BRATISLAVA, November 26, (WEBNOVINY) — Polling stations in the 2,926 municipalities throughout Slovakia will open on Saturday, November 27, for the country’s voters who will pick their mayors and municipal councilors. Voting starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m.. The municipalities are allowed to open polling stations earlier, however they have to close them at 8 p.m. Altogether 5,952 polling stations will be open on the election day.
In the municipal race, together 8,657 candidates are competing for the 2,920 mayoral posts. The elected officials will represent their voters in the next four-year term. Voters will receive two ballot papers on Saturday – one for election of a mayor and one for election of municipal council representatives. However, the situation will be different in Bratislava and Kosice, where voters will vote four times: they will elect their city mayor, city councilors, district mayor and district council members. Mayors will not be elected in six municipalities that have not compiled a list of candidates for mayoral election.
There are over 4 million people eligible to vote in these elections. Every person with permanent residence in Slovakia who is 18 or older is eligible to vote for representatives this Saturday. Voters do not need to be citizens of Slovakia; they can also be foreign citizens with permanent residence.
When voting for members of their municipal council, voters should be aware of the number of council seats which is on the top of the ballot paper determining the maximum number of candidates that can be voted for. If a voter circles more candidates than the set number, the ballot will be considered invalid. Voters vote by circling names of candidates on their ballots. .
Unlike in parliamentary elections, a 48-hour pre-election moratorium is in force prior to these elections. During the moratorium, which has been in force since Thursday morning and remains in effect until polling stations close at 20.00 on Saturday, campaigning either in support of or against any of candidate is prohibited.
The first, unofficial results are expected to be published shortly after polling stations close on Saturday at 20:00. Official results will be published the morning after the elections. The results will be published on the Statistics Office’s website www.statistics.sk and on external website www.volbysr.sk. Slovakia’s municipal elections will cost EUR 9 million.
SITA
