The direct election of the president of the Czech Republic was held on 13 and 14 January 2023 under Act No. 275/2012 Coll., on the Election of the President of the Republic.
The 2023 Czech presidential election was an election of the head of state held on 13 and 14 January 2023 on the basis of Act No. 275/2012 Coll., on the Election of the President of the Republic. [1]
Registration of candidates
Under Section 26(2) of the Act on the Election of the President of the Republic, the Ministry of the Interior decided on the registration or rejection of the individual candidate lists. It issued its decisions on this matter on 25 November 2022. [1]
The decisions were posted the same day on the official notice board of the Ministry of the Interior at the seat of the Státní volební komise at náměstí Hrdinů 3 in Prague 4. Under Section 26(3) of the Act, decisions are considered delivered on the third day after posting, that is, on 28 November 2022. [1]
The Ministry of the Interior registered nine candidates for the election: former prime minister and leader of the ANO movement Andrej Babiš, SPD member of parliament Jaroslav Bašta, senator Pavel Fischer, senator Marek Hilšer, former rector of Mendel University in Brno Danuše Nerudová, former Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces Petr Pavel, president of the Česká asociace povinných Denisa Rohanová, chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions Josef Středula, and former rector of Charles University Tomáš Zima. [4]
The Ministry of the Interior, in contrast, refused to register the candidacies of the entrepreneur Tomáš Březina, Karel Diviš and Karel Janeček, because it did not recognise part of the voter signatures they had submitted. [4]
Withdrawal of Josef Středula's candidacy
On 9 January 2023, before the first round of the election, the Ministry of the Interior received a personal statement by the candidate Josef Středula withdrawing his candidacy. [2]
Because the withdrawal took place only after the candidate list had been registered, ballot paper number 3 with his name remained part of the set of ballot papers that voters received. When the voting results were determined, however, votes cast for Josef Středula were not taken into account. [2]
Information on the withdrawal of the candidacy was posted, together with information for voters, in all polling stations in the territory of the Czech Republic and abroad. Voters voting by a special procedure because of isolation with covid-19 were also informed of this. [2]
Sources
- Ministerstvo vnitra ČR — 25 November 2022
- Ministerstvo vnitra ČR — 9 January 2023
- Česká televize — 25 November 2022