INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMBINED ELECTIONS FOR FOREIGNERS

Combined municipal and regional elections will be held in Slovakia on Saturday 29 October 2022. In addition to citizens of the Slovak Republic, foreigners can vote in these elections as well, provided they are permanent residents of Slovakia and at least 18 years of age on the day of the elections at the latest.

 

Polling stations will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Voters can only vote in the municipality of their permanent residence. Voters vote in the electoral district in which they are registered on the electoral roll. Foreign residents must prove their identity at the polling station with proof of residence as a foreigner.

Election forms will be colour-coded with white and blue. For regional elections, there is a blue envelope in which voters insert two ballot papers with blue stripes. One ballot paper is for the elections of the local council of a self-governing region and one ballot paper for the elections of president of the self-governing region.

For municipal elections, there is a white envelope in which voters outside Bratislava and Košice insert two white ballot papers. There is a separate ballot paper for municipal or city council elections and a separate ballot paper for mayor or city mayor elections.

In Bratislava and Košice, voters receive up to four ballot papers for the municipal elections. For elections of local council and mayor of a city district, the ballot papers are white. For city council and city mayor elections, ballot papers are marked with a grey stripe on the left edge.

The receipt of the ballot papers and the envelope will be confirmed by voters separately in each electoral roll with their handwritten signatures.

The ballot paper shall be modified by circling. Voters may circle the serial number of only one candidate on the ballot papers for the elections of the president of a self-governing region and for the elections of a mayor or city mayor.

On the ballot papers for the elections of the local council of a self-governing region, the elections of the municipal (city) council and, in the case of Bratislava and Košice, also for the elections of the local council, voters may circle no more than as many serial numbers of the candidates as the number of members to be elected in the respective electoral district. The number of members to be elected in an electoral district is indicated on the ballot paper.

After voting, voters drop the envelope into the designated ballot box, which is either white or blue. If a voter places a ballot paper in the wrong envelope, the ballot paper is invalid. If a voter places an envelope in the wrong ballot box, the vote is invalid.

Voters are required to put unused or improperly modified ballot papers in a sealed ballot box for unused or improperly modified ballot papers.

An obstacle to the right to vote is a statutory restriction on personal liberty for reasons of public health, with the exception of COVID-19. Voters in isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19 will be able to vote at home using a special ballot box. They can request a special voting method no later than 12 noon on Friday 28 October. They can do so themselves or through another person by telephone during office hours in the municipality of their residence.

Voters who are unable to attend the polling station for serious, in particular health-related, reasons, have the right to request the municipality and, on the day of the elections, the district electoral commission to place their vote in a mobile ballot box. Mobile ballot boxes are not intended for voters in isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19.

The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic has set up a hotline for voters

It is available at 02/48592317 and 02/48592312 until Friday 28 October 2022 from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. and on the day of the elections on Saturday 29 October 2022 from 7:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.