The voters they decide on the 88 representatives of the 90-member Slovenian National Assembly, while one mandate is obtained by a representative of the Hungarian and Italian national communities.
1179 candidates on 17 lists are running in the election.
The polls close competition between the ruling centre-left Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda) and the largest opposition force, the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of former Prime Minister Janez Jansa.
According to a survey by the Mediana institute, the support of the Freedom Movement is 18.9 percent, while that of the SDS is 18.5 percent. Behind the two major parties, several smaller political forces are likely to apply for parliament, including the joint list of the conservative New Slovenia (NSi), the Slovene People’s Party (SLS) and Fokus, as well as the joint list of the Social Democrats (SD), Anze Logar’s Democrats, Baloldal (Levica) and Vesna.
The parliamentary entrance threshold is 4 percent. According to analysts, no party can obtain an independent majority in the 90-member parliament, so it is expected that a multi-party coalition will be needed to form a government. Voting is held in around three thousand domestic polling stations, voters can vote abroad and by mail. The polling stations are open until seven o’clock in the evening. The participation data will be published several times during the day, and the results of the exit polls will be announced immediately after the polls close.
The first partial results are expected late Sunday evening.
The cover image is an illustration. Cover image source: Getty Images
