Prague, Oct 16 (CTK) – More than 9,000 Czech citizens have registered on the voter lists at Czech embassies to be able to take part in the Czech general election to be held on October 20-21, the Foreign Ministry told CTK on Monday.
The embassies in London, Brussels and Paris have reported the highest interest in Czech elections.
Along with the voters registered beforehand, Czechs who have obtained a voter card are also able to vote at diplomatic missions abroad.
Czech citizens can take part in the parliamentary election at 109 places abroad, including embassies and consulates, but also the Balad military base in Iraq.
“A total of 9,285 people have been registered on special lists of voters abroad,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Irena Valentova told CTK.
The highest number of voters, more then 800, have registered at the embassy in London, while over 700 have registered at the diplomatic missions in Brussels and over 400 at the embassy in Paris.
On the contrary, the lowest number of Czech voters, under ten, have registered at the embassies in Morocco, Ghana and Moldova, Valentova added.
Czech citizens who have long been living abroad may take part in the elections only if they registered at the respective embassy by October 10.
In the previous general election four years ago, some 14,000 people registered on voter lists of whom three-quarters took part in the election.
So far, Czechs have elected deputies to the lower house of Czech parliament at diplomatic missions abroad four times. The number of those voting in elections has been increasing.
Fifteen years ago, when they were able to vote for the first time, some 3,800 participated in elections abroad, while in 2006, it was around 6,700 and four years later 8,222. A total of 10,571 voters took part in the early general elections abroad in 2013.
The votes from abroad are added to the election result in a constituency set by the State Electoral Commission by drawing lots. This year, Czechs staying abroad will choose from among parties and candidates running in Central Bohemia.
