At 2 p.m. the polls finally closed in 13 regions of the Czech Republic, where people voted for their representatives to regional councils, regional governors and, in the first round, one-third of the senators, including four senate districts in the capital Prague. Referenda on local issues were also held in 15 municipalities. The second round of elections to the Senate of the Czech Republic will take place in a week's time, on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September.
Significant results of the Senate and regional elections could be known in most districts this evening. "This year, however, the count may be longer than in previous elections, as it will probably take longer in areas affected by flooding," said a spokesman for the Czech Statistical Office Jan Cieslar. The final results should be available on Sunday night.
There are 169 registered candidates running for a seat in the Senate, roughly six candidates for one of the 27 seats in the upper chamber. A total of 8269 candidates are running for a total of 675 regional representative positions, according to the election website. There are thus roughly 12 candidates for each seat in the leadership of each region.
This is the seventh time the people have decided who will run their region, the first time being in 2000. This year's election was not without problems. The last one, four years ago, was complicated by the Covid epidemic, so people voted in disguises, sometimes from cars or in special facilities. This year's elections were marred by the devastating floods that hit the country a few days ago. As a result, voting often took place in improvised spaces, sometimes in voting tents that would later be used by volunteers.
The expected low voter turnout was confirmed especially in the areas most affected by the floods, where it dropped by about 10 percent. Overall, according to interim information, turnout varied from one per cent to 40 per cent of the electorate. Where high water has swept through, people have prioritised cleaning up and repairing the aftermath of the floods, especially as electricity is still out in many places, drinking water is a problem and transport is limited. In Silesia, people would have welcomed a postponement of the elections, which the government refused. For example, in Nové Heřminov in Bruntál, which was partially flattened by water, the regional authority had to arrange elections for 350 residents.
The voting was otherwise without major problems. Police in the Moravian-Silesian Region dealt with one threatening e-mail in a school with a polling station, while in the Karlovy Vary Region, based on an anonymous report, they dealt with alleged vote-buying in a home for the disabled in Rudná u Nejdku, which was not confirmed. "At this time, the circumstances of the case do not indicate that a felony or misdemeanor has been committed," police said on the X network.
The regional elections, in which the opposition ANO movement is now defending its overall victory, are also considered a test of the popularity of parties and movements ahead of next year's parliamentary elections. Although four years ago ANO won ten of the 13 regions, it was only able to take the seats of three of the 13 governors, similar to ODS, due to post-election coalitions.
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