Editing Elections in Slovakia (section)

===Presidential elections===

Since Slovakia operates under a parliamentary system of government, the president largely possesses only ceremonial functions, but is also equipped with the opportunity to [[veto]] legislation (although the veto can be easily overturned by the simple majority in the parliament). By law, the presidential election should be called no later than 55 days prior to election day. The president serves as a [[head of state]] and is directly elected by [[universal suffrage]] in a two-stage election. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of all valid votes cast in the first round, then the top two candidates qualify for a runoff election, in which the candidate with the largest number of votes is elected to office for a term of five years. In order to secure a place on the ballot, presidential candidates must be nominated by fifteen members of the National Council, or by a petition signed by 15,000 citizens.

Originally, the National Council chose the president, but a 1999 amendment to the constitution established the popular election of the president by runoff voting. Popular voting for presidential elections was adopted following a prolonged impasse in 1998, in which the National Council repeatedly tried to elect a new president, but no candidate attained the three-fifths majority required by the constitution.<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Resources Slovakia |url=http://electionresources.org/sk/ |website=electionresources.org |publisher=electionresources |access-date=17 May 2019}}</ref>

The latest elections was the first round of the [[2024 Slovak presidential election|2024 election]] on 23 March 2024. The second round is planned for 6 April 2024.