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Elections in Slovenia

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Slovenian Electoral Constituencies

At a national level, Slovenia elects a head of state (a president) and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people using the run-off system. The National Assembly (Državni zbor), Slovenia's parliament, has 90 members each elected for four-year terms. All but two of these are elected using the D'Hondt method of list proportional representation. The remaining two members are elected by the Italian and Hungarian ethnic minorities using the Borda count.

Slovenia's multi-party system means that any one party is unlikely to gain power alone. Coalition governments must therefore be negotiated and formed.

At an international level, Slovenia elects 9 members of the European Parliament. The MEPs term is five years.

In addition to the elections mentioned above, Slovenia organizes the local elections. Mayors of all 212 municipalities and members of municipal councils are elected. Local elections are held once every four years and have two rounds of voting.

Latest elections

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2022 presidential election

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In the first round Anže Logar received 34% of the voter share against 27% for Nataša Pirc Musar.[1] Milan Brglez was third with around 15%.[1] For the second round Golob then turned his support to Pirc Musar.[1]

In the run-off, independent Pirc Musar was expected to win since August 2022.[2] Logar also ran as an independent, but was a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which lost parliamentary elections six months prior.[3] Logar was therefore associated with Janša, who was accused with attempting to restrict the freedom of expression and undermine the independence of the judiciary during his term in office.[3]

In the evening of 13 November 2022, the electoral commission reported that Pirc Musar won with nearly 54% of the vote, after which Logar conceded defeat and congratulated Pirc Musar on her victory.[4] Pirc Musar will become Slovenia's first female president, commander-in-chief of the Slovenian Army and also be responsible for appointing the head of the Central Bank of Slovenia.[5]

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Anže LogarIndependent[a]296,00033.95414,02946.11
Nataša Pirc MusarIndependent[b]234,36126.88483,81253.89
Milan BrglezSocial Democrats134,72615.45
Vladimir PrebiličIndependent92,45610.60
Sabina Senčar [sl]Resni.ca51,7675.94
Janez Cigler KraljNew Slovenia38,1134.37
Miha KordišThe Left24,5182.81
Total871,941100.00897,841100.00
Valid votes871,94199.47897,84198.87
Invalid/blank votes4,6250.5310,2241.13
Total votes876,566100.00908,065100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,694,43751.731,694,37353.59
Source: Volitve

2022 local elections

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2024 European Parliament election

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Slovenian Democratic Party206,36830.614+2
Freedom Movement149,20022.132New
Vesna – Green Party71,02310.541New
Social Democrats52,3907.771–1
New Slovenia – Christian Democrats51,1827.5910
Slovenian People's Party48,6377.210–1
The Left32,4364.8100
Resni.ca26,7673.970New
Democratic Party of Pensioners − Good State14,9802.2200
Greens of Slovenia10,8651.6100
None of the Above [sl]10,2631.520New
Total674,111100.009+1
Valid votes674,11195.58
Invalid/blank votes31,1824.42
Total votes705,293100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,689,58641.74
Source:

2026 parliamentary election

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The election resulted in a hung parliament, with no major party being likely to secure a majority of 46 seats.[9] Freedom Movement (GS) received 28.63% of the vote, while the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) received 27.95% of the vote, creating a gap of 0.68 percentage points, the smallest margin ever between the top two parties in a Slovenian parliamentary election.[10] With GS and SDS winning 29 and 28 seats respectively, the left-leaning bloc led by Golob decreased to 40 MPs and the right-leaning bloc led by Janša increased to 43 MPs.[11]

