2020 Slovak parliamentary election

Slovak parliamentary election 2020

29 February 2020
All 150 seats in the National Council 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,916,840 (65.80%) 5.98 pp
First party Second party Third party   File:IgorMatovic2020 (cropped).png Leader Igor Matovič Peter Pellegrini Boris Kollár Party OĽaNO Smer We Are Family Leader since 2011 2018 2015 Last election 19 seats, 11.0% 49 seats, 28.3% 11 seats, 6.6% Seats won 53 38 17 Seat change 34 11 6 Popular vote 720,723 526,889 237,398 Percentage 25.0% 18.3% 8.2% Swing 14.0 pp 10.0 pp 1.6 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Marian Kotleba Richard Sulík Andrej Kiska Party ĽSNS SaS For the People Leader since 2010 2009 2019 Last election 14 seats, 8.0% 21 seats, 12.1% New party Seats won 17 13 12 Seat change 3 8 12 Popular vote 229,581 179,103 166,209 Percentage 8.0% 6.3% 5.8% Swing 0.0 pp 5.8 pp 5.8 pp
Results of the election, showing vote strength by district.
Prime Minister before election Peter Pellegrini Smer Prime Minister-designate TBD

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020. All 150 members of the National Council were elected and the leader of the resultant government party or coalition will become the Prime Minister.

Background

Direction – Social Democracy won a plurality of seats in the 2016 election and formed a coalition government with nationalist Slovak National Party, inter-ethnic Most-Híd and centre-right Network. Incumbent prime minister Robert Fico remained in office until 2018 when Peter Pellegrini took over.

The 2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia took place on 25 May 2019.

Electoral system

The 150 members of the National Council will be elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with an electoral threshold of 5% for single parties, and 7% for coalition groupings with at least two parties. The elections use the open list system, with seats allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system. Voters will be able to cast up to four preferential votes for candidates on the list of the party they voted for.

All participating parties must register 90 days before election day and pay a deposit of €17,000, which will be refunded to all parties gaining 2% or more of the vote. All Slovak citizens are allowed to vote except for convicted felons in prison (only those who were convicted for serious offences), people declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court and citizens under 18 years of age. All citizens, who are 21 years of age or older and are permanent residents of Slovakia, are allowed to run as candidates except for prisoners, convicted felons and those declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court.

Voters not present in their electoral district at the time of the elections are allowed to request a voting certificate (voličský preukaz), which allows them to vote in any district regardless of their residency. Voters abroad on election day are allowed to request a postal vote. According to the Central Election Committee approx. 20,000 Slovak citizens abroad have requested a postal vote during the last election. The deadline for requests passed on 10 January 2020.

Leadership changes

The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and Party of the Hungarian Community (SMK-MKP) were two parties which couldn't pass the 5 percent threshold to the parliament in 2016 but further gained more than 4% (KDH got 4,9 percent, while SMK-MKP got 4,1 percent). KDH lost all of its 16 seats while SMK-MKP haven't gained any. Leader of the KDH, Ján Figeľ, announced his resignation few days after 2016 election. He was then replaced by Alojz Hlina on 11 June 2016. Leadership of the SMK-MKP, which was led by József Berényi, was taken over by József Menyhárt on 11 June 2016.

On 12 August 2016, incumbent leader of coalition party Network (SIEŤ), Radoslav Procházka, announced that he had no further intention to lead his party after a disastrous result in the election. A day later on 13 August at the party convention, it was decided that the new leader of the party would be Roman Brecely, his fellow party member and incumbent minister of transportation. He was the only candidate to stand up for the post although he didn't intend to run for the office.

On 15 March 2018, Robert Fico announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Slovakia which the President Andrej Kiska accepted. Peter Pellegrini, currently Deputy Prime Minister for Investment & Informatization, has become the new Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic. Fico has remained the leader of Direction – Social Democracy, and kept his parliamentary mandate. Pellegrini's cabinet was appointed on 22 March 2018.

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election

30 day average trend line (15 day average from 2016-03-05, 30 days before 2023 election) of Slovak polls towards the election in 2020, each line corresponds to a political party.

Results

Results of the election, showing vote strength for each party by district.

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	+/–
bgcolor=Template:Ordinary People (Slovakia)/meta/color|	OĽANO–NOVA–KU–ZMENA ZDOLA	721,166	25.02	+13.99	53	+34
bgcolor=Template:Direction – Social Democracy/meta/color|	Direction – Social Democracy	527,172	18.29	–9.99	38	–11
bgcolor=Template:We Are Family (Slovakia)/meta/color |	We Are Family	237,531	8.24	+1.61	17	+6
bgcolor=Template:Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia/meta/color|	Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia	229,660	7.97	–0.07	17	+3
bgcolor=Template:Progressive Slovakia/meta/color |	Progressive Slovakia–SPOLU	200,780	6.96	New	0	New
bgcolor="Template:Freedom and Solidarity/meta/color" |	Freedom and Solidarity	179,246	6.22	–5.88	13	–8
	For the People	166,325	5.77	New	12	New
	Christian Democratic Movement	134,099	4.65	–0.29	0	0
	Party of the Hungarian Community	112,662	3.90	–0.15	0	0
bgcolor=Template:Slovak National Party/meta/color|	Slovak National Party	91,171	3.16	–5.48	0	–15
	Good Choice	88,220	3.06	New	0	New
	VLASŤ	84,507	2.93	New	0	New
bgcolor=Template:Most–Híd/meta/color|	Most–Híd	59,174	2.05	–4.45	0	–11
	Socialisti.sk	15,925	0.55	New	0	New
	MÁME TOHO DOSŤ!	9,260	0.32	New	0	New
	Slovak People's Party of Andrej Hlinka	8,191	0.28	New	0	New
	Democratic Party	4,194	0.14	–0.13	0	0
	Solidarity – Working Poverty Movement	3,296	0.11	New	0	New
	Mayors and Independents	2,018	0.07	New	0	New
	Slovak Revival Movement	1,966	0.06	New	0	New
	Voice of the Right	1,887	0.06	New	0	New
	Práca slovenského národa	1,261	0.04	New	0	New
	99 Percent – Civic Voice	991	0.03	New	0	New
	Slovak League	809	0.02	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		35,329	–	–	–	–
Total		2,916,840	100	0	150	0
Registered voters/turnout		4,432,419	65.80	–	–	–
Source: Volby

Popular vote OĽANO–NOVA   25.02% SMER–SD   18.29% RODINA   8.24% KOTLEBA–ĽSNS   7.97% PS-SPOLU   6.96% SaS   6.22% ZA ĽUDÍ   5.77% Other   21.53%

National Council seats OĽANO–NOVA   35.33% SMER–SD   25.33% RODINA   11.33% KOTLEBA–ĽSNS   11.33% SaS   8.67% ZA ĽUDÍ   8.00%