Turnout often exceeded 60%, possibly higher than four years ago
Prague – In the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, more than 60 percent of eligible voters voted in many places. In some small municipalities, everyone came to the polls, while interest is low in the excluded localities. According to the statements of regional authorities and town halls, the turnout could have been higher than in the last elections four years ago. The elections were not accompanied by any major problems, there was a non-compliance with the mandatory covering of the nose and mouth due to coronavirus. An announcement of a possible purchase with ballot papers for a police investigation at a hostel in Slaný, Brno, anonymously announced a bomb in the polling station. The election ended at 2 p.m.
In the parliamentary elections four years ago, almost 61 percent of eligible voters voted. It was more than in 2013, but also the third lowest participation since the establishment of the Czech Republic. The least interest was in the parliamentary elections in 2002, when 58 percent of voters came to the polls. On the contrary, the highest turnout so far was in the first parliamentary elections after the establishment of the Czech Republic, in 1996 more than 76 percent of voters came to elect their deputies.
Turnout in the Moravian-Silesian Region could be higher than in 2017. An hour before the closure of the polling stations of the regional commission’s control commissions, the participation of about 60 percent of voters is estimated, Miroslava Chlebounová from the regional office told ČTK. In 2017, 55.86 percent of voters went to the polls in the region.
The constituencies in the Karlovy Vary region also generally show a higher or at least similar turnout than in the last parliamentary elections. For example, in district 10 in Sokolov, members of the commission stated that such interest was last in the presidential election. Turnout is traditionally low, but this year it surpassed the election four years ago. About half of the voters also came to the spa district in Karlovy Vary. “This is unprecedented for this district,” a member of the election commission told ČTK. People with voting cards also go significantly more here to vote.
Half an hour before the closure of polling stations in some districts in Prague, the turnout exceeded 70 percent, such as Prague 6, Prague 10 or some of the most populous districts in Prague 4. There is an average turnout of about 65 percent, some around 60 percent. elsewhere it is closer to 70 percent. Similarly, around 65 percent of people also came to vote in Prague 1, less than 68 percent in Prague 2. Participation in the eighth district is around 61 percent. About 67 percent came to the polls in Prague four years ago.
According to spokeswoman Violeta Siřišťová, the police did not detect any breaches of order. She received several announcements at the petitions of the Prague Sobě association, which collected signatures for participation in municipal elections, but according to the police, this was not a violation of the electoral law.
Also in the Vysočina region, the participation exceeded 70 percent after 13:00. But more often it was about 65 percent. In the Pardubice Region, 75 percent of voters voted in only one of the constituencies in Žamberk in the Orlické Ústí region. Fewer people came to the last elections than this year, a member of the election commission told ČTK.
At 13:00, the turnout in South Moravia was 63.91 percent, the region’s spokeswoman Alena Knotková announced. Over 70 percent of people came in Boskovice, Tišnov and Šlapanice. In Brno, the turnout is 67.90 percent, in the Útěchov district 81 percent voted.
In Central Bohemia, over 60 percent of people usually voted. Slightly smaller turnout was in Kladno, where 56 percent of voters went to the polls. 61 percent came to vote in Nymburk, 64 percent in Kolín, 65 percent in Kutná Hora and 66 percent in Beroun. In Mladá Boleslav, over 62 percent of voters arrived at the polls by 1 p.m., but some constituencies reported 74 percent.
Such an interest in elections, such as this year’s parliamentary ones, in which place they do not remember in the Liberec region. “It was already visible on Friday, but even today voters still go, today mainly the whole family. We spoke to them here by people who admitted that they were going to vote for the first time, they were still people in their fifties,” Ondřej Korba, record one of the districts at the Ještědská Primary School in Liberec. According to the survey, the participation has already exceeded 60 percent in a number of places in the region. For example, in one of the districts on Žižkov vrch in Jablonec nad Nisou, 77 percent of registered voters had an appeal today an hour before the polls closed. Probably the highest participation so far is reported in Bedřichov in the Jizera Mountains, where this morning the ČT Author Cup mountain bike race started with thousands of competitors. There are 272 local voters in the village. “Even in the morning before the start, the competitors went to the polls, 282 people with a ballot card had already called us off, we had another set of ballot papers and envelopes sent to us,” said the recorder Regína Keltnerová. As a result, participation there reached 87 percent.
In the Pilsen region, turnout is around 50 to 60 percent, but some municipalities are slipping away. For example, the smallest municipality in the region and one of the smallest municipalities in the Czech Republic, Čilá in the Rokycany region, where one hundred percent of voters voted, have a 100% turnout. In addition to 18 local voters, 14 people with voting cards came to vote. Traditionally, some Šumava municipalities also have a high turnout – according to the recorder of the election commission, Daniel Kaifer, 90.2 percent of voters voted in Horská Kvilda. In addition to 45 locals and 47 people with oxen. In nearby Modrava, 91.6 percent have free participation – 51 out of 67 locals and another 125 people with Opposite ID cards voted.
Between 60 and 70 percent of voters came to the polls in southern Bohemia. In one of the districts at Ema Destinnová Elementary School in České Budějovice, attendance was 58.5 percent after noon. At the Jan Hus primary school in Písek, it is approaching 70 percent, in the Vodňanská district of Prachatice, the participation was 67 percent. “Over 60 percent of people always go, now people go a little more,” the recorder Martin Hubička told ČTK. Over 70 percent of the thousands of voters were participating in one of the Prachatice districts of Národní. “It is not a minute for no one to be in the polling station,” a member of the commission told ČTK. In one of the districts at the Za nádražím primary school in Český Krumlov, the participation was over 71 percent.
In the large cities of the Olomouc Region, turnout ranged from 55 to 60 percent half an hour before the polls closed. However, people were still walking, CTK found out. “Our participation is already over 60 percent and individuals still walk. Today, however, there were no queues, the onslaught was on Friday, “a member of the election commission from the Komenium primary school in Olomouc told ČTK. At 13:30, the turnout at Dr. Horák Elementary School in Prostějov, for example, climbed to 55 percent, and members of the election commission announced here that the number was not yet final.
In the larger cities of the Zlín Region, more than three-fifths of eligible voters took part in the parliamentary elections. As of 12:15, the share in Zlín was 65.43 percent. In Uherské Hradiště, at 13:00, 65.3 percent of eligible voters reached the polls, but more than 70 percent of them voted in nine of the 25 districts there. At 13:00, the turnout in Kroměříž was about 61 percent, as in Otrokovice in the Zlín region.
In the city in the Hradec Králové Region, which addressed ČTK this afternoon, more than 60 percent of voters came to the vote at 13:30. By then, an estimated 68 percent of eligible voters had come to Hradec Králové, about 67 percent in Náchod, about 64 percent in Dvůr Králové nad Labem and about 62 percent in Trutnov.
In the Ústí nad Labem Region, turnout is estimated at 58.5 percent, Magdalena Fraňková from the Ústí nad Labem Regional Authority told ČTK. Four years ago, 52.38 percent of voters in the region came to vote. Even today, they waited for the vote before the opening of the polling stations, a number of election commissioners believe that the interest is higher than in the last elections to the Chamber of Deputies. It is repeatedly valid in socially excluded localities in Mojžíř in Ústí nad Labem, where participation is estimated at 15 percent, in 2017 it was 19 percent in the given district. On the contrary, higher interest is evidenced by the election commission in Trmice near Ústí nad Labem, where there are also several localities with problematic citizens.