Friday and Saturday ballots: how Czech elections really work

Czech voters go to the polls on a Friday afternoon and a Saturday morning, not on a Sunday, and they are handed a stack of ballot papers rather than one. Elections here are frequent, each type uses a different method, and the calendar interlocks in ways that puzzle newcomers. A foreigner who follows only the national contest misses the votes that shape daily life in Prague, such as who sits on the city assembly.

The six elections

Czechia elects the Chamber of Deputies every four years, a third of the Senate every two years, the president every five years, regional assemblies and municipal councils every four years, and the European Parliament every five years.

Regional and municipal elections fall in the autumn of alternate even years, and the Senate third is held in the same autumn as one or the other. Chamber and presidential elections keep their own timetables.

A short history of the ballot box

Voting in its modern form is younger than many residents assume. The first free elections after communism took place in June 1990, still in Czechoslovakia. The Senate waited until 1996, regional assemblies until 2000, and the European Parliament elections began with Czechia's first vote in June 2004, soon after accession. The direct presidential vote arrived in 2013. Every one of these layers was added in the last three and a half decades, which explains why the system has a slightly stacked look and why a general election is only one of several dates a voter marks in the diary.

The Chamber of Deputies

The 200 deputies are elected by proportional representation. The constituencies follow the regional boundaries, and each party puts up a candidate list in each. Seats go to parties that clear the threshold, which for a single party is 5% of valid votes nationwide (as of 2026; check the Ministry of the Interior). Coalitions running on a joint list face higher thresholds, which rise with the number of parties involved. A party under the line gets no seats, and the votes cast for it do not count towards the result.

Voters can also give preferential votes to individual candidates, which can move someone up their party's list. The effect varies from election to election, and the parties' own ordering decides most outcomes.

The Senate and the presidency

Senate elections are majoritarian. Each of the 81 districts sends one senator, and if no candidate gets more than half the votes, the top two go to a run-off a week later. Only a third of the seats are contested at a time, so a Senate election takes place in 27 districts.

The president has been elected directly in two rounds since 2013. A candidate must be at least 40 and must collect 50,000 signatures from citizens, or win the backing of 20 deputies or 10 senators (as of 2026; check the official source). If nobody takes a majority in the first round, the top two meet two weeks later. The office has its own explainer: how the Czech president is chosen and what the role does.

Regional and municipal votes

Both use proportional representation with candidate lists, and voters can usually mark individual names as well as the list. Municipal elections are the most local of all. A small village chooses a handful of councillors; Prague elects its city assembly and, separately, assemblies in its districts, so Prague residents vote at two levels at once. The mayor is not elected directly but chosen afterwards by the councillors.

European Parliament elections

Czechia elects 21 MEPs. The whole country is a single constituency, seats are allocated proportionally and a 5% threshold applies (as of 2026; check the official source). The most recent vote was in June 2024. Czech parties tend to campaign on a mixture of EU and domestic issues, with the domestic ones usually winning.

How your vote actually works

In a Chamber election every party or coalition prints its own ballot paper, so the voter does not tick a box on one long list. You receive the full set in the polling station, choose the one you want and put it in the official envelope. Marking preferential votes, which can lift named candidates up a list, is optional and limited to a small number of candidates (as of 2026; check the instructions in the polling station). A voter who puts ballots of several different parties in the envelope spoils the vote, and so does one who skips the official envelope.

Municipal ballots work differently, which catches people out. The voter may have several votes, up to the number of councillors to be elected, and in many places may spread them across candidates from different lists. Read the instruction sheet displayed in the booth before marking anything. Senate ballots are simpler: one candidate, one mark, and a second round a week later if nobody has passed half the vote.

Who can vote, and where

Czech citizens aged 18 or over can vote in national elections, normally in the municipality where they are registered for permanent residence. Citizens living abroad can register to vote through an embassy or consulate.

Foreigners have limited rights. Citizens of other EU countries who live in Czechia can vote in municipal and European Parliament elections, but they must be entered in the supplementary electoral roll at their municipality in advance. They cannot vote twice in the same European election, once here and once at home. Whether non-EU nationals can vote locally depends on the law and on international agreements, so ask your municipal office. Nobody without Czech citizenship can vote in national elections.

What the day looks like

Polling stations are in schools and municipal buildings. You bring valid ID, such as an identity card or passport, and receive an official envelope and the ballots. You mark them behind a screen and put your choice in the envelope. Counting happens at the polling stations once voting closes on Saturday, and the first results usually appear that afternoon or evening.

If you cannot reach your own polling station, a voter's card (voličský průkaz) lets you vote elsewhere in the country. Voters who cannot travel for health reasons can ask for a portable ballot box to be brought to them. Details differ by type of election.

Registering as an EU citizen

If you are an EU citizen settled in Prague, check the deadline for the supplementary electoral roll before the next local or European election and register through your district office. The Ministry of the Interior's English pages publish the official timetable for each vote.

Frequently asked questions

Do I vote on a Sunday?

No. Czech national elections are held over a Friday afternoon and Saturday, and the same two-day pattern is used for other main votes.

Can I vote if I am travelling on polling day?

Czech citizens can ask for a voter's card (voličský průkaz) that lets them vote at another polling station in the country.

Can a non-EU resident vote in Czechia?

Not in national elections. For local rights, ask your municipal office, since the answer depends on law and agreements.

Where do I see results?

The Czech Statistical Office publishes official results by polling station at volby.cz as counting proceeds.

The results portal is the place to end up on polling night. It updates as the commissions report, and it lets you drill down to your own polling station, which is more revealing about local politics than any national headline.