Deputies will continue to discuss the introduction of postal voting from abroad today

Deputies will today continue to discuss the controversial coalition proposal to introduce the option of postal voting for Czech citizens living abroad. At an extraordinary meeting called at the initiative of the government camp, they will have the second reading of the electoral amendment, in which they will be able to submit amendments. It is possible that the meeting will continue on Friday as well.

According to the draft, Czech citizens who will be entered in the voter list at the locally competent embassy could use the correspondence election from abroad. The proposal concerns presidential, parliamentary and European elections. According to the draft, Czechs abroad could vote by letter for the first time in the next regular elections to the House of Representatives in 2025.

The amendment of some parameters of the correspondence election has already been proposed by the constitutional and legal committee. However, the coalition and the opposition continue to disagree on its compliance with the constitution. The opposition movements ANO and SPD claim that voting by mail may be contrary to the principles of secret, free and personal elections. The opening parliamentary debate on the proposal in the plenary took up six working days, also due to opposition obstructions, and lasted approximately 63.5 hours of net time.

For example, the Legal Committee wants votes from abroad to be counted in the four largest regions instead of two, which should reduce their influence on the distribution of mandates. Even if the voter voted by mail, he would have the right to vote later in person at the embassy. In such a case, a vote sent by mail would be disqualified and therefore not counted. The measure is related to the possible influence of the voter during postal voting by his surroundings.

Photo: CTK Profimedia

Author: ČTK