Czech Republic
Parliamentary Elections
Electoral system
- Bicameral parliament
- Chamber name: Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka Snemovna)
- Members (lower house): 200
- Term: 4 years
- Constituencies: since 2002: 14 multi-member constituencies (1992-2001: 8).
- Voting system: 1992-2002: Multi-member system. 200 seats were elected in 8 electoral districts by proportional representation (Hagenbach-Bischof). All seats were calculated on the basis of the upper national tier. There was a 5% electoral threshold on the national level for parties, 7% for coalitions of two parties, 9% for coalitions with three parties, and 11% for coalitions with four parties.
2002: The electoral formula was changed to d’Hondt; the number of electoral districts was increased from 8 to 14. Each elector votes for the party list of his choice and can also two preferential votes for individual candidates on the list. One scrutiny takes place. It is required that a party receive at least the 5% of the national vote to gain parliamentary representation (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) - Voter requirements: 18 years of age; Czech citizenship (including naturalized citizens); residence in the country at the time of the election
- Voting is not compulsory.
Latest elections
Election results 1992-2010, main parties
Election 2010, distribution of seats. NUTS 3.
Sources:
Birch, Sarah, Frances Millard, Marina Popescu and Kieran Williams, 2002. Embodying democracy: electoral system design in post-communist Europe. Palgrave Machmillan: New York.
Inter-Parliamentary Union, PARLINE database on national parliaments
Constituency-Level Elections Archive (CLEA): country descriptions.