In third place was the right-wing coalition of New Slovenia, Slovenian People's Party and Focus taking 9.29% of the vote and winning a total of nine seats (NSi won 7 seats, SLS won 1 seat and Focus won 1 seat). The Social Democrats and Democrats each took around 6.70% of the vote, giving both parties their respective six seats. Left–Vesna took five seats (The Left won all 5 seats) with 5.58% of the vote, while Resni.ca also took five seats with 5.52% of the vote.[12][13] Zoran Stevanović, leader of Resni.ca, stated that the party was not interested in joining the right-leaning bloc led by Janša.[14]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Freedom Movement338,10228.6629–12
Slovenian Democratic Party328,92327.8828+1
NSi, SLS, FOKUS109,2019.269+1
Social Democrats79,1756.716–1
Democrats78,9026.696New
Levica and Vesna67,1835.6950
Resni.ca64,7995.495+5
Prerod – Party of Vladimir Prebilič35,9763.050New
Pirate Party27,8112.3600
Slovenian National Party26,3752.2400
We, Socialists!5,6570.480New
Greens of Slovenia and Party of Generations5,2770.4500
Alternative for Slovenia4,7850.4100
Voice of Pensioners4,1930.360New
Karl Erjavec – Trust Party2,9950.250New
Unity2510.0200
Solution – Party of Pensioners Velenje1640.010New
Italian and Hungarian national minorities20
Total1,179,769100.00900
Valid votes1,179,76999.07
Invalid/blank votes11,0500.93
Total votes1,190,819100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,695,22070.25
Source: dvk-rs.si

Constituency results

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The SDS prevailed in five constituencies out of eight,[15] winning in Celje,[16] as well as Kranj, Novo Mesto and Ptuj,[17] where they secured their best result at 32.67% of the vote. The party also secured[18] Maribor, Slovenia's second-largest city, with 30.75% of the vote. Conversely, the GS won the capital districts of Ljubljana Bežigrad and Ljubljana Center,[19] as well as Postojna, where they recorded their best result at 34.79% of the vote.[17] The GS's performance represented a decline from their 2022 result, when they won all eight constituencies;[20] however, they still secured a plurality of seats in three electoral districts: Ljubljana Center, Ljubljana Bežigrad and Novo Mesto.[21] Conversely, the SDS won their pluralities in Ptuj and Celje, while the two parties won an even amount of delegates in Postojna, Maribor and Kranj.[21]

Constituency GS SDS NSi, SLS and FOKUS SD Democrats Levica and Vesna Resni.ca Others
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Celje 39,450 26.36 46,705 31.60 15,508 10.39 11,373 7.62 10,166 6.81 6,128 4.11 7,676 5.14 12,328 8.26
Kranj 39,132 26.10 41,554 27.71 16,765 11.18 8,028 5.35 9,950 6.64 8,797 5.87 10,554 7.04 15,164 10.10
Ljubljana Bežigrad 43,082 29.18 38,279 25.93 12,768 8.65 8,662 5.87 9,936 6.73 10,287 6.97 7,792 5.28 16,834 11.41
Ljubljana Center 46,234 29.12 37,529 23.64 13,883 8.74 9,859 6.21 11,596 7.30 15,126 9.53 7,392 4.66 17,162 10.80
Maribor 39,037 28.33 42,471 30.83 9,782 7.10 9,375 6.80 9,686 7.03 6,406 4.65 8,092 5.87 12,926 9.38
Novo Mesto 41,423 27.74 43,928 29.42 15,330 10.27 12,171 8.15 9,160 6.13 5,905 3.95 7,100 4.75 14,303 9.57
Postojna 47,962 34.74 31,136 22.55 12,610 9.13 10,199 7.39 7,791 5.64 8,239 5.97 6,793 4.92 13,319 9.65
Ptuj 37,763 27.80 44,434 32.71 11,740 8.64 8,636 6.36 9,748 7.18 4,199 3.09 8,973 6.61 10,334 7.61
Total 333,973 28.63 326,036 27.95 108,386 9.29 78,303 6.71 78,033 6.69 65,087 5.58 64,372 5.52 110,204 9.44
Source: DVK

Turnout

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Early voting

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Day Voters % Ref
Tuesday, 17 March 24,559 1.4 [22]
Wednesday, 18 March 29,652 1.7 [23]
Thursday, 19 March 27,494 1.6 [24]
Total 81.705 4.8 [25]

Election day

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Time Voters % Ref
Until 11am[c] 362.383 21.38 [26]
Until 4pm[d] 859.909 50.73 [27]
Until 4pm[e] 941.614 55.53 [28]
Total turnout 1.190.819 70.25 [29]

