Czech Senate runoff ends, with opposition set to retain majority

Voting in the final round of Czechia’s Senate elections ended at 2 p.m. Saturday, with ballots being counted to determine the winners of 22 seats in Parliament’s upper chamber.

Those elected will join five senators who secured their seats outright in the first round a week earlier. Results will be published progressively on the Czech Statistical Office’s election website, with the full count expected within approximately three hours of polls closing.

Although individual contests will determine the strength of parliamentary groups, the opposition is assured of retaining its Senate majority. Candidates from the governing ANO and SPD parties failed to secure enough places in the runoff to overturn it.

ANO had 13 candidates competing in the runoff. Among opposition parties, candidates included 12 nominated by the Mayors movement, nine by ODS and two by KDU-ČSL. Eight other parties and movements, including TOP 09, the Pirates and SEN 21, each had one nominee.

Five districts settled their contests in the first round: Děčín, Trutnov, Vyškov, Rychnov nad Kněžnou and Strakonice. Those elections returned two senators for STAN and one each for KDU-ČSL, TOP 09 and Naše Česko.

The joint ODS and TOP 09 parliamentary group could remain the Senate’s largest. It previously had 30 members, including representatives of Naše Česko, and was defending nine seats.

The Mayors group faced greater exposure, defending 11 of its 18 seats. ANO was defending just one of its 15 mandates, while KDU-ČSL was defending three of its 12.

The previously five-member SEN 21 and Pirates group was also defending three seats. Its continued existence depends on its two runoff candidates succeeding or on recruiting senators elected for smaller parties and movements.

Of the 27 senators whose terms expired this year, 23 sought reelection. Four retained their seats in the first round, while another 15 advanced to the runoff. Four incumbents were eliminated.

The newly elected senators are expected to take their constitutional oath in mid-November, following the period for any legal challenges to the results. They will then be able to vote at Senate sessions. Until then, 54 continuing senators hold full voting rights.

Approximately 2.25 million voters were eligible to participate in the runoff. Turnout in second-round Senate contests is typically less than half that recorded in the opening round, when voting often coincides with other elections.

More than two-fifths of eligible voters participated in this year’s first round. The lowest Senate runoff turnout was recorded a decade ago, when just 15.38 percent voted.