A man casts his vote at a polling station in Prague, the Czech Republic, on June 7, 2024. (Photo by Dana Kesnerova/Xinhua)
PRAGUE, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Elections to elect representatives to the European Parliament (EP) started in the Czech Republic on Friday afternoon.
Over two days, Czechs will decide who represents them in the EP where they have 21 seats, choosing from among over 670 candidates from 30 political parties, movements and coalitions.
Polling stations opened from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday and will reopen the following day when the elections continue from 08:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Czech Republic joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. Together with Italy, where voting will take place over the weekend, the country is one of just two EU countries where the election take place over two days.
More than eight million are eligible to vote in the country of 10.5 million people this year. However, voter turnout is usually low, with only about 29 percent of Czechs voting in the last EP elections in 2019 and about 18 percent a decade ago.
Speaking after voting in a polling station in the municipality of Cernoucek, in northern Czech Republic, Czech President Petr Pavel told journalists that he hopes this year's turnout for the EP elections will be higher than five years ago. He said he would consider it a success if more than 30 percent of voters went to the polls.
The EP elections, scheduled for June 6-9, kicked off on Thursday with the opening of polling stations in the Netherlands, the first of the EU's 27 member states to vote. Friday was the bloc's second day of elections, with the Czech Republic and Ireland casting their ballots.
The final election results in the Czech Republic will be released on Sunday night only after the voting ends in all EU member states. ■
Voters register at a polling station in Prague, the Czech Republic, on June 7, 2024. (Photo by Dana Kesnerova/Xinhua)
A man casts his vote at a polling station in Prague, the Czech Republic, on June 7, 2024. (Photo by Dana Kesnerova/Xinhua)
Voters register at a polling station in Prague, the Czech Republic, on June 7, 2024. (Photo by Dana Kesnerova/Xinhua)