Turnout by electoral districts

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Electoral district Eligible voters Turnout 2026 turnout 2022 turnout Change
Kranj 208,965 150,564 72.05 % 74.14 % Decrease 2.09 %
Postojna 209,323 137,970 65.91 % 69.56 % Decrease 3.65 %
Ljubljana – Center 221,718 158,219 71.36 % 75.26 % Decrease 3.90 %
Ljubljana – Bežigrad 210,021 143,482 68.32 % 73.63 % Decrease 4.31 %
Celje 210,609 149,449 70.96 % 71.61 % Decrease 0.65 %
Novo Mesto 217,947 149,244 68.48 % 70.36 % Decrease 1.88 %
Maribor 206,707 138,193 66.85 % 67.94 % Decrease 1.09 %
Ptuj 209,914 136,010 64.79 % 65.13 % Decrease 0.34 %

Following the election, prime minister Robert Golob said that he would try to create a government of national unity and invited all parties, except SDS, for coalition talks. This offer was rejected by NSi and its partners, the Slovenian People's Party and Focus of Marko Lotrič. Leaders of the Democrats and Resni.ca stated that they do not want to be in a government together with The Left.[30]

On 1 April, the leaders of Democrats, Resni.ca and NSi announced that their intention to form a centre-right coalition or a "third bloc" in anticipation of imminent post-election coalition talks. This third bloc would hold 20 seats in the National Assembly and would further complicate the path to a government formation. The leader of Resni.ca, Zoran Stevanović, stated that his party would not support any government led by Janez Janša or Robert Golob, stating his preference for a repeat snap election.[31][32] Despite this, Golob called for the will of the voters to be respected and expressed enthusiasm that the next government would be led by his party. Anže Logar, the leader of the Democrats called for Golob to announce a ministry allocation proposal.[33]

On 7 April, Golob announced allocations of ministries in the proposed national unity government: seven for Freedom Movement, three for NSi-led coalition and two for SD, Democrats and The Left each. He also expected external cooperation with Resni.ca on some topics. The offer was rejected by NSi-led coalition. Golob also proposed individual coalition talks with these parties.[34]

On 10 April, Resni.ca leader Zoran Stevanović was elected speaker of the National Assembly after being nominated by Resni.ca, SDS and NSi MPs. GS announced that they voted against him, while The Left and SD abstained.[35][36]

Candidate Votes Yes No Invalid
Zoran Stevanović 79 48 29 2

On 12 April, newsletter Dnevnik reported that at least two MPs from the Democrats had worries about possible Janša-led government. Leader of the Democrats, Anže Logar, later stated that his party is unified and that the GS is still the only party that invited them for coalition talks.[37]

On 17 April, Anže Logar officially stated that his party is leaving coalition talks with GS, because GS attempted to negotiate with individual MPs to cross the floor. Robert Golob responded by accusing Logar and Stevanović of cheating their own voters by giving fake pre-election promises of not entering a government led by Janša and by only pretending to have real interest in forming a possible second government led by GS. Furthermore, Golob released documents from coalition negotiations, where GS promised to fulfill all main points of the pre-election programme of the Democrats.[38]

On 20 April, Golob admitted that he could not form a government and said that his party would go into opposition.[39]

On 21 April, Freedom Movement announced that they were filing a constitutional complaint regarding the election of the speaker, asserting that a number of ballots used in the speakership election were visibly marked, which would allegedly be a violation of national deputies’ right to the fairness of a secret vote in the speakership election.[40]

On 25 April, president Nataša Pirc Musar stated after finishing personal consultations with all leaders of elected parties that she would not nominate someone for prime minister, because no one reached the required minimum of 46 votes. She also said that these personal consultations had no trust, respect or honesty and that she sees a lot of changes in positions and behavior of parties after the election.[41]

On 6 May, a new round of coalition talks were initiated by Janša, who seeks to form a coalition with NSi-SLS-FOKUS, the Democrats and Resni.ca. Although Speaker Stevanović reaffirmed that his party wouldn't join a coalition, he stated that it would "support a candidate with widespread support". However, SDS later said it did not intend to continue negotiations. If no agreement is reached on a new prime ministerial candidate, fresh elections will be held.[42]

On 16 May, Stevanović publicly announced that Resni.ca will externally support Janez Janša for prime minister, making his fourth government possible.[43]

