This year’s European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic happened on May 24 and May 25. Czech voters took to the polls to decide who would be a part of the allotted 21 seats. Title photo: Pixabay.
Brno, Czech Rep., May 27 (BD) – The results showed that the ANO movement of current prime minister Babiš placed first, and took six of the seats – with a little bit more than 21% of the public’s votes. Meanwhile, Civic Democratic party (ODS) placed second, having 14.5% of the public’s votes, and 14% of the voters opted for the Czech Pirates (Piráti). Perhaps the biggest shock is the debacle of Czech Social Democrats (ČSSD), a current governmental party, which has not made it to the European Parliament at all. (There is a 5% threshold for elections to European Parliament in the Czech Republic.)
In terms of membership in political groups and alliances within the EU, ANO is a part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE), while ODS is a part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). Piráti is a part of the European Pirate Party (PPEU), which has not yet been officially recognised as a European political party.
Citizens of the Czech Republic may vote for the European Parliament Elections once they reach the age of 18, and may only vote in the Czech Republic. This year’s elections had a voter turnout rate of almost 29%, which is a significant increase in comparison to the previous election – only around 18% of the Czech population voted in 2014’s European Parliament Elections.
In the South Moravian Region, 29.5% of voters came to the polling stations last weekend.
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