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 in each house (or the second most total votes if one candidate receives a plurality in both houses). 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
• Jaroslava MOSEROVÁ
  • Number of votes received in first round of voting: 68
  • Number of votes received in second round of voting: 74
  • Number of votes received in third round of voting: 65
• Miloš ZEMAN*
  • Party: Social Democratic Party / Česká strana sociálně demokratická (ČSSD)
  • Number of votes received in first round of voting: 83
  • Number of votes received in second round of voting: N/A
  • Number of votes received in third round of voting: N/A

*Miloš ZEMAN was eliminated after the first round of voting despite having received the second most total votes after KLAUS received a plurality of votes in the Chamber of Deputies and MOSEROVÁ received a plurality of votes in the Senate.

Note: This presidential election was unsuccessful after no candidate received the required threshold through three rounds of voting. A third attempt was held on February 28.

Last Presidential Election:

• Vaclav HAVEL served two 5-year terms as President, from 1993-2003. A first attempt at the presidential election was held on January 15 but was unsuccessful after no candidate received the required threshold through three rounds of voting.

Population and number of registered voters:

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

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,235,621 (2003)

·         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: Yes

·         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.)