On 19 May, 48 MPs endorsed Janez Janša for Prime Minister. On the same day, an MP from Resni.ca, Katja Kokot, accused left-leaning MPs of attempting to bribe MPs from Resni.ca with seven figures bribes, in order to thwart the creation of the fourth Janša government. However she did not name any concrete names or support any evidence to her claims. [44][45]

On 22 May, Janša was sworn in as Prime Minister. He received 51 votes in a secret ballot in the parliament, which came as surprise, because at least 1 opposition MP must have voted for Janša.[46]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Endorsed by the SDS[6] and the SLS.[7]
  2. ↑ Endorsed by the Pirati and the SMS-Z.[8]
  3. ↑ Does not include early voting.
  4. ↑ Does not include early voting.
  5. ↑ Also includes early voting.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Slovenia: Conservative Anze Logar leads first round of presidential election". Le Monde. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  2. ↑ Maček, Sebastijan R. (2022-08-23). "Former information commissioner top contender in Slovenia's presidential race". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  3. 1 2 "Slovenia elects Natasa Pirc Musar to become first female president". Le Monde.fr. 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  4. ↑ "Rechtsanwältin Pirc-Musar wird Präsidentin Sloweniens". Die Zeit. 13 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  5. ↑ Wright, George (2022-11-13). "Natasa Pirc Musar: Slovenia elects lawyer as first female president". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  6. ↑ Cite error: The named reference N1-Logar-signatories was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ↑ Cite error: The named reference rtv-Logar-SLS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ↑ Cite error: The named reference rtv-Who-has-enough-signatories was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ↑ Zerdin, Ali (22 March 2026). "Slovenia's liberals and populists neck and neck, preliminary results show". AP. Archived from the original on 22 March 2026. Retrieved 22 March 2026. The result means that none of the main parties will have a majority in the 90-member parliament and that whoever will form a future government will depend on smaller parties that will act as kingmakers.
  10. ↑ "PM Golob's party appears to have won election by hairbreadth". The Slovenian Times. 23 March 2026. Archived from the original on 24 March 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026. The gap between the Freedom Movement and the opposition Democratic Party (SDS) is currently at a mere 0.7 percentage points, the smallest margin ever in a Slovenian parliamentary election, but this is also the first time since 2000 that the sitting prime minister appears to have won an election. It will be challenging to form a government though.
  11. ↑ Bytyci, Fatos; Sito-sucic, Daria (21 March 2026). "Liberal, populist parties tied in Slovenia's parliamentary vote". Reuters. Retrieved 22 March 2026. Based on 99.45% of ballots counted, GS won 29 seats, trailed tightly by SDS with 28 seats. Along with the supporting parties, the GS led by incumbent Prime Minister Robert Golob would have 40 MPs while SDS, led by populist ex-prime ⁠minister Janez Jansa, would have 43 seats.
  12. ↑ "Slovenia's Governing Liberals Narrowly Defeat Right-Wing Challenge at Polls". Balkan Insight. 23 March 2026. Archived from the original on 24 March 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026. In third place was the Christian Democratic alliance of New Slovenia, the Slovenian People's Party, and Focus, with nine seats. The Social Democrats won six seats, the same number as Anze Logar's Democrats. The anti-vaccine Resni.ca party is projected to win five seats, as is the left-wing alliance of Levica and Vesna, according to the Slovenian Press Agency, STA. Two additional seats in parliament are reserved for representatives of Slovenia's Hungarian and Italian minorities.
  13. ↑ Krainc, Maya (24 March 2026). "Slovenia's Liberal Party Edges Past Right-Wing in Tightly Contested Election". European Western Balkans. Archived from the original on 24 March 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026. Seats were also won by the right-wing coalition of New Slovenia (NSi), the Slovenian People's Party (SLS) and the Focus party with 9.29 percent, the Social Democrats (SD) and the Democrats with 6.70 percent each, the Left with 5.58 percent and the anti-system party Truth (Resnica) with 5.53 percent of the vote.
  14. ↑ "Stevanović: Z SDS ne gremo, zanima pa nas notranje, zunanje in finančno ministrstvo". N1 (in Slovenian). 22 March 2026. Archived from the original on 23 March 2026. Retrieved 22 March 2026. Prva stranke Resni.ca Zoran Stevanović je po zaprtju volišč za N1 ponovil, da v koalicijo z Janezom Janšo ne gre. "Zagotovil, ki smo jih dali, ne bomo prekršili in nikdar ne bomo zlorabili zaupanja ljudi," je poudaril.
