How to vote

Where you vote is decided for you, the identity check is strict, and the ballot itself works differently from most systems — you have as many votes as there are seats, and you can split them across parties. This page covers all three.

When

• Friday 9 October 2026 — polling stations open 14:00 and close 22:00.
• Saturday 10 October 2026 — open 08:00, close 14:00.

Either day is fine; you vote once. Polling stations close at 14:00 on Saturday and nothing is published about results before then.

Where

At the polling station for the precinct covering the address where your residence is registered. This is not a choice. For municipal elections there is no absentee voter card, no postal voting and no way to vote at another station — so if you are away from Prague that weekend, you cannot vote in the municipal elections at all.

Find your precinct and polling station by address

You only need your street and house number; the result is your precinct, the polling station address and a map. Nothing is sent anywhere.

The binding notice is the “Oznámení o době a místě konání voleb”, which every city district must publish on its official board at least 15 days before the election — by 24 September 2026.

What to bring

An identity document. The commission will not let you vote without one, and it must be an original — a photo or a photocopy is not accepted.

Czech citizens

A Czech identity card, or a Czech travel, diplomatic or service passport, or a travel document. A digital identity card in the eDoklady app is also accepted.

Citizens of another EU member state

A permanent residence card (průkaz o povolení k trvalému pobytu), a confirmation of temporary residence (potvrzení o přechodném pobytu), a registration certificate (osvědčení o registraci), or an identity document issued by your own state — a national ID card or passport.

If you plan to use eDoklady, open the app well before you set out — at the earliest 48 hours beforehand — so that the document refreshes. Prague 17 gives this advice in its own election notice.

The ballots you receive

In Prague you vote for two assemblies at once, so you get two municipal ballot papers: one for the Prague city assembly and one for your city district’s assembly. Both go into the same official envelope. In the three constituencies holding a Senate election, Czech citizens also get a Senate ballot, which goes into a separate envelope of a different colour.

Ballot papers should reach you by Tuesday 6 October 2026. If they do not arrive, or you leave them at home, you can ask for a fresh set at the polling station.

How to mark a municipal ballot

Each ballot lists every party in its own column, with its candidates numbered underneath. You have as many votes as there are seats on that assembly — 65 for the Prague city assembly, and between 5 and 45 for a district assembly, depending on its size. There are three ways to use them.

1. 1Vote for one party

   Put a cross in the box at the head of one party’s column. Every candidate in that column receives a vote, in the printed order, up to the number of seats being filled.

2. 2Vote for individual candidates

   Put a cross in the box in front of each candidate you want, in any column you like. You may cross as many candidates as there are seats, and you may mix candidates from different parties freely.

3. 3Combine the two

   Cross one party at the head of its column, and also cross individual candidates in other parties’ columns. The individually marked candidates are counted first; the remaining votes go to the crossed party’s candidates from the top of its list down.

Crossing a party at the head of its column and then also crossing individual candidates inside that same column achieves nothing: the individual marks are disregarded and it counts as a plain party vote.

What makes a ballot invalid

• Marking neither a party nor any candidate.
• Crossing more than one party at the head of a column.
• Crossing more individual candidates than there are seats to fill — this invalidates the whole ballot, so count before you cross.

Withdrawn candidates still count towards that limit, even though the votes cast for them are not counted.

The Senate ballot

The Senate ballot is different in kind: one candidate, one cross, single-member constituency, two rounds. If no candidate passes 50 % in the first round, the top two meet again a week later, on 16–17 October 2026. Only Czech citizens receive this ballot. A Senate voter card does exist, but it is valid only within the constituency where you are on the roll — it does not let you vote anywhere in the country.

If you cannot get to the polling station

You can ask your district office, or the polling station commission during voting hours, to send the mobile ballot box to you for serious — mainly health — reasons. It travels only within the precinct. A voter who cannot mark the ballot themselves may bring another person to assist, except a member of that commission.