Information for Citizens of other EU Member States Voting in the European Parliament Elections on the Territory of the Czech Republic
The European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic shall be governed by the Act No. 62/2003 Coll., on the European Parliament Elections and on amendment of selected other laws, as amended (hereinafter only the ”Act”).
- When will the Czech Republic hold the European Parliament elections? (Section 3 of the Act)
The European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic shall be held on May 23rd to 24th, 2014. On Friday, May 23rd, 2014 the polling stations will be open from 2 PM to 10 PM. On Saturday, May 24th, 2014, the polling stations will be open from 8 AM to 2 PM.
- Under which conditions may citizens of other EU member states vote in the European Parliament elections on the territory of the Czech Republic? (Section 5 of the Act)
Citizens of EU member states have the right to vote in European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic, provided they:
- have reached the age of 18 by the second day of elections;
- have been registered for at least 45 days, as of the second day of the elections, as a permanent or temporary resident in the Czech Republic (i.e. at least from April 9th, 2014);
- enjoy full legal capacity to vote; and
- are listed on a List of Voters for the European Parliament elections.
A person, whose personal freedom has been reduced for the reasons of protection of public health or whose legal capacity to vote is limited shall not be allowed to vote.
- Who maintains the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections on the territory of the Czech Republic? (Sections 27 and 28 of the Act)
Lists of Voters for the European Parliament elections are maintained by the local authorities, municipal authorities, township authorities, municipal authorities of statutory towns which are not further divided into districts, and municipal district authorities (hereinafter the „local authority“). Lists of Voters are compiled in keeping with the relevant legislation, new lists are prepared for every European Parliament elections. Citizens of other EU member states will be entered onto the lists provided they:
- applied to be entered onto the Lists of Voters for the European Parliament elections on the territory of the Czech Republic,
- have already applied to be entered onto the Lists of Voters for the European Parliament elections on the territory of the Czech Republic during the past European Parliament elections in 2009 or in 2004, have not applied for deletion from such list and meet conditions required for the exercise of their right to vote,
- are included in the appendix to the permanent list of voters for the purposes of local and municipal elections and apply with the local authority administering such appendix in which they are included to transfer their personal data kept therein to the Lists of Voters for the European Parliament elections.
- How and when to apply for entry onto the Lists of Voters for the European ParliamentElections? (Section 29 of the Act)
- Citizen of other EU member states having the right to vote in the European Parliament elections on the territory of the Czech Republic may express their will to vote in the European Parliament elections held on the territory of the Czech Republic by applying, no later than 40 days prior to the election day (i.e. at 4 PM on April 13th at the latest) withthe local authority in the administrative district in which they are registered for permanent or temporary residence for entry to the List of Voters for the European Parliament Elections; the above shall not apply when such citizen of another EU member state has already applied to be entered onto the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections on the territory of the Czech Republic prior to the 2009 or 2004 European Parliament elections held on the territory of the Czech Republic, has not applied for deletion from such list, and meets conditions required for the exercise of their right to vote in the European Parliament Elections held on the territory of the Czech Republic (it is recommended that such voters confirm their entry with the respective local authority).
- Citizens of other EU member states included in the appendix to the permanent list of voters for the purposes of local and municipal elections in the Czech Republic, shall applyto the local authority administering such appendix in which they are keptto transfer their personal data kept therein to the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections; such application shall be filed no later than 40 days prior to the commencement of the elections, i.e. no later than 4 PM on March 13th.
Applications under Articles (1) and (2) above shall be filed in person. Citizens of other EU member states shall present, upon submitting the application, their personal ID. The respective municipal authority shall, no later than 15 days prior to the commencement of the elections, i.e. no later than May 8th, 2014, inform the applicant for the entry on the list of voters for the European Parliament Elections in the Czech Republic of the outcome of their application.
Downloadable specimen:
Application for Entry onto the List of Voters for the European Parliament Elections in the Czech Republic (pdf, 141 kB)
- Compulsory attachments to the application for entry onto the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections. (Section 29 of the Act)
Applications for entry onto the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic, as well as applications to transfer data from the appendix to the permanent list of voters to the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic, shall be accompanied by a solemn declaration of the applicant, in which the applicants state the following:
1. their citizenship,
2. their residency,
3. the address of the election district where they have been registered as voters in the European Parliament Elections, and
4. a declaration that they will cast their European Parliament vote solely in the Czech Republic.
