Elections in Slovenia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At a national level, Slovenia elects a head of state (a president) and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people using the run-off system. The National Assembly (Državni zbor), Slovenia's parliament, has 90 members each elected for four-year terms. All but two of these are elected using the D'Hondt method of list proportional representation. The remaining two members are elected by the Italian and Hungarian ethnic minorities using the Borda count.
Slovenia's multi-party system means that any one party is unlikely to gain power alone. Coalition governments must therefore be negotiated and formed.
At an international level, Slovenia elects 9 members of the European Parliament. The MEPs term is five years.
In addition to the elections mentioned above, Slovenia organizes the local elections. Mayors of all 212 municipalities and members of municipal councils are elected. Local elections are held once every four years and have two rounds of voting.
Latest elections
2022 presidential election
In the first round Anže Logar received 34% of the voter share against 27% for Nataša Pirc Musar.[1] Milan Brglez was third with around 15%.[1] For the second round Golob then turned his support to Pirc Musar.[1]
In the run-off, independent Pirc Musar was expected to win since August 2022.[2] Logar also ran as an independent, but was a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which lost parliamentary elections six months prior.[3] Logar was therefore associated with Janša, who was accused with attempting to restrict the freedom of expression and undermine the independence of the judiciary during his term in office.[3]
In the evening of 13 November 2022, the electoral commission reported that Pirc Musar won with nearly 54% of the vote, after which Logar conceded defeat and congratulated Pirc Musar on her victory.[4] Pirc Musar will become Slovenia's first female president, commander-in-chief of the Slovenian Army and also be responsible for appointing the head of the Central Bank of Slovenia.[5]
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Anže Logar | Independent[a] | 296,000 | 33.95 | 414,029 | 46.11 | |
| Nataša Pirc Musar | Independent[b] | 234,361 | 26.88 | 483,812 | 53.89 | |
| Milan Brglez | Social Democrats | 134,726 | 15.45 | |||
| Vladimir Prebilič | Independent | 92,456 | 10.60 | |||
| Sabina Senčar | Resni.ca | 51,767 | 5.94 | |||
| Janez Cigler Kralj | New Slovenia | 38,113 | 4.37 | |||
| Miha Kordiš | The Left | 24,518 | 2.81 | |||
| Total | 871,941 | 100.00 | 897,841 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 871,941 | 99.47 | 897,841 | 98.87 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 4,625 | 0.53 | 10,224 | 1.13 | ||
| Total votes | 876,566 | 100.00 | 908,065 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,694,437 | 51.73 | 1,694,373 | 53.59 | ||
| Source: Volitve | ||||||
2022 local elections
2024 European Parliament election
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Slovenian Democratic Party | 206,368 | 30.61 | 4 | +2 | |
| Freedom Movement | 149,200 | 22.13 | 2 | New | |
| Vesna – Green Party | 71,023 | 10.54 | 1 | New | |
| Social Democrats | 52,390 | 7.77 | 1 | –1 | |
| New Slovenia – Christian Democrats | 51,182 | 7.59 | 1 | 0 | |
| Slovenian People's Party | 48,637 | 7.21 | 0 | –1 | |
| The Left | 32,436 | 4.81 | 0 | 0 | |
| Resni.ca | 26,767 | 3.97 | 0 | New | |
| Democratic Party of Pensioners − Good State | 14,980 | 2.22 | 0 | 0 | |
| Greens of Slovenia | 10,865 | 1.61 | 0 | 0 | |
| None of the Above | 10,263 | 1.52 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 674,111 | 100.00 | 9 | +1 | |
| Valid votes | 674,111 | 95.58 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 31,182 | 4.42 | |||
| Total votes | 705,293 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,689,586 | 41.74 | |||
| Source: | |||||
2026 parliamentary election
The election resulted in a hung parliament, with no major party being likely to secure a majority of 46 seats.[9] Freedom Movement (GS) received 28.63% of the vote, while the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) received 27.95% of the vote, creating a gap of 0.68 percentage points, the smallest margin ever between the top two parties in a Slovenian parliamentary election.[10] With GS and SDS winning 29 and 28 seats respectively, the left-leaning bloc led by Golob decreased to 40 MPs and the right-leaning bloc led by Janša increased to 43 MPs.[11]
