The first round of the presidential elections in Slovenia take place this Sunday in calm, with a relatively low turnout at the polls although already usual in the Alpine country of 2.1 million inhabitants.
As reported by the state electoral commission, at 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT) -four hours after the opening of the polling stations-, 13.63% of the nearly 1.7 million citizens entitled to vote they had deposited their ballot.
The percentage of participation is only slightly higher than the 13.38% registered at the same time in the 2017 presidential elections, and which ended at the end of the day at 44%.
SECOND ROUND
According to the polls, the required absolute majority of votes will not be obtained today by any of the seven candidates running to occupy, for a five-year term, the head of state, an essentially representative position.
Consequently, the final decision on who will be the successor of the current president, the social democrat Borut Pahor, must come from the second round of the elections, scheduled for November 13, which will be disputed between the two candidates with the most votes this Sunday.
The latest polls, published last Friday, see Logar in first place, with 25% of the vote, followed by Pirc Musar, with 20%, and Brglez, with 13%.
OPTIMISM
Pirc Musar, who aspires to become the first woman in the highest office in the country and is one of the favorites of center-left citizens, was optimistic when casting her vote in Radomlje, about 20 kilometers north of Ljubljana. .
“Many handshakes that have enriched me, an invaluable life experience,” said the candidate, quoted by the Slovenian agency STA.
“Elections are important, otherwise others will decide instead of you and then you might regret not having voted,” said Brglez after depositing his ballot in Logatec, about 25 kilometers southwest of the capital.
After opening at 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT), the polling stations will remain open until 19:00 (17:00 GMT), when the first estimates of the result of the vote based on foot polls are expected to be known. of urn
The electoral commission will start publishing the first preliminary results of the vote count from 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT). EFE