- Where to vote in the European Parliament Elections in the Czech Republic? (Section 36 of the Act)
- Voters shall voteat polling stations on theterritory of the municipality where they are registered on the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic.
Should there be more electoral districts established in the territory of the given municipality, voters shall vote at the polling station of the electoral district they belong to based on their address.
Mayors shall, no longer than 15 days prior to the commencement of the elections, i.e. no later than May 8th, 2014, inform the public of the polling stations’ addresses and allocation of streets/parts of the municipality to electoral districts in the usual way.
- Voters may, for serious and/or health-related reasons, ask the municipal authority, and, during the elections, the election committee, to permit their vote outside of the polling station. Such vote may be cast only on the territory of the election district for which the election committee had been established. Should such vote be permitted, the district election committee shall send two of its members to the respective voter with a mobile ballot box, an official envelope, ballot tickets, and an excerpt from the List of Voters for the European Parliament Elections. Members of thedistrict election committee shall proceed in line with the statutory requirements to keep the act of vote secret.
- Voters may decide to vote at any polling station on the territory of the Czech Republic. In such case, however, the respective voters shall, in addition to establishing their identity and citizenship, present to the district election committee an election card.
- How to obtain an election card? (Section 30 of the Act)
Election cards shall be issued by the local authority to voters who are registered on the local authority´s List of Voters for the European Parliament Elections and are not able to or do not wish to vote in their respective election district.
Voters who are registered on the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections may apply for their election card from the day the elections are announced. The application shall be done in writing and bear a notarized signature of the applicant. It shall be submitted to the respective local authority no later than 15 days prior to the commencement of the elections, i.e. no later than May 8th, 2014. The local authority shall, no sooner than 15 days prior to the commencement of the elections, issue the election card to the voter in person, issue it to a person holding a power of attorney bearing a notarized signature of the applicant, or send it to the applicant.
- Voting principles (Section 36 of the Act)
Ballot tickets shall be delivered to all voters no later than three days prior to the election day. Every voter shall vote in person, representation is not permitted.
Voters who are citizens of other EU member states shall, upon arrival in the polling station, establish their identity and citizenship of the relevant EU member state.
Voters who fail to establish their identity and citizenship shall not be allowed to vote.
Voters bearing an election card shall submit the card to the district electoral committee.
After having been marked in the excerpt from the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections, such voters shall receive from the district election committee an empty official envelope. Voters may ask the district election committee to replace their missing, written over or otherwise marked ballot tickets with new ones.
Voters who fail to establish their identity and citizenship shall not be allowed to vote.
Voters bearing an election card shall submit the card to the district electoral committee.
After having been marked in the excerpt from the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections, such voters shall receive from the district election committee an empty official envelope. Voters may ask the district election committee to replace their missing, written over or otherwise marked ballot tickets with new ones.
Voters who are not listed on the excerpt from the List of Voters for the European Parliament elections shall not be allowed to vote. This provision shall not apply to voters bearing election cards.
- Voting procedure (Section 37 of the Act)
Citizens of other EU member states voting in the Czech Republic shall vote for European Parliament candidates registered in the Czech Republic.
After having received an official envelope and, if needed, ballot tickets, voters proceed to the designated area, where they placeone ballot ticket to the official envelope. Voters may circle a maximum of two candidate numbers on this ballot ticket to indicate their preferences. Other modifications to the ballot ticket shall not be taken into consideration.
Voters shall enter the designated area alone. No other persons are permitted to accompany them, including members of the district election committee. Voters who are unable to complete their vote for disability or illiteracy reasons may be accompanied to the designated area by another voter, but not by a member of the district election committee. The accompanying voter shall follow the respective voter´s instructions and modify and place the selected ballot ticket into the official envelope.
After having left the designated area, voters proceed to the ballot box located in front of the district election committee and insert the official envelope with the ballot ticket into the box. Voters who are unable to insert their official envelope into the ballot box by themselves may ask another voter, not a member of the district election committee, to do so on their behalf.
Voters who did not use the designated area to place their ballot ticket into the official envelope shall not be allowed to vote.