At Stake in this Election: 

• All 150 seats of the National Council of Slovakia 

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: President Zuzana CAPUTOVA (since 15 June 2019) 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Eduard HEGER (since 1 April 2021) 

• Assembly: unicameral National Council (Narodna Rada) with 150 seats 

Electoral System: 

• The President is directly elected by plurality vote in up to two rounds. The President may serve up to two 5-year terms. 

• The Prime Minister is nominated by the President and confirmed by the National Council. 

• In the National Council, all 150 members are directly elected via party-list proportional representation vote and serve 4-year terms. 

Last Election: 

In 2020, the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities party won the highest number of seats in the National Council (53), followed by Direction-Social Democracy (38), We Are Family (17), People’s Party Our Slovakia (17), Freedom and Solidarity (13), and For the People (12). Voter turnout was 65%. 

New/Unique in this Election:  

In January 2023, major party leaders agreed to hold a snap election rather than await the general election originally scheduled for February 2024. This followed the dissolution of the ruling coalition after Prime Minister Eduard HEGER lost a vote of no confidence in December 2022. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: 2 July 2023 

• Voter registration deadline: N/A, voter registration is passive 

• The deadline to register to vote by mail is 9 August 2023. Only Slovakian citizens who will be abroad during the election may vote by mail. 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• Ordinary People and Friends / Ol’ANO a Priatelia 

• Coalition including Ordinary People, several smaller parties, and independents 

• Leader: Igor MATOVIČ 

• Seats won in last election: 53 out of 150 (just by Ordinary People) 

• Direction-Social Democracy / Sociálna Demokracia (SMER) 

• Leader: Robert FICO 

• Seats won in last election: 38 out of 150 

• We Are Family / Sme Rodina 

• Leader: Boris KOLLÁR 

• Seats won in last election: 17 out of 150 

• People’s Party Our Slovakia / Ľudová Strana Naše Slovensko 

• Leader: Marian KOTLEBA 

• Seats won in last election: 17 out of 150 

• Freedom and Solidarity / Sloboda a Solidarita (SAS) 

• Leader: Richard SULÍK 

• Seats won in last election: 13 out of 150 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 5,425,319 (2023 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 4,432,419 (2020) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 2,796,556 (2023 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Ratified (by succession) 28 May 1993 

• Gender Quota: No 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 33 out of 150 (22%) in the National Council 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.848, Very High, Rank 45 (2021) 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 14.2 (2023) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 26 September 2007, Ratified 26 May 2010 

• Projected population with a disability: 813,798 (2023 est.)  

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Slovakia: No 

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 6 resources