15 October 2000: Parliamentary Elections

October, 2000

The central political event of this year in the country - the regular elections to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia - will take place at 3,500 polls around the country on Sunday, 15 October. At the fourth multi-party and the third parliamentary elections since Slovenia's independence, six parliamentary parties and five non-parliamentary parties in all electoral units will contend for the votes from the electorate, while the five other non- parliamentary parties and seven individuals will only run in a few electoral units. 88 of the 90 MPs will be elected in eight electoral units and 88 electoral districts on the basis of a system involving proportional representation with an element of the majority system, whilst the two representatives of the Italian and Hungarian minorities will be elected according to the majority voting system.

The election campaign is taking place from 15 September until 13 October, when the election blackout starts at midnight. The Election Campaign Act prescribes how the campaign is to be conducted and funded: the largest amount a party may spend on its campaign is SIT 90 million, i.e. SIT 60 per voter.

This year's parliamentary elections will be carried out in accordance with the somewhat changed system of proportional representation that was codified in the Constitution by Parliament just before the summer break. 88 of the 90 MPs will be elected in eight electoral units and 88 electoral districts, which was also the case at the previous elections.

New Electoral System

The main novelties of the new electoral system include the abolition of national lists and the four-percent threshold. The two representatives of the Italian and Hungarian minorities in the Slovenian Parliament will be elected according to the majority voting system.

The altered system of proportional representation implies several significant changes in calculating election results; the electorate is now able to directly influence to a great extent which candidate they want to see in Parliament (an element of the majority system). Under the law on general elections, the number of seats one party has won is established in two rounds, namely in a direct and an indirect one.

Eleven MPs will be elected in each of eight electoral units which, however, does not mean that each of 11 electoral districts (there are eleven electoral districts in each electoral unit) will get one MP to represent them in Parliament. Electoral units will divide mandates only among those lists of candidates which break the 4-percent electoral threshold at the national level. In one given electoral unit, a list of candidates has to secure one -twelfth of all votes plus one vote in order to directly get one seat in Parliament. This is in fact regulated by what is termed the Droop quotient - which envisages that the number of votes cast in an electoral unit is divided by 12, with one vote being added to the figure.

For more on the 2000 parliamentary elections, see the Internet site of the Republic Electoral Commission: www.gov.si/elections

11 Parties to Run in All Electoral Units

The time periods for election-related activities started running on 16 August, when the elections were first called. On that day nomination procedures started as well.

The National Electoral Commission on 23 August adopted the timetable of activities related to this year's parliamentary elections.

According to that timetable, the election campaign started on 15 September, while nominations could be filed up until midnight on 20 September.

Political parties were able to submit candidate lists in all electoral units if their lists were supported by at least three MPs. If a political party did not have three MPs supporting them, it was able to submit its list if supported by 50 or 100 electors, subject to certain conditions.

By 20 September all six parliamentary parties and five non-parliamentary parties had filed their lists of candidates in all eight electoral units, while the five other non-parliamentary parties and seven individuals are to run only in a few electoral units.

Among the parties which will run in all electoral units are the parliamentary parties the SLS+SKD Slovenian People's Party (SLS+SKD), the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDS), the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS), the United List of Social Democrats of Slovenia (ZLSD), the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS), and the Slovenian National Party (SNS) as well as the non-parliamentary parties the Democratic Party of Slovenia (DS), the New Party (NOVA), the New Slovenia - Christian People's Party (NSi), the Youth Party of Slovenia (SMS), and the United List of Green Parties (Slovenian Greens and Green Alternative of Slovenia). The Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDS) and the New Slovenia - Christian People's Party (NSi) have signed an agreement on the formation of Coalition Slovenia whereby the two parties agree to co-operate at the elections.

Five non-parliamentary parties will run only in certain electoral units: Candidates of Go, Slovenia!, the Communist Party of Slovenia, Women's Voice Slovenia, the Regional Party of Styria and Democratic Action Party of Slovenia. There are seven independent candidates running as well.

Representatives of the Italian and Hungarian minorities, for each of whom one parliamentary seat is reserved, will also run in the elections. While Roberto Battelli is the only parliamentary candidate of the Italian minority, five representatives of the Hungarian minority are expected to run, including Maria Pozsonec, who was the Hungarian minority representative in the last mandate. Lists of candidates for this year's parliamentary elections were approved in all eight electoral units by electoral commissions on 26 September and published in Slovenia's main daily papers on 30 September.

3,500 Polls in 88 Electoral Constituencies

In carrying out the elections in eight electoral units and 88 electoral constituencies, this year an important role will also be played by 98 electoral commissions, headed up by the Republic Electoral Commission. The latter is the central body concerned with elections in Slovenia, taking care of the standard application of provisions of the electoral legislation and directing the work of the lower bodies involved in elections - electoral commissions and 3,500 electoral boards tat will take care of the voting around Slovenia on 15 October. A total of 23,000 people will be employed in order to carry out the elections, taking place at 3,500 polling stations.

Each Slovenian citizen who has reached the age of 18 by 15 October has the right to vote and the right to be elected as an MP.

Slovenian citizens living abroad will be able to vote by mail and at Slovenian diplomatic representations and consular missions. This will be the first time that Slovenian citizens with permanent or temporary residence abroad will be able to vote at the parliamentary elections directly at diplomatic representations and consular missions. So far this was possible only at the presidential elections in 1997.

Those who live abroad will also be able to vote by mail, and only those ballots which arrive in Slovenia by 20 October will be considered.

Important events from the schedule of the Republic Electoral Commission in the next few days:

8 October: Voters voting by post must lodge their application to vote by post with the district electoral commission up to this day.
10,11,12 October: Early voting in the headquarters of the district electoral commissions.
13 October until 12 p.m.: Closing of the public electoral campaign.
15 October: Election Day.
16 October: District electoral commissions determine the outcome of postal votes which came from within the Republic of Slovenia.
20 October: Determination of the result of postal voting from abroad.
20 to 24 October: Determination of the official result of voting.
25 October: Official result of the elections.