***NOTE: The first round of elections was held on 12 October 2012.  This page represents the final results of the election.  

At stake in this election:

• 27 seats in the Senate (Senat)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vaclav KLAUS
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Petr NECAS
• 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.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the President 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.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Czech Social Democratic Party / Česká Strana Sociálně Demokratická (ČSSD)
  • Leader: Bohuslav SOBOTKA
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 13
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 12
• Party: Civic Democratic Party / Občanská Demokratická Strana (ODS)
  • Leader: Petr NEČAS
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 4
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 8
• Coalition: Coalition TOP 09 with Mayors and Independents (TOP 09) / Koalice “STAN” a TOP 09
  • Leader: Karel SCHWARZENBERG
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 2
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 2
• Party: Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia / Komunistická Strana Čech a Moravy (KSČM)
  • Leader: Vojtěch FILIP
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 1
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Party: National Socialists - 21st Century Left / Národní Socialisté – Levice 21. Století (NS-LEV 21)
  • Leader: Jiří PAROUBEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
• Party: Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People’s Party (KDU-ČSL) / Křesťanská a Demokratická Unie – Československá Strana Lidová
  • Leader: Pavel BĚLOBRÁDEK
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 2
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 2
• Party: Green Party / Strana Zelených (SZ)
  • Leader: Ondřej LIŠKA
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 1
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
• Alliance: NorthBohemians.cz / Severočeši.cz
  • Leader: Jiří ZELENKA
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 2
• Party: Public Affairs / Věci Veřejné (VV)
  • Leader: Radek JOHN
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,510,785 (2012)
• Registered Voters: 2,795,405 (October 2012 Number represents those eligible to vote in the 27 districts where Senate seats were up for election.)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,347,678 (2012)

·         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: 44 (Chamber of Deputies); 4 (Senate) (following the 2010 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: 1,571,161 (est.)