By: SDS
The Slovenian Democratic Party has submitted an objection to the National Electoral Commission due to illegalities and irregularities in the determination of the list and areas of special polling stations for early voting in the parliamentary elections.
Based on the Instructions for the Work of Electoral Commissions, the National Electoral Commission published the list and areas of special polling stations for early voting in the parliamentary elections. The published data show that in several cases early voting was organised at joint special polling stations for multiple electoral districts at the same time, with individual polling stations designated as a single location for several geographically and administratively separate districts. This designation of early‑voting polling stations at the same locations constitutes a clear violation of the National Assembly Elections Act.
The organisation of early voting based on concentrating several electoral districts at one special polling station may also have direct and concrete effects on the actual exercise of voting rights. These effects may manifest either in reduced accessibility for voters from remote or poorly connected areas or in the overburdening of individual polling stations in urban centres.
On the basis of the above, the Slovenian Democratic Party proposes that the first‑instance authority carry out all necessary evidence and decide as follows:
- The Instructions for the Work of Electoral Commissions No. 041‑5/2025‑3 of 6 January 2026 shall be annulled in the part that allows or enables early voting for several electoral districts to be conducted at a single joint special polling station, or that allows special early‑voting polling stations to be designated outside the area of the respective district electoral commission.
- Alternatively, if the annulment from the previous point is not accepted, the Instructions for the Work of Electoral Commissions No. 041‑5/2025‑3 of 6 January 2026 shall be annulled in their entirety, and the National Electoral Commission shall be ordered to issue new Instructions for the Work of Electoral Commissions within three (3) days of the finality of the decision.
- The list of special polling stations for early voting in the parliamentary elections, issued on the basis of the Instructions for the Work of Electoral Commissions No. 041‑5/2025‑3 of 6 January 2026, shall be annulled.
- The National Electoral Commission shall be ordered to adopt, within three days of the finality of the first‑instance decision, new instructions regarding the organisation and implementation of early voting, in which each early‑voting polling station shall be designated within the electoral district of the respective district electoral commission.
- The National Electoral Commission shall be ordered to issue, on the basis of the new instructions, a new list of special polling stations for early voting, which shall be published in a timely manner and in such a way that each early‑voting polling station is designated within the electoral district of the respective district electoral commission.
