No worker in overalls or winemaker. Pellegrini’s constituents from the video are actors, they appeared in well-known series

A worker in overalls, a shop assistant, a winemaker, a manager or a teacher. Such characters also appeared in the election video that presidential candidate Peter Pellegrini published on social networks in mid-March. In the film, they explain the reasons why they will vote for him in the presidential race. As the Slovak Denník N found out, the reality is completely different. At least three of the seemingly ordinary people are actors who appear as extras in well-known TV shows. During the audition, Pellegrini was even supposed to choose them himself.

Two of the actors confirmed to the Slovak newspaper that the appearance in Pellegrini’s election clip was for them a regular acting performance for which they received money. The extras applied for the audition and sent their photos. If they were shortlisted, they were invited to a personal selection process. For participating in filming and photography, they received roughly 280 euros, which is about 7 thousand crowns.

In addition to the director of the spot, Pellegrini himself should have been involved in the selection of performers. According to the extras, no one asked them whether they would actually vote for him or whether they supported his candidacy. One of the performers told Denník N that he only knew when applying for the audition that it was a political advertisement. However, there was no word that this was a campaign for Pellegrini. They only found out what they were going to say in the clip before the filming itself.

The creators left only the first names real, they are not the real jobs of the individual characters. For example, Alen, who appears in the video as a winemaker, is actually an economist and manager. “I am voting for Pellegrini because he knows that Slovakia continues even beyond Bratislava and will take care of the whole country,” reads his photo on the presidential candidate’s website. He himself has lived in Bratislava since birth. “It does not express my personal position. It’s an actor’s matter, I’m there in a professional position, in no other position,” he commented on his role in the campaign. At the same time, he emphasized that he does not want to favor any of the candidates with this advertisement.

Marek, who in the campaign is standing in overalls in the production hall, actually works as a cook. “I am voting for a president who is not here for politicians, but for normal people,” he says in Pellegrini’s election video. In recent years, Marek has been acting, he has starred in several well-known Slovak series. According to him, appearing in the campaign does not mean that he supports Pellegrini. “Some do it out of conviction, some for income, some for visibility,” he told the Slovakian daily about the extras.

Mr. Josef is also an extra in Pellegrini’s campaign, who is depicted as a manager standing in front of Bratislava’s high-rise buildings. However, it is clear from his social networks that he works as an amateur actor, he has appeared in Slovak series or in the film Ghost. Jozef himself did not want to comment on the video, referring only to confidentiality. When Denník N approached the extras, they should have received a message from the agency warning them to maintain confidentiality and not to communicate with the media.

Pellegrini’s opponent, Ivan Korčok, also shot the video. It features ordinary people who are worried about the future of Slovakia. According to Korčok’s spokesman Peter Köles, they do not use extras in the campaign. “It’s about real supporters and their real opinions,” N. told Denník.

Electoral models in Slovakia expect a close fight between the two candidates in the decisive second round of the presidential election. The polling model of the agency Median SK among 1,218 respondents showed that Pellegrini’s support was 51.1 percent between March 28 and 31. Korčok was supported by 48.9 percent of respondents, announced Slovak public television, which commissioned the survey. She calculated the statistical deviation at approximately 3.5 percent.

A survey by the Focus agency, the results of which were published by Markíza TV on Tuesday, also showed a close lead for Pellegrini. According to this poll, 50.8 percent of the people would vote for the head of the parliament, and Korčok would get 49.2 percent of the votes. In this poll, Focus interviewed 1,015 respondents between March 28 and April 2.

Conversely, according to the election model of the NMS Market Research agency, Korčok’s support reached 51.7 percent, while 48.3 percent of respondents would vote for Pellegrini. This survey was commissioned by the newspaper Sme. The daily said that the close difference between the two candidates does not indicate that the second round of the presidential election has a certain winner. NMS polled 1,045 respondents in the same period as the Focus agency.

NMS analyst Mikuláš Hanes stated that Korčok managed to convince those voters who did not participate in the first round of the presidential elections in March. Korčok won this round with an unexpectedly high lead of almost 124,000 votes over Pellegrini, who originally entered the presidential election as a favorite.

The NMS model also showed that Pellegrini succeeds in mobilizing the voters of the failed presidential candidate Štefan Harabin. He finished third in the first round, receiving over 264,000 votes. Harabin has pro-Russian views and has spoken out in favor of Slovakia’s neutrality, which would mean the country withdrawing from NATO.

The Ipsos election model commissioned by Denník N also showed the equal chances of both candidates to be elected head of state. According to it, Korčok would get 50.1 percent of the votes, Pellegrini 49.9 percent. The agency collected data at the turn of March and April.