  15. ↑ "Svoboda zmagala v treh, SDS pa v petih volilnih enotah". N1. 23 March 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  16. ↑ Kamplet, Domen (23 March 2026). "Rezultati volitev na Celjskem 2026: Tesna zmaga Svobode, Celje s tremi poslanci". celje.info. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  17. 1 2 Kapitanovič, Pija (23 March 2026). "Postojna izrazito leva, Ptuj desen, kako so volili drugje?". delo.si. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  18. ↑ "Tesna tekma SDS in Svobode na volitvah: Kdo bo zastopal Maribor v parlamentu?". mariborinfo.com. 23 March 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  19. ↑ "Zahod moder, vzhod rumen: Svoboda najbolj prepričala v Novi Gorici, SDS pa v Škofji Loki". 24ur.com. 23 March 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  20. ↑ "Rezultati - parlamentarne volitve 2022". sta.si. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  21. 1 2 "Rezultati - parlamentarne volitve 2026". sta.si. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  22. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  23. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  24. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  25. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  26. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  27. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  28. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  29. ↑ https://volitve.dvk-rs.si/dz2026/#/udelezba
  30. ↑ Z, M. "Po sestanku na potezi Svoboda, ki mora morebitne partnerje prepričati z osnutkom koalicijske pogodbe". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  31. ↑ Z, M. "Stevanović: V sklopu tretjega bloka ni govora o nobenem enotnem glasovanju ali podobnih zavezah". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  32. ↑ Š, T. L. ""Oblikovanje tretjega bloka je ključnega pomena za stabilna in vsebinska izhodišča"". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  33. ↑ C, G. "Golob: Barko bomo pripeljali v varen pristan". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  34. ↑ C, G. "Košarica NSi-ja na predlog Svobode glede koalicije, Resni.ca bi sodelovala projektno". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  35. ↑ "Novi predsednik DZ-ja je Zoran Stevanović, na tajnem glasovanju ga je podprlo 48 poslancev". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). 10 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  36. ↑ "Informacije N1 potrjene: Zoran Stevanović je novi predsednik državnega zbora. Na tajnem glasovanju ga je podprlo 48 poslancev". n1info.si (in Slovenian). 10 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  37. ↑ C, G. "Članstvo Demokratov podprlo vodstvo pri nadaljnjih pogajanjih o vstopu v koalicijo". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-04-14.
  38. ↑ Z, Al Ma, M. "Logar končal pogajanja z Golobom. Svoboda: Priča smo jasni politični prevari". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-04-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  39. ↑ Liffey, Kevin. "Slovenia PM Golob's party goes into opposition after coalition talks fail". Reuters. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
  40. ↑ Z, Al Ma, M. "Ustavna pritožba Svobode glede volitev predsednika DZ-ja: Kršena je bila možnost tajnega glasovanja". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  41. ↑ Da, La. "Pirc Musar: Ne morem predlagati kandidata za predsednika vlade". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-04-25.
  42. ↑ https://www.ansa.it/nuova_europa/en/news/sections/news/2026/05/06/slovenia-starts-a-new-round-of-coalition-formation-with-conservative-jansa_bad659a8-faea-477c-91fd-093b65b0b37e.html
  43. ↑ Da, La. "Stranka Resni.ca bo podprla Janeza Janšo kot mandatarja za sestavo nove vlade". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  44. ↑ C, G. "Kokot: Poslancem Resni.ce ponujali visoke, sedemmestne podkupnine za prestop v drugo stranko". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  45. ↑ Z, T. L. Š , M. "V DZ z 48 podpisi podpore vložena mandatarska kandidatura Janeza Janše". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-05-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ↑ Ma, Al. "Janez Janša z 51 glasovi dobil mandat za sestavo vlade". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2026-05-22.

Further reading

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  • Toplak, Jurij. The parliamentary election in Slovenia, October 2004. Electoral Studies 25 (2006) 825–831.
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elections_in_Slovenia&oldid=1365107661"