Ballots close in second round of Senate elections

The second round of this year's Senate elections closed at 2pm on Saturday. Voters in 26 districts had the chance to vote on who they wanted to be their representative in the upper house of Parliament. A total of 26 senator positions were up for grabs, after one senate candidate had already managed to secure victory in the first round which took place last week.

Most of the candidates who got into the second round were from the ruling ANO party, the Civic Democrats and the Mayors and Independents. The Civic Democrats are hoping to keep on to their position as the strongest party in the upper house from which the Senate speaker is normally elected. However, this position could be lost if the Mayors and Independents gain enough seats.

Attendance was low in the first round, with only 36 percent of the 2.8 million eligible voters turning up. It seems that the number of voters in the second round is even lower, with voting commissions reporting an attendace of between 10 to 15 percent by Saturday mid-day.

The ballots are currently being counted and the results will be released by the Czech Statistics Agency.