How the 150 seats in the National Council are allocated

The National Council of the Slovak Republic (Národná rada Slovenskej republiky) has 150 members, elected for four years by proportional representation (Articles 73 and 74 of the Constitution). The next regular election must take place by September 2027 at the latest; the exact day has not yet been set. It could only be held earlier if parliament approved a resolution to that effect with at least 90 votes (Article 73(3) of the Constitution), and no such proposal is currently on the table.

The rules for allocating seats are set out in Act No. 180/2014 on the conditions for exercising the right to vote. We explain them with the official figures from the most recent election, held on 30 September 2023.

One constituency, one ballot paper

For elections to the National Council, the whole territory of Slovakia forms a single constituency (§ 44). Each party or coalition therefore submits one national list with up to 150 candidates, and voters in every municipality choose from the same ballot papers. Independent candidates cannot stand: only a registered political party or a coalition of parties can submit a list (§ 50).

Voters put one ballot paper, that of one party, in the envelope. On it they can circle the numbers of up to four candidates they prefer (§ 58(5)). If they circle more, the vote still counts for the party but the preferences are ignored (§ 62(2)). If there is more than one ballot paper in the envelope, they are all invalid (§ 62(1)).

Step 1: who clears the threshold

The State Commission first establishes how many valid votes each list received and excludes those that fell short of the threshold (§ 66):

• 5% of valid votes for a single party,
• 7% for a coalition of two or three parties,
• 10% for a coalition of four or more parties.

The votes of excluded lists play no further part. If no list cleared the threshold, the commission would lower it one percentage point at a time until at least two had passed (§ 67).

In 2023 there were 2,967,896 valid votes, so 5% meant 148,395 votes. Twenty-five lists stood and seven cleared the threshold. Closest to it was Republika, which was 7,296 votes short (it won 4.75%), followed by Aliancia with 4.38%, 18,212 votes short. The 18 lists that won no seat received 496,036 votes between them: 16.71% of valid votes.

Step 2: the national electoral quota

The votes of the lists that passed are added up and divided by 151, one more than the number of seats. The result, rounded to a whole number, is the national electoral quota ("republikové volebné číslo", § 68(1)): the "price" of a seat.

In 2023: 2,471,860 votes for the seven lists ÷ 151 = 16,369.93, rounded to 16,370 votes.

Each list receives as many seats as the number of times the quota fits whole into its votes (§ 68(2)). Dividing by 151 rather than 150 makes the price of a seat slightly lower, so almost all seats are allocated this way. If one seat too many were allocated, it would be taken from the list with the smallest remainder (§ 68(3)).

Step 3: largest remainders

Any seats left after the first division go, one by one, to the lists with the largest remainders; in a tie, the list with more votes wins (§ 68(4)).

In 2023 the first division allocated 148 seats, leaving two. The largest remainder was Hlas's (10,795 votes), followed by Smer's (9,847). PS, with a remainder of 9,296 votes, did not get another seat, although it was only 551 votes behind Smer.

The 2023 result, party by party

Votes, percentages and seats are official figures from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic; its table gives percentages to two decimal places, truncated rather than rounded. The calculation in the columns in between is ours, and it reproduces the official seat allocation exactly. The "OĽANO and friends" list was submitted by the movement now called Hnutie Slovensko, with candidates from other parties; it was a single-party list, so the 5% threshold applied.

Because votes for lists below the threshold are not counted, the parties that pass receive a larger share of seats than of votes. Smer had 22.94% of valid votes and 28% of the seats (42 of 150). As a share of the votes that went forward to the allocation, it had 27.55%, which matches its seats almost exactly.

Which candidates become MPs

The seats won by a party go to its candidates in the order in which they appear on the ballot paper, with one exception. A candidate who receives preferential votes from at least 3% of the party's voters moves to the front. If several candidates do so, they are ranked among themselves by number of preferential votes (§ 68(5)). The rest become substitutes (§ 68(6)) and fill vacancies according to the same rule (§ 71).

The 3% threshold is calculated from the party's votes, not from all votes. On the 2023 results, it meant roughly 20,431 preferential votes for Smer, 15,994 for PS, 13,092 for Hlas, 7,924 for OĽANO and friends, 6,075 for KDH, 5,629 for SaS and 5,010 for the SNS (our calculation).

Voters make wide use of preferential votes. In 2023, 83.25% of those who cast a valid vote circled at least one candidate (2,470,782 of 2,967,896). For the seven parties that entered parliament, the figure ranged from 73.95% for PS to 89.00% for the SNS.

Substitutes and votes from abroad

Candidates who do not get into parliament do not disappear: they are their party's substitutes. If a seat falls vacant, for example because an MP resigns or dies, a substitute from the same party takes it; here too, priority goes to those who received at least 3% of preferential votes, and among them to the one with the most (§ 71(1)). A substitute also takes over when an MP becomes a member of the government: under the Constitution the MP's mandate does not end, it is simply not exercised while they hold office (Article 77(2) of the Constitution, § 71(4) of the act). That is why a party in government may have different people in the chamber from those elected. If a party has no substitutes left, the seat stays empty until the end of the term (§ 71(2)).

Votes cast by post from abroad are added to the same national results. Because there is only one constituency, Slovaks abroad have no MPs or seat quota of their own: their vote weighs exactly the same as a vote cast at home.

Three practical consequences

The 5% threshold decides the fate of many votes. In 2023 one valid vote in six ended up without representation. A party that gets 4.9% wins nothing, and its votes are in effect shared among those that pass. Coalitions face higher thresholds: two parties with 4% each would need 7% together as a coalition, not 5%.

Region does not matter. Because the whole country is one constituency, a vote in Bratislava weighs the same as one in Košice, and a party that is strong in only part of the country must still clear the national threshold. There is no regional allocation of seats either: how many MPs come from each region depends on who is on the lists and whom voters circle.

Circling candidates changes the order. The party sets the order of its list, but a candidate with enough preferential votes can jump ahead. If you want to support particular people, voting for the party is not enough; you need to circle them (up to four).

What may change before 2027

An amendment to the election act is in its second reading in the National Council. Among other things, it would replace postal voting from abroad with voting at embassies and consulates, raise the election deposit and, under a compromise reported by STVR, let voters circle two candidates instead of four; the 3% threshold would stay. As of 16 October 2026 the amendment had not been passed. If parliament approves it, we will update this analysis and the election guide.

Neither the exact election day nor the candidate lists are known yet: parties submit their lists no later than 90 days before the election, and each list's number is drawn by lot. Once they are published, we will add them to the guide.