Independent candidates win lion’s share of votes in municipal elections

Voting has ended in municipal elections and elections to a third of seats in the Czech Senate. With 75 percent of the votes in municipal elections counted, it is clear that independent candidates running alone and within various coalition groupings have won the lion’s share of votes.

Of the parties standing alone the ANO party presently has the strongest showing, followed by the Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats, Mayors and Independents, Social Democrats, the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, the Pirate Party and TOP 09.

However votes from the big cities, which are still coming in, may still significantly influence the outcome.

In the Senate elections, the ANO party has 18 candidates likely to advance to the second round, followed by the Civic Democrats who have first or second place in eight districts, and the Christian Democrats who have five candidates in a position to win a mandate.

In a small number of districts the Senate elections may be decided in this first round of the vote. Senator Ladislav Václavec from the ANO party has crossed the 50 percent vote margin in the Bruntál region, as has Christian Democrat candidate Petr Fiala in Ústí nad Orlicí. The Speaker of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil of the Civic Democrats has a chance of crossing the 50 percent vote margin in the first round in a contest against ANO’s Jana Nagyová.

The second round of voting in the Senate elections will likely be a standoff between candidates for the ruling coalition and the opposition ANO party.

Voter turnout in the Senate elections was close to 45 percent, a record turnout in the country’s modern history. Voter turnout in the municipal elections was close to 50 percent.