2014) and independent candidate Pavel Hagyari.[18][19]

Summary of the 10 November 2018 elections in Prešov[20][21]

Mayor				City Council
Candidate		Votes	%	Diagram	Parties and coalitions		Seats
	Andrea Turčanová (KDH, OĽaNO, NOVA)	14,205	45.73			Coalition of KDH, OĽaNO, NOVA	12
	Pavel Hagyari (NEKA)	8,921	28.72			Independent candidates (NEKA)	8
	Richard Drutarovský (PS-SPOLU, OKS)	2,648	8.53			Coalition of SMER-SD, SNS, Most-Híd	8
	Miroslav Benko (SMER-SD, SNS, Most-Híd)	2,560	8.24			Coalition of PS, SPOLU and OKS	2
	František Oľha (SaS, Sme rodina, Šanca, DS)	2,360	7.60			Centre-right coalition[lower-alpha 1]	1
	Others	366	1.18
Total		31,060					31
Valid votes		31,060	99.14
Invalid votes		270	0.86
Votes cast / turnout		31,330	42.20
Registered voters		72,251
SaS, Sme rodina, Šanca, DS

Žilina

Mayor of Žilina - Igor Choma (SMER-SD) announced he was not going to run for re-election. On the other hand, in Žilina occurred increased number of independent candidates elected to council. Election was won by Peter Fiabáne (NEKA) who was externally supported by both liberal and conservative center-right parties.[22][23]

Summary of the 10 November 2018 elections in Žilina[24]

Mayor				City Council
Candidate		Votes	%	Diagram	Parties and coalitions		Seats
	Peter Fiabáne (NEKA)	13,876	48.06			Independent candidates (NEKA)	25
	Patrik Groma (NEKA)	7,142	24.74			Coalition of OĽaNO, SaS, OKS, NOVA	3
	Martin Kapitulík (NEKA)	3,754	13.00			Direction – Social Democracy	1
	Ľudmila Chudelková (NEKA)	2,548	8.83			Christian Democratic Movement	1
	Ján Púček (ĽSNS)	917	3.18			TOGETHER - Civic Democracy	1
	Others	635	2.20
Total		28,872					31
Valid votes		28,872	98.78
Invalid votes		357	1.22
Votes cast / turnout		29,229	41.30
Registered voters		70,771

Banská Bystrica

Summary of the 10 November 2018 elections in Banská Bystrica[25]

Mayor				City Council
Candidate		Votes	%	Diagram	Parties and coalitions		Seats
	Ján Nosko (NEKA)	18,281	75.19			Independent candidates (NEKA)	20
	Igor Kašpar (OĽaNO, SaS, Sme rodina, KDH, PS)	5,490	22.58			Coalition of SMER-SD and SNS	8
	Jozef Sásik (SĽSAH)	401	1.65			Centre-right coalition[lower-alpha 1]	3
	Peter Peuker (NAJ)	140	0.57
Total		24,312					31
Valid votes		24,312	97.88
Invalid votes		527	2.12
Votes cast / turnout		24,839	39.75
Registered voters		65,485
OĽaNO, SaS, Sme rodina, KDH, PS

References

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2. Dugovič, Matej; Kerekeš, Daniel (2018-11-13). "V Bratislave volilo viac ľudí, najvyššia účasť bola tam, kde vyhral starosta za KDH". Denník N (in Slovak). ISSN 1339-844X. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
3. "Najvyššia účasť bola v obci Chorváty, najnižšia na Luníku IX". Teraz.sk (in Slovak). TASR. 2018-11-11. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
4. Dugovič, Matej; Kerekeš, Daniel (2018-10-25). "Prvé výsledky volieb: Smer bude mať starostu v 190 obciach, desiatky dedín získajú Most, SMK a SNS". Denník N (in Slovak). ISSN 1339-844X. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
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8. "Ivo Nesrovnal bude opäť kandidovať za primátora Bratislavy, kampaň si bude hradiť sám". Webnoviny.sk (in Slovak). SITA. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
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10. "Celkové výsledky volieb" (PDF) (in Slovak). Bratislava: Mesto Bratislava. 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
11. "ZOZNAM ZAREGISTROVANÝCH KANDIDÁTOV" (in Slovak). Bratislava: Mesto Bratislava. 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
12. "Richard Raši sa dnes stal podpredsedom vlády SR pre investície a informatizáciu" (in Slovak). Bratislava: Úrad podpredsedu vlády pre investície. 2018-03-22. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
13. red (2018-09-03). "Matovič a Kollár odstupujú od podpory kandidáta na primátora Košíc. Manželka ho obvinila, že zneužíval syna". HNonline.sk (in Slovak). TASR. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
14. Bejda, Róbert; Jabrik, Peter (2018-10-05). "Polaček je čistý. Kauza údajného zneužívania jeho syna sa skončila". Korzár (in Slovak). Retrieved 2020-09-02.
15. "Košice - okres - Zvolení kandidáti na starostov 2018". SME.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2020-09-02.
16. "Celkové výsledky volieb" (PDF) (in Slovak). Košice: Mesto Košice. 2018-11-11. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
17. "ZOZNAM ZAREGISTROVANÝCH KANDIDÁTOV pre voľby primátora mesta Košice" (PDF) (in Slovak). Košice: Mesto Košice. 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
18. "Turčanová bude opäť kandidovať na prešovskú primátorku". korzar.sme.sk (in Slovak). TASR. 2018-02-23. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
19. Dudová-Bašistová, Mária (2018-09-12). "Pavel Hagyari sa chce vrátiť do kresla primátora". mysaris.sme.sk (in Slovak). TASR. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
20. "Celkové výsledky volieb" (in Slovak). Prešov: Mesto Prešov. 2018-11-11. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
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22. "Igor Choma sa už nebude uchádzať o post primátora Žiliny". Pravda.sk (in Slovak). TASR. 2018-01-24. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
23. "Sedem demokratických opozičných strán dnes podporilo kandidatúru Petra Fiabáne na primátora". Žilina.sk (in Slovak). 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
24. "Celkové výsledky volieb" (PDF) (in Slovak). Žilina: Mesto Žilina. 2018-11-11. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
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