At stake in this election:

• The office of President of the Czech Republic.

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vaclav HAVEL
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Vladimir SPIDLA
• 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 popular vote to serve 6-year terms**. In the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka Snemovna) 200 members are elected by popular vote to serve 4-year terms.

* A candidate must receive the vote of a majority of present members in each house of parliament to be elected. If no candidate achieves this threshold, a runoff is held between the two candidates with the most votes. If neither candidate acheives the threshold, a third round is held in which a candidate only needs a majority of total present parliamentarians in both houses combined to win. In no candidate has won after all three rounds, the election is postponed and re-held at a later date.

** One third of the Senate is renewable every two years.

Main candidates in the electoral race:

• Vaclav KLAUS
  • Party: Civic Democratic Party / Občanská demokratická strana (ODS)
  • Number of votes received in first round of voting: 123
  • Number of votes received in second round of voting: 109
  • Number of votes received in third round of voting: 113
• Petr PITHART 
  • Party: Christian and Democratic Union -- Czechoslovak People's Party / Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová (KDU–ČSL)
  • Number of votes received in first round of voting: 55
  • Number of votes received in second round of voting: 89
  • Number of votes received in third round of voting: 89
• Jaroslav BUREŠ
  • Number of votes received in first round of voting: 46
  • Number of votes received in second round of voting: N/A
  • Number of votes received in third round of voting: N/A
• Miroslav KŘÍŽENECKÝ
  • Number of votes received in first round of voting: 46
  • Number of votes received in second round of voting: N/A
  • Number of votes received in third round of voting: N/A

Note: This presidential election was unsuccessful after no candidate received the required threshold through three rounds of voting. The election was rescheduled for January 24.

Last Presidential Election:

• Vaclav HAVEL served two 5-year terms as President, from 1993-2003.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,193,998 (2003)
• Registered Voters: 8,262,484 (June 2002 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,237,313 (2002)

·         Is Czech Republic a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Czech Republic ratified CEDAW: Yes, succession (22 February 1993)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 34 (Chamber of Deputies); 10 (Senate) (following the 2002 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 28 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Czech Republic a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Czech Republic ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 1,529,099 (est.)