Information for the voter

Elections
to the European Parliament
in the territory of the Slovak Republic

Information for the voter

I

Date and time of elections

Elections to the European Parliament in the territory of the Slovak Republic will be held

on Saturday 8 June 2024 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

II

Right to vote

The citizen of the Slovak Republic permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic and reaching the age of 18 no later than on the date of elections, and the citizen of other Member State of the European Union permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic and reaching the age of 18 no later than on the date of elections has the right to vote in the elections to the European Parliament in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

The citizen of the Slovak Republic who is not permanently resident in the territory of the Slovak Republic or in the territory of other Member State of the European Union and will reach the age of 18 no later than on the date of elections, and stays in the territory of the Slovak Republic on the date of elections, also has the right to vote in the elections to the European Parliament in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

It is possible to vote only in one Member State of the European Union in the same elections to the European Parliament.

The right to vote is obstructed by the restriction on liberty in order to protect public health laid down by law, unless a spacial law provides otherwise durin pandemic.

III

Right to be elected

The following persons can be elected Members of the European Parliament

• a citizen of the Slovak Republic reaching the age of 21 no later than on the date of elections and permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic,

• a citizen of other Member State of the European Union reaching the age of 21 no later than on the date of elections, who has not been deprived of the right to be elected in the Member State of the European Union of which he or she is a national, and permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

It is possible to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament only in one Member State of the European Union in the same elections.

The right to be elected is obstructed by

• serving a prison sentence,

• final conviction for an intentional crime unless the conviction has been expunged,

• deprivation of legal capacity.

IV

Registration of a citizen of other Member State of the European Union in the list of voters

The citizen of other Member State of the European Union permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic is registered in the list of voters by the municipality, in which the citizen of other Member State of the European Union permanently resides, based on their application and declaration [Application and declaration samples (DOCX, 19 kB)].

The application along with the declaration must be submitted no later than within 40 days before the date of elections (no later than on 29 April 2024) otherwise the right to be registered in the list of voters will cease to exist.

The voter applying for registration in the list of voters for elections to the European Parliament in other Member State of the European Union and also applying for registration in the list of voters in the Slovak Republic commits a minor offence, for which a fine of EUR 100 will be imposed.

V

Voter certificate

The voter permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic, who, on the date of elections, cannot vote at the place of their permanent residence in the electoral district, in whose list of voters they are registered, may ask the municipality of their permanent residence for the issuance of a voter certificate. Based on the application, the municipality shall issue the voter certificate to the voter and delete the voter from the list of voters with a note about the issuance of the voter certificate.

The voter certificate authorises the voter to be registered in the list of voters in any electoral district.

The voter may apply for the issuance of the voter certificate

in person

no later than on the last business day before the election day (i.e. no later than on 7 June 2024) during the municipality’s office hours. The municipality shall issue the voter certificate without undue delay.

in paper form so that

the application for the issuance of the voter certificate is delivered to the municipality no later than within 15 business days before the date of elections (i.e. no later than on 20 May 2024),

in electronic form (by e-mail) so that

the application for the issuance of the voter certificate is delivered to the municipality no later than within 15 business days before the date of elections (i.e. no later than on 20 May 2024). For these purposes, the municipality publishes the electronic address for the delivery of applications at its website. If the municipality has no website, it shall publish the electronic address for the delivery of applications on the official board of the municipality.

The application must contain data on the voter

• name and surname,

• personal No. if it is a citizen of other Member State of the European Union permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic, date of birth if no personal number has been assigned to the voter,

• nationality,

• permanent address (municipality, street, house number),

• correspondence address, to which the municipality will deliver the voter certificate.

by proxy

it is possible to apply for the issuance of the voter certificate no later than on the last day before the day of elections (i.e. no later than on 7 June 2024).