In third place was the right-wing coalition of New Slovenia, Slovenian People's Party and Focus taking 9.29% of the vote and winning a total of nine seats (NSi won 7 seats, SLS won 1 seat and Focus won 1 seat). The Social Democrats and Democrats each took around 6.70% of the vote, giving both parties their respective six seats. Left–Vesna took five seats (The Left won all 5 seats) with 5.58% of the vote, while Resni.ca also took five seats with 5.52% of the vote.[12][13] Zoran Stevanović, leader of Resni.ca, stated that the party was not interested in joining the right-leaning bloc led by Janša.[14]
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Freedom Movement | 338,102 | 28.66 | 29 | –12 | |
| Slovenian Democratic Party | 328,923 | 27.88 | 28 | +1 | |
| NSi, SLS, FOKUS | 109,201 | 9.26 | 9 | +1 | |
| Social Democrats | 79,175 | 6.71 | 6 | –1 | |
| Democrats | 78,902 | 6.69 | 6 | New | |
| Levica and Vesna | 67,183 | 5.69 | 5 | 0 | |
| Resni.ca | 64,799 | 5.49 | 5 | +5 | |
| Prerod – Party of Vladimir Prebilič | 35,976 | 3.05 | 0 | New | |
| Pirate Party | 27,811 | 2.36 | 0 | 0 | |
| Slovenian National Party | 26,375 | 2.24 | 0 | 0 | |
| We, Socialists! | 5,657 | 0.48 | 0 | New | |
| Greens of Slovenia and Party of Generations | 5,277 | 0.45 | 0 | 0 | |
| Alternative for Slovenia | 4,785 | 0.41 | 0 | 0 | |
| Voice of Pensioners | 4,193 | 0.36 | 0 | New | |
| Karl Erjavec – Trust Party | 2,995 | 0.25 | 0 | New | |
| Unity | 251 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
| Solution – Party of Pensioners Velenje | 164 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Italian and Hungarian national minorities | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 1,179,769 | 100.00 | 90 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 1,179,769 | 99.07 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 11,050 | 0.93 | |||
| Total votes | 1,190,819 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,695,220 | 70.25 | |||
| Source: dvk-rs.si | |||||
Constituency results
The SDS prevailed in five constituencies out of eight,[15] winning in Celje,[16] as well as Kranj, Novo Mesto and Ptuj,[17] where they secured their best result at 32.67% of the vote. The party also secured[18] Maribor, Slovenia's second-largest city, with 30.75% of the vote. Conversely, the GS won the capital districts of Ljubljana Bežigrad and Ljubljana Center,[19] as well as Postojna, where they recorded their best result at 34.79% of the vote.[17] The GS's performance represented a decline from their 2022 result, when they won all eight constituencies;[20] however, they still secured a plurality of seats in three electoral districts: Ljubljana Center, Ljubljana Bežigrad and Novo Mesto.[21] Conversely, the SDS won their pluralities in Ptuj and Celje, while the two parties won an even amount of delegates in Postojna, Maribor and Kranj.[21]
| Constituency | GS | SDS | NSF | SD | Democrats | LV | Resni.ca | Others | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |
| Celje | 39,450 | 26.36 | 46,705 | 31.60 | 15,508 | 10.39 | 11,373 | 7.62 | 10,166 | 6.81 | 6,128 | 4.11 | 7,676 | 5.14 | 12,328 | 8.26 |
| Kranj | 39,132 | 26.10 | 41,554 | 27.71 | 16,765 | 11.18 | 8,028 | 5.35 | 9,950 | 6.64 | 8,797 | 5.87 | 10,554 | 7.04 | 15,164 | 10.10 |
| Ljubljana Bežigrad | 43,082 | 29.18 | 38,279 | 25.93 | 12,768 | 8.65 | 8,662 | 5.87 | 9,936 | 6.73 | 10,287 | 6.97 | 7,792 | 5.28 | 16,834 | 11.41 |
| Ljubljana Center | 46,234 | 29.12 | 37,529 | 23.64 | 13,883 | 8.74 | 9,859 | 6.21 | 11,596 | 7.30 | 15,126 | 9.53 | 7,392 | 4.66 | 17,162 | 10.80 |
| Maribor | 39,037 | 28.33 | 42,471 | 30.83 | 9,782 | 7.10 | 9,375 | 6.80 | 9,686 | 7.03 | 6,406 | 4.65 | 8,092 | 5.87 | 12,926 | 9.38 |
| Novo Mesto | 41,423 | 27.74 | 43,928 | 29.42 | 15,330 | 10.27 | 12,171 | 8.15 | 9,160 | 6.13 | 5,905 | 3.95 | 7,100 | 4.75 | 14,303 | 9.57 |
| Postojna | 47,962 | 34.74 | 31,136 | 22.55 | 12,610 | 9.13 | 10,199 | 7.39 | 7,791 | 5.64 | 8,239 | 5.97 | 6,793 | 4.92 | 13,319 | 9.65 |
| Ptuj | 37,763 | 27.80 | 44,434 | 32.71 | 11,740 | 8.64 | 8,636 | 6.36 | 9,748 | 7.18 | 4,199 | 3.09 | 8,973 | 6.61 | 10,334 | 7.61 |
| Total | 333,973 | 28.63 | 326,036 | 27.95 | 108,386 | 9.29 | 78,303 | 6.71 | 78,033 | 6.69 | 65,087 | 5.58 | 64,372 | 5.52 | 110,204 | 9.44 |
| Source: DVK | ||||||||||||||||
The GS's performance by constituency
The SDS's performance by constituency
The NSI-SLS-Fokus's performance by constituency
Turnout
Early voting
Election day
Turnout by electoral districts
| Electoral district | Eligible voters | Turnout | 2026 turnout | 2022 turnout | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kranj | 208,965 | 150,564 | 72.05 % | 74.14 % |  2.09 % |
| Postojna | 209,323 | 137,970 | 65.91 % | 69.56 % | 3.65 % |
| Ljubljana – Center | 221,718 | 158,219 | 71.36 % | 75.26 % | 3.90 % |
| Ljubljana – Bežigrad | 210,021 | 143,482 | 68.32 % | 73.63 % | 4.31 % |
| Celje | 210,609 | 149,449 | 70.96 % | 71.61 % | 0.65 % |
| Novo Mesto | 217,947 | 149,244 | 68.48 % | 70.36 % | 1.88 % |
| Maribor | 206,707 | 138,193 | 66.85 % | 67.94 % | 1.09 % |
| Ptuj | 209,914 | 136,010 | 64.79 % | 65.13 % | 0.34 % |
