Elections in the Czech Republic
All elections in the Czech Republic are based on the principles of universal suffrage. Any adult citizen who is at least 18 years old can vote. The exception to that are people who were stripped of their legal capacities by a court, usually on the basis of mental illness. The elected representatives are elected directly by the citizens without any intermediaries. Election laws are not part of the constitutional laws, 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 D'Hondt method for allocating seats. Any election is usually held in the span of two days from 14:00 to 22:00 on Friday and then from 8:00 to 14:00 on Saturday.
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System of elections
Presidential elections
Any citizen aged 40 or more can become the president, unless they have already served two terms as the president or have been found guilty of treason by the Constitutional Court. From 1993 to 2008, the presidents were elected by both houses of the Parliament in three rounds of voting. Since the 2012 election the President is elected directly by the people in two rounds where the two most successful candidates from the first round face each other again in the second round. The presidents are elected for 5-year terms.
Chamber of Deputies elections
Any citizen aged 21 or more can become a member of the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Deputies consists of 200 members who are elected for 4-year terms. The Chamber of Deputies elections do not necessarily follow a firm pattern as the Chamber of Deputies can be – under conditions set by the Constitution – prematurely dissolved by the President. The president also officially sets the date of the elections and thereby starts the period of election campaigning, during which the political parties' campaign spendings are capped by the law.
There are 14 voting district for the Chamber of Deputies elections which correspond to the regions of the Czech Republic. Each of these voting districts also has a different list of candidates. Candidates of a political party can only gain a seat if their party gained at least 5 % of all valid votes. Voters always have to choose only one political party that will get their vote, but they can also use one to four of preferential votes for particular candidates of that party. These preferential votes then affect the final placing of the candidates on the party list. After the elections, the President entrusts somebody (usually the head of the winning party) with the formation of a new Cabinet.
Senate elections
Any citizen aged 40 or more can become a Senator. The Senate consists of 81 members who are elected for 6-year term. The elections are held every two years and only one third of the Senate seat is contested each time. The entire Czech Republic is split up into 81 senate constituencies which contain roughly the same number of voters. The elections have two rounds where the two most successful candidates from the first round face each other again in the second round. The Senate elections – and especially their second rounds – have had the lowest voter turnouts of all of the elections.
European elections
Any citizen aged 21 or more can represent the Czech Republic as a member of the European Parliament. The Czech Republic is assigned 22 out of 736 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 have to choose only one political party that will get their vote, but they can also use one or two of preferential votes for particular candidates of that party. These preferential votes then affect the final placing of the candidates on the party list.
Regional elections
Any citizen aged 18 or more can become a Regional Councilor. There are 13 Regional Councils, one for each region of the Czech Republic, with the exception of the capital of Prague. Prague is governed by the City Council of Prague, which has a special status and acts as both Regional and Municipal Council. Members of the Regional Council are elected for four-year terms. Their number varies across the regions from 45 to 65. Candidates of a political party can only gain a seat if their party gained at least 5 % of all valid votes. Voters always have to choose only one political party that will get their vote, but they can also use one to four of preferential votes for particular candidates of that party. These preferential votes then affect the final placing 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 State Cabinet, there is no one person entrusted with the formation of 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
Any citizen aged 18 or more 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. He can distribute them freely across candidates of all political parties.
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 needs to exceed 5 % of the total number of valid votes cast in the municipality. Otherwise the candidates of that political party are not eligible to gain a mandate. 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 placing of candidates on the party list.
Referendums
The Constitution of the Czech Republic mentions referendum only in context of "referendum concerning the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union"[2] There are no other provisions concerning referendums. Therefore, the only state-wide referendum ever held in the Czech Republic was 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
Latest Presidential election
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Miloš Zeman | Party of Civic Rights | 1,985,547 | 38.56 | 2,853,390 | 51.36 | |
| Jiří Drahoš | Independent, with KDU–ČSL and STAN support | 1,369,601 | 26.60 | 2,701,206 | 48.63 | |
| Pavel Fischer | Independent | 526,694 | 10.23 | |||
| Michal Horáček | Independent | 472,643 | 9.18 | |||
| Marek Hilšer | Independent | 454,949 | 8.83 | |||
| Mirek Topolánek | Independent, with ODS support | 221,689 | 4.30 | |||
| Jiří Hynek | Realists | 63,348 | 1.23 | |||
| Petr Hannig | Party of Common Sense | 29,228 | 0.56 | |||
| Vratislav Kulhánek | Civic Democratic Alliance | 24,442 | 0.47 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 29,097 | – | 13,031 | – | ||
| Total | 5,177,238 | 100 | 5,567,627 | 100 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 8,366,433 | 61.92 | 8,362,987 | 66.60 | ||
| Source: Volby | ||||||
Latest Chamber of Deputies election
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
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Legislative elections | |
| Senate elections | |
| Regional elections | |
| Municipal elections | |
| European elections | |
| Referendums | |
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| Parliamentary elections | |
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| Parliamentary by-elections | |
| Regional elections |
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| Local elections |
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| Referendums | |
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References
- "Constitution of the Czech Republic". Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- "Constitution of the Czech Republic". Retrieved 2013-11-01.
- Lazarová, Daniela (2005-03-10). "Czech government approves referendum bill". Radio Praha. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
External links
- Official election website
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
- NSD: European Election Database - Czech Republic publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2010
- Czech Republic Election Data, European Journal of Political Research-Political Data Yearbook: Interactive