The application must contain data on the voter

• name and surname,

• personal No. if it is a citizen of other Member State of the European Union permanently residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic, date of birth if no personal number has been assigned to the voter,

• nationality,

• permanent address (municipality, street, house number).

The municipality shall send the voter certificate to the voter’s permanent address unless other correspondence address is provided in the application, no later than within three business days after the delivery of the application. The municipality shall send the voter certificate to the address provided in the application as a registered mail, “Personal Delivery“.

If in the paper application or electronic application, the voter states that the voter certificate will be taken over by other person, the application must contain name, surname and identity card number of such person. The person shall be obliged to confirm the take-over of the voter certificate by signature.

The voter, to whom the voter certificate has been issued, can also vote in the polling station competent for the place of their permanent residence, however, only with the voter certificate.

The voter certificate is valid only with the identity card or residence card of European Union citizen.

VI

Voting procedure

The voter can vote in the territory of the Slovak Republic

• in the electoral district, in whose list of voters the voter is registered,

• in any electoral district based on the voter certificate or

• based on the Slovak travel document if the voter does not have permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic or in the territory of other Member State of the European Union.

After entering the polling station, the voter shall prove their identity by submitting the identity card or residence card of European Union citizen to the district electoral commission. If the voter certificate has been issued to the voter based on their application, the voter shall submit, along with the identity card or residence card of European Union citizen, the voter certificate, which will be withdrawn by the district electoral commission. Then, the district electoral commission will ring the serial number of the voter in the list of voters and issue the ballot papers and an empty envelope with an official seal of the municipality to the voter.

The voter, who does not have permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic or in the territory of other Member State of the European Union and appears in the polling station on the date of elections, shall prove their identity by submitting the Slovak travel document and at the same time, they shall submit to the district electoral commission a declaration on oath about the permanent residence abroad, whose sample shall be published by the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic at its website. The district electoral commission shall add such voter to the list of voters and record it in their Slovak travel document, and it shall attach the declaration on oath about the permanent residence abroad to the list of voters. Then, the district electoral commission will issue the ballot papers and an empty envelope with an official seal of the municipality to the voter.

The take-over of the ballot papers and envelope shall be confirmed by the voter in the poll list by their handwritten signature.

Before voting, each voter must go to the polling booth. The district electoral commission will not allow the voter, who fails to enter the special polling booth, to vote.

In the special polling booth, the voter shall put one of the ballot papers without any modification into the envelope or they shall designate preferential voting in one of the ballot papers by ringing the serial number of maximum two candidates. Then, the voter shall put the ballot paper into the envelope and subsequently in the ballot box.

 On demand, the district electoral commission will provide other ballot papers to the voter for the incorrectly modified ones. The voter shall put the incorrectly modified ballot papers to the box for unused or incorrectly modified ballot papers.

The voter, who cannot modify the ballot paper because of a handicap or because they cannot read or write, and notifies the district electoral commission of this fact before voting, shall have the right to take other competent person with them to the polling booth so that such person will modify the ballot paper according to their instructions and law and put it into the envelope; no member of the district electoral commission can be such person. Before entering the polling booth, both persons shall be informed by a member of the district electoral commission of the voting procedure and of the body of the offence of election preparation and election process obstruction.

The voter, who due to a handicap is not able to put the envelope into the ballot box themselves, may ask other person to put the envelope into the ballot box in their presence, however, it must not be a member of the district electoral commission.

The voter, who cannot appear in the polling station for serious, in particular health-related reasons, shall have the right to ask the municipality, and on the date of elections, the district electoral commission for voting into a mobile ballot box, however, only in the territory of the electoral district, for which the district electoral commission has been established.

The voter shall be obliged to put the unused or incorrectly modified ballot papers to a sealed box for unused or incorrectly modified ballot papers, otherwise they commit a minor offence, for which a fine of EUR 33 will be imposed. In case of voting out of the polling station, the voter shall destroy the unused or incorrectly modified ballot papers before the members of the district electoral commission.