Following the election, prime minister Robert Golob said that he would try to create a government of national unity and invited all parties, except SDS, for coalition talks. This offer was rejected by NSi and its partners, the Slovenian People's Party and Focus of Marko Lotrič. Leaders of the Democrats and Resni.ca stated that they do not want to be in a government together with The Left.[30]
On 1 April, the leaders of Democrats, Resni.ca and NSi announced that their intention to form a centre-right coalition or a "third bloc" in anticipation of imminent post-election coalition talks. This third bloc would hold 20 seats in the National Assembly and would further complicate the path to a government formation. The leader of Resni.ca, Zoran Stevanović, stated that his party would not support any government led by Janez Janša or Robert Golob, stating his preference for a repeat snap election.[31][32] Despite this, Golob called for the will of the voters to be respected and expressed enthusiasm that the next government would be led by his party. Anže Logar, the leader of the Democrats called for Golob to announce a ministry allocation proposal.[33]
On 7 April, Golob announced allocations of ministries in the proposed national unity government: seven for Freedom Movement, three for NSi-led coalition and two for SD, Democrats and The Left each. He also expected external cooperation with Resni.ca on some topics. The offer was rejected by NSi-led coalition. Golob also proposed individual coalition talks with these parties.[34]
On 10 April, Resni.ca leader Zoran Stevanović was elected speaker of the National Assembly after being nominated by Resni.ca, SDS and NSi MPs. GS announced that they voted against him, while The Left and SD abstained.[35][36]
| Candidate | Votes | Yes | No | Invalid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoran Stevanović | 79 | 48 | 29 | 2 |
On 12 April, newsletter Dnevnik reported that at least two MPs from the Democrats had worries about possible Janša-led government. Leader of the Democrats, Anže Logar, later stated that his party is unified and that the GS is still the only party that invited them for coalition talks.[37]
On 17 April, Anže Logar officially stated that his party is leaving coalition talks with GS, because GS attempted to negotiate with individual MPs to cross the floor. Robert Golob responded by accusing Logar and Stevanović of cheating their own voters by giving fake pre-election promises of not entering a government led by Janša and by only pretending to have real interest in forming a possible second government led by GS. Furthermore, Golob released documents from coalition negotiations, where GS promised to fulfill all main points of the pre-election programme of the Democrats.[38]
On 20 April, Golob admitted that he could not form a government and said that his party would go into opposition.[39]
On 21 April, Freedom Movement announced that they were filing a constitutional complaint regarding the election of the speaker, asserting that a number of ballots used in the speakership election were visibly marked, which would allegedly be a violation of national deputies’ right to the fairness of a secret vote in the speakership election.[40]
On 25 April, president Nataša Pirc Musar stated after finishing personal consultations with all leaders of elected parties that she would not nominate someone for prime minister, because no one reached the required minimum of 46 votes. She also said that these personal consultations had no trust, respect or honesty and that she sees a lot of changes in positions and behavior of parties after the election.[41]
On 6 May, a new round of coalition talks were initiated by Janša, who seeks to form a coalition with NSi-SLS-FOKUS, the Democrats and Resni.ca. Although Speaker Stevanović reaffirmed that his party wouldn't join a coalition, he stated that it would "support a candidate with widespread support". However, SDS later said it did not intend to continue negotiations. If no agreement is reached on a new prime ministerial candidate, fresh elections will be held.[42]
On 16 May, Stevanović publicly announced that Resni.ca will externally support Janez Janša for prime minister, making his fourth government possible.[43]
On 19 May, 48 MPs endorsed Janez Janša for Prime Minister. On the same day, an MP from Resni.ca, Katja Kokot, accused left-leaning MPs of attempting to bribe MPs from Resni.ca with seven figures bribes, in order to thwart the creation of the fourth Janša government. However she did not name any concrete names or support any evidence to her claims. [44][45]
On 22 May, Janša was sworn in as Prime Minister. He received 51 votes in a secret ballot in the parliament, which came as surprise, because at least 1 opposition MP must have voted for Janša.[46]
