Deadline for expats to register for election expires

Prague, Sept 2 (CTK) - Czech citizens living abroad have the last opportunity to get registered as voters for the autumn Senate elections at the respective Czech diplomatic offices yesterday.

If they want to take part in the elections to the upper house of Czech parliament, they will have to cast their votes in the Czech Republic, however.

Unlike in the Czech general election, in which the lower house deputies are elected, votes for senators cannot be cast at Czech embassies.

On the other hand, Czech expatriates may support any candidate in one of the 27 constituencies in which new senators will be chosen.

In the general election, expatriates can vote only in a given region that is selected by the Czech election commission by lot.

Czechs based outside their home country will receive an election card to avoid possible repeated voting.

The first round of the Senate polls will take place on October 12-13, simultaneously with elections to the regional assemblies.

Expatriated do not have the right to take part in the regional elections.

The complicated registration of Czech voters living abroad might be replaced by electronic voting via the Internet. The Interior Ministry proposed that this method be used in the 2014 general election.