Czech Senate election, 2010

Senate elections were held in the Czech Republic for a third of the Czech Senate (27 seats) in October 2010. The first round was held on 15 and 16 October 2010, with a second round on 22 and 23 October 2010.^[1]

The election was a major success for the Czech Social Democratic Party, who gained 12 seats to become the largest party, with 41. The liberal conservative Civic Democratic Party fell 11 seats to 25, while the centre-right group led by TOP 09 lost 4 seats to leave them on 5 seats: equal with the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party.

Issues

The Czech Social Democratic Party ran on a platform of promising to put off austerity measures as well as stopping the expansion of Czech troops in the War in Afghanistan.^[2]

Election

In the first round, a turnout of 44.33% of voters was reached and no candidate gained 50% of the vote in their district, which means the top two in each district advance to the run-off round.^[3] The ČSSD's candidates advanced to the second round in 22 districts despite the fact that they held none of the seats. The ruling ODS, which held 18 of the seats, advanced to the run-off in 19. TOP 09 advanced in 5 seats, KDU–ČSL in 3, the regional Severočeši.cz in 2, Public Affairs in 1, and independent candidates in 2.^[4]

Results

 Summary of the 15–16 and 22–23 October 2010 Czech Senate election results

Parties		First round			Second round		Seats Won	Not Up	Total Seats	±
		Votes	%	Run-off	Votes	%
	Czech Social Democratic Party	290,090	25.28	22	299,526	44.02	12	29	41	+12
	Civic Democratic Party	266,311	23.21	19	225,708	33.17	8	17	25	–11
	TOP 09 – Mayors and Independents	165,277	14.40	5	51,310	7.54	2	3	5	–4
	Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party	87,182	7.60	3	42,990	6.32	2	3	5	+1
	NorthBohemians.cz	20,062	1.75	2	23,279	3.42	2	0	2	+2
	Independent candidates	21,551	1.88	1	14,944	2.20	1[5]	0	1	+1
	Public Affairs	57,179	4.98	1	11,973	1.76	0	0	0	±0
	Independents (NEZÁVISLÍ)	10,739	0.94	1	10,707	1.57	0	0	0	±0
	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia	117,374	10.23	0			0	2	2	–1
	Sovereignty – Jana Bobošíková Bloc	40,295	3.51	0			0	0	0	±0
	Party of Civic Rights – Zemanovci	17,195	1.50	0			0	0	0	±0
	Green Party	10,473	0.91	0			0	0	0	±0
	Party of Free Citizens	5,447	0.47	0			0	0	0	±0
	Democratic Green Party (Demokratická strana zelených)	3,348	0.29	0			0	0	0	±0
	Czech National Social Party	1,791	0.16	0			0	0	0	±0
	Czech National Socialist Party	1,773	0.15	0			0	0	0	±0
	Bohemian Crown	828	0.07	0			0	0	0	±0
	Others	30,475	2.66	0			0	0	0	±0
Totals		1,147,390	100.00	54	680,167	100.00	27	54	81	—

References

1. http://www.mherrera.org/elections.htm
2. >> Czech opposition wins Senate majority
3. http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_1965
4. https://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gSx3aDLkBhO9iF4KLqsF1EIIQmWw?docId=4856258
5. Miluše Horská