IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: Czech Republic

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Upcoming Elections

Parliamentary
First Round
October 15, 2010
Presidential
February 2013

Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Region: Europe

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Vaclav KLAUS
Head of Government: Prime Minister Jan FISCHER
Assembly: Czech Republic has a bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consisting of the Senate (Senat) with 81 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka Snemovna) with 200 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by parliament to serve a 5-year term.
In the Senate (Senat) 81 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 6-year terms*. In the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka Snemovna) 200 members are elected through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* A second round is held six days later if no candidate receives an absolute majority in the first. One third of the Senate is renewed every two years.

** Electors may cast two preference votes for candidates on their chosen party list. There are 14 multi-member constituencies. Votes are tabulated using the D’Hondt method. A threshold of 5% is required in order for a party to enter the Chamber of Deputies. The threshold is 10% in case of a coalition of two parties, 15% for a coalition of three parties, 20% for a coalition of four or more parties.