The elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Czech parliament, will take place on 3-4 October this year, President Petr Pavel has decided, according to the website of the Presidential Office communication department today. This is the latest possible date for the elections.
After his decision is published in the Law Digests, the election campaign will officially begin. Parties can submit their lists of candidates by 29 July. The regional authorities will decide on their admission to the elections by 15 August at the latest.
For the first time, Czechs living abroad can vote by post, if they are registered on the voter lists at the embassies no later than 24 August.
The head of state must call the parliamentary elections to be held within 30 days of the end of the current term, but he must also do so at least 90 days before the elections are held. Pavel thus had time until the summer to announce the exact date. Four years ago, the general election took place in the Czech Republic on 8-9 October. Pavel’s predecessor Milos Zeman unusually announced the date nine months in advance.
Last autumn, the president said in an interview with the Blesk tabloid that he would respect the will of the voters after the parliamentary elections. He will therefore nominate the person with a chance of winning the support of the Chamber of Deputies to form the government, he said.
The opposition ANO movement is currently clearly leading in pre-election polls with support of more than 30%, ahead of the government Spolu coalition of the Civic Democrats (ODS), Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and TOP 09. The junior government Mayors and Independents (STAN) are third in some agencies’ polls, while in others, the opposition far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) would be in third place.
Timeline for this year’s elections to Chamber of Deputies:
| Deadline for submitting candidate lists (66 days before the vote) | July 29 |
| Deadline for reviewing lists of candidates and their completion (60 days) | Aug 4 |
| Deadline for removal of defects in candidate lists (50) | Aug 14 |
| Deadline for registration or withdrawal of candidate lists (49) | Aug 15 |
| Drawing numbers for running parties, movements and coalitions (45) | Aug 19 |
| Closure of voter lists abroad (40) | Aug 24 |
| Deadline for requesting postal voting (35) | Sept 29 |
| Czech Television, Radio start broadcasting election spots (16) | Sept 17 |
| Ban on publishing election polls begins (3) | Sept 30 |
