Votes being counted in first round of elections to Czech Senate
The first round of elections to one-third of the seats in the upper chamber of the Czech Parliament, the Senate, took place on Friday and Saturday, when polling stations closed at 2 p.m.
Just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, when around two-thirds of votes had been counted, turnout in elections to the Czech Senate stood at 42 percent at national level.
With so many votes yet to be counted, much was still to be decided, but among the most successful candidates was Jan Grolich, chairman of the Christian Democrats and governor of South Moravia, who appeared to have a strong chance of reaching the Senate in the first round in Vyškov. He only had two opponents and was some distance in front.
In Trutnov, Jan Sobotka of the Mayors and Independents was also closing in a strong win. Meanwhile in Rychnov nad Kněžnou, Jan Grulich (running for KDUODSSTPTOPLES, TOP 09) appeared to have secured a seat outright after taking an enormous lead on his only opponent in the constituency.
Tomáš Fiala of Our Czechia looked in a strong position to hold on to his seat in Strakonice.
Former Europe minister Martin Dvořák was at one point running fourth in Hradec Králové, where he previously served as city mayor, but later in the day appeared in with a chance of finishing in the first two.
The head of government leaders ANO, Andrej Babiš, had previously said the Senate should be abolished. Ahead of this weekend’s elections, however, he and the party made a concerted effort to increase their number of mandates from the hitherto number of 15 in the 81-seat chamber.
The current speaker of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil, said on Saturday afternoon that he hoped to remain in the post after the elections. Mr. Vystrčil has held the position since early 2020. However, his Civic Democrats would need to emerge from the elections with more seats than the Mayors and Independents and ANO, which is as yet unclear.
In constituencies where one candidate takes over 50 percent of the vote, that candidate automatically qualifies for the upper house. In other cases, the two front-runners from the first round go through a second round, which is set to take place next weekend.
Next month marks the 30th anniversary of the first elections to the Czech Senate.
Related
-
Senate and municipal elections 2026
On October 9 and 10 the Czech Republic will hold municipal elections as well as elections for one-third of the members of the Senate.
