Elsevier

Electoral Studies

Volume 25, Issue 4, December 2006, Pages 825-831
Electoral Studies

Notes on recent elections
The parliamentary election in Slovenia, October 2004

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Background

The Slovenian legislature, or National Assembly (Državni zbor), consists of 90 members, of which 88 are elected directly by all voters through a proportional electoral system with a 4% threshold. The remaining two seats are filled by representatives of the Italian and Hungarian ethnic minorities, elected by Borda count. Members of the National Assembly are elected for four-year terms. The second chamber, or National Council (Državni svet), consists of 40 members who are elected every five

Electoral system

In 1996 a referendum was held in Slovenia by which voters were to decide whether a two-round majority system should be adopted for parliamentary elections. The result of the referendum was highly controversial. In 1998, the Constitutional Court ruled that the referendum was successful and that the majority system should be adopted.1 The National Assembly refused to follow the Constitutional Court's decision. Instead, it

Political parties and blocs

Since the first democratic elections in 1990 there have been two strong party blocs in Slovenia: successors of reformed former socio-political organizations on the centre-left; former oppositional parties and their successors on the centre-right (Fink-Hafner and Antić, 2004). With few exceptions, these blocs have tended to support common ideas and common presidential candidates.

The most important parties on the centre-left are Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS), which emerged from the former

Electoral campaign and issues

Election campaigns in Slovenia officially start 30 days before election day and end 24 hours before voting takes place. Unofficially, the campaign takes place over several months. Although parties receive campaign funds from the state budget, they are also allowed to collect donations. Donations from individuals and corporations are allowed, but not donations from abroad. Since there is no effective supervision of campaign finances, parties do not pay much attention to campaign finance laws and

Election results

Turnout at the election was 60.7%, continuing the downward trend since 1992. In the 1992 election, turnout was 85.5%; in 1996, 73.7%; and in 2000, it was 70.1%. Moreover, in the two rounds of the 2002 presidential elections, turnout was 72.1% and 65.4%. Even this closely contested election did not reverse the relentless fall in turnout.

Altogether 20 parties contested the election, and, of these, 10 seemed strong enough to have a chance of passing the 4% threshold. In the end, only seven

Outlook

With the new coalition in power, several important reforms can be anticipated. Although over half of the economy is still owned by the government or corporations owned by the government, the new government promises to sell its shares in such major corporations. It also promises to privatize telecommunications companies and banks, as well as generally withdrawing the state from the economy. Pension reform and tax reform are expected. Even a flat tax rate may be introduced.

Reforms are also

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References (8)

  • D. Fink-Hafner et al.

    The 2002 presidential elections in Slovenia

    Electoral Studies

    (2004)
  • Central Election Commission, 2000. Results of the parliamentary election. In: The National Gazzette. 15 October 2000....
  • Central Election Commission, 2004. Results of the parliamentary election. In: The National Gazzette. 3 October 2004....
  • F. Grad

    Basic characteristics of the Slovene electoral legislation

    Javna uprava

    (1994)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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  • Engineering inclusion: Assessing the effects of pro-minority representation policies

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    In its 90-member parliament, Slovenia reserves one seat apiece for its Hungarian and Italian minorities elected by the Borda count.1 Minority group members may also cast ballots in the regular election for the remaining 88 mandates (Toplak, 2006). The reserved seats result in substantial overrepresentation of both groups as they give 2.2 percent of seats to just 0.4 percent of population.

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