Gor Vartazaryan

In 2012 Czech political system was dramatically changed, after a constitutional amendment introducing the direct election of the president was adopted. The majority of academics (political scientists and lawyers) were against it, since it undermines the fundamental logic of a parliamentary regime. President should be  elected indirectly, to be under the legitimacy of the Parliament. However now, the President has the legitimacy coming directly from voters, creating the possibility for more extensive use of presidential powers.

On the 13th and 14th of January 2023. third direct presidential elections will be held. The Czech president is elected in a two-round majority system. If neither of the candidates gets 50% in the first round, the second round is held with the two most successful candidates from the first round. Following the autumn municipal and senate elections, one would automatically assume that COVID-19 measures are off the table since the proposed bill wasn't accepted by the government. However, there is a proposal for an ad hoc bill regarding presidential elections. It has already passed through internal procedure of the government and was proposed to the Chamber of Deputies.

The proposed bill is limited only to the upcoming presidential elections in 2023 and is introducing three types of special voting measures. It is quite surprising that the government is going rather for ad hoc bills than a systematic solution that was proposed before the autumn elections. Government explains its position in the explanatory memorandum: „Compared to the first proposal of the bill in May, which in the end, due to the improving epidemic situation at the time, was not further debated in this form, the focus of this  draft is narrowed to presidential election so that its use will be tied only to the exercise of the right to vote for persons restricted in their freedom from for the purpose of protecting public health from the disease Covid-19. Other infectious diseases, defined in § 2 paragraph 5 of Act No. 258/2000 Coll., on the protection of public health and on the amendment of some related laws, as amended, could represent an increased risk for members of voting committees who would come into contact with an infected person. The members of these commissions would then have  to be equipped with protective equipment with different types of protection depending on the type of infectious disease, which would significantly increase the cost of acquiring this equipment."

This draft deletes the provision of Article 3 from the first proposed bill. It conditioned the use of special voting methods on the fact that a state of pandemic emergency or a state of emergency declared due to the spread of COVID-19 will last on the 25th day before the first day of elections. Under the current circumstances, the fulfilment of this condition cannot be assumed, and therefore the decision to use special voting methods will be directly linked to the effectiveness of the law. In this way, the right to vote will be guaranteed to people with Covid-19 without any supposed state of emergency being declared. The possibility of using special voting methods applies to persons who have been ordered to quarantine or isolation by decision of the regional hygiene station or by a general practitioner in the form of incapacity or by issuing a special certificate.

The author of this text assumes that the bill will be adopted by the Parliament. It would make more logical sense, if the bill was adopted because of the worsening of the pandemic situation. This is not the cause. It has created a controversial situation, when isolated voters in last municipal and senate elections were discriminated against isolated voters in the upcoming presidential elections.

November 2022

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The views expressed above belong to the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Social Sciences.