On 10 October 2002 local elections are held for the third time in Slovenia. The previous local elections were held in 1994 and 1998.
The implementation of local self-government in municipalities and other local communities is laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. The municipalities have jurisdiction over local matters which they can regulate independently and which concern only the residents of the municipality.
With the prior consent of a municipality or a wider self-governing local community the central government may transfer by law to the municipality or wider self-governing local community the performance of individual tasks within the competence of the central government, provided it also secures the funds for the tasks involved.
In accordance with the procedure and under the conditions laid down in law, a city may acquire the status of "city municipality". A city municipality also carries out tasks transferred to it by law from within the competence of the central government, which concern the development of cities.
Municipalities are financed from their own sources. In accordance with statutory principles and criteria, the central government provides additional funding for municipalities, which have a poor level of economic development and are therefore unable to carry out their tasks in full.
Electoral legislation
Elections to municipal councils, mayoral elections and elections to town, village and borough councils are regulated in the Local Elections Act (Uradni list RS, nos. 72/93, 7/94, 33/94, 70/95 and 51/02). Members of the municipal councils are elected according to the majority principle (majority elections) or the proportional principle (proportional elections). If a municipal council has fewer than 12 members the election is conducted according to the majority principle. If a municipal council has 12 or more members the election is conducted according to the proportional principle. Votes at an election conducted according to the majority principle are cast for individual candidates. Voters may vote for as many candidates as there are members of the municipal council elected in the constituency. At a proportional election votes are cast for a list of candidates in the constituency. Regular elections to municipal councils are held every four years. Candidates standing for election to a municipal council, which is elected according to the proportional principle, are nominated by the political parties within the municipality and by the voters in the constituency. Voters select candidates by giving their signature. Regular mayoral elections are held at the same time as the regular elections to the municipal councils and are called by the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.
In the case where a mayoral candidate is selected by the voters the candidate can be selected:
- in a municipality with up to 5,000 inhabitants by at least 50 voters
- in a municipality with 5,000 to 15,000 inhabitants by at least 100 voters
- in a municipality with 15,000 to 30,000 inhabitants by at least 150 voters
- in a municipality with more than 30,000 inhabitants by at least 200 voters
- in a municipality with more than 100,000 inhabitants by at least 250 voters with permanent residence in the municipality
The candidate who obtains a majority of the valid votes cast is elected mayor. If no candidate obtains a majority of the votes a second round of voting is held with the two candidates who obtained the most votes.
In 2002 elections have been called in all 193 municipalities. Of the 1,619,724 people who are entitled to vote, a total of 1,605,281 voters are included in the electoral register. In addition, there are 14,443 foreigners registered as permanently residing in Slovenia who have the right to vote.
All the candidates at the local elections (standing for election as mayor, municipal councillor or member of a town, village or borough council) were officially required to submit their candidature to the municipal electoral commission by 16 October 2002. In the eleven city municipalities a total of more than seventy candidates are standing for election as mayor. In nine of the city municipalities the incumbent mayor is standing for re- election (all except those in Novo mesto and Slovenj Gradec). With twelve candidates Ljubljana has the largest field contesting the mayoral election, followed by ten candidates in Maribor. There are eight mayoral candidates in Koper and Nova Gorica, six in Slovenj Gradec, Celje and Novo mesto, five in Ptuj and Velenje, four in Murska Sobota, and just three candidates in Kranj.