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Slovaks Voting in General Election 2010 Since 7 a.m.
Saturday 12 June 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, June 12 (TASR) - The general election has begun as of 7 a.m. on Saturday. Some 4.3 million eligible voters are about to decide from among 18 running political parties who will make up the 150-member Parliament for the next four years. In total, 2,366 MP candidates are running in the election.
According to law, every Slovak citizen who turned 18 by the election day at the very latest is eligible. Due to amendments to legislation, incarcerated persons can also exercise their democratic franchise, with only exemption from the rule being those convicted of serious crimes.
Likewise, Slovak citizens with a permanent residence in Slovakia or any foreign country for that matter are able to cast their votes via post from abroad. "There are 6,390 voters with a permanent residence in Slovakia and 568 with a permanent residence in foreign countries exercising their democratic franchise via post," Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said on June 1. These voters were required to deliver their filled ballot papers to authorities by June 11 - a day before the election.
There are 5,929 local election commissions, 50 district election commissions and a Central Electoral Commission (UVK) involved in supervising the process. Some 2,000 policemen have been deployed to the streets to secure law and order during the vote.
First unofficial poll results are to be published by the Statistics Office after the polling stations close at 10 p.m. on internet websites www.volbysr.sk and www.statistics.sk. Official results will be published on Sunday, June 13 in the morning.
An evaluation commission from OSCE has been invited to Slovakia in order to monitor the election and the way the Slovak Election Act is being put into practice.
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