The Czechs chose deputies. Record interest in voting was abroad – PRAVDA.sk

In the Czech Republic on Saturday afternoon at 14.00. the elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic ended. So far, interest in the elections seems to have been higher than in previous years. Already on Friday, 50 percent of eligible voters recalled in some places, writes the news server Seznam Zprávy.

TASR,
ČTK

09.10.2021 08:23, updated: 14:17

Czech parliamentary elections, voting in Prague.

For example, in Brno, 55 percent of people recalled on Saturday before noon. In southern Bohemia, turnout is between 40 and 70 percent. According to the Novinky.cz portal, shortly before the closing of polling stations, turnout in the city of Hradec Králové attacked the level of 66 percent.

On Saturday, the police also dealt with election-related emergencies, which were minimal. In Brno, police officers received an anonymous report of a planted bomb. But they found nothing in the polling station. In addition, police reported cases of non-compliance with anti-pandemic measures in polling stations. However, there were fewer of them than on Friday.

Read more The president in danger? What is happening to Miloš Zeman?

Robert Šlachta, the chairman of the movement, was removed from the party presidents as one of the last on Saturday morning. He stated that he believed that his movement would exceed the five percent threshold necessary to enter the Chamber of Deputies, the Czech Parliament. Most of the other leaders dismissed on Friday.

This year, for the first time, votes will be converted to seats under the new rules. The Imperiali quota is used instead of the d’Hondt method. Each party will receive as many seats in a given region as the quota will fit into the number of valid votes for that party. This will alleviate the advantage for the winner of the election, explain Novinky.cz, the online magazine of the daily Právo.

The interim results will be published by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO) according to how they will be delivered by individual election commissions. Relevant results will not be known until Saturday late in the afternoon or evening.

Record abroad

Already on Friday, all the heads of parliamentary parties and the President of the Republic Miloš Zeman recalled. He voted for a wheelchair at the chateau in Lány from a wheelchair. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš reiterated that he was running for the last time, stressing that he considered this year’s elections to be the most important in the history of the Czech Republic.

Turnout is estimated to have reached about 20 percent by Friday morning, a level similar to four years ago. On Friday, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs registered a record interest in voting abroad. More than 2,400 people applied for voting cards at embassies, which is half as many as in the January 2018 presidential election.

Read more The Czech elections can be decided by seniors

Mostly young people or employees of European institutions came on Friday to cast their votes in the polling station at the Czech Embassy in Brussels. Almost all voters addressed to ČTK agreed that they wanted to change political conditions in the Czech Republic and chose one of the pro-European opposition parties. According to Consul Sandra Mihol, the turnout roughly corresponded to the last elections to the Chamber of Deputies. During the first day, 631 people came to the vote.

More than eight million eligible voters could vote in the Czech parliamentary elections. 22 entities applied for 200 parliamentary seats – 20 political parties and two electoral coalitions.