Early elections in Slovakia: votes, deadlines, precedents

Unless something brings the end of the term forward, Slovakia will elect a new parliament by September 2027 at the latest (nobody has set the day yet). Since autumn 2026, however, there has been repeated talk of voting earlier. This text explains what that would take: how many MPs must agree, which deadlines apply between the decision and polling day, and how the term has been cut short in the past. As of 10 November 2026, no motion to shorten the term had been filed in the National Council. We do not predict whether there will be an early election, and we do not advise anyone how to vote. If the situation changes, we will update this text.

In brief:

• Since January 2023 the term is shortened by a resolution of the National Council, not by a constitutional act (Article 73(3) of the constitution). The resolution must state when the election is called and when it is held.
• The resolution needs at least 90 of the 150 MPs (Article 84(4)), however many are in the chamber. A motion can be filed by at least 30 MPs.
• At least 110 days must pass between calling the election and polling day (Act No. 180/2014, Section 56). An election in January 2027 would therefore have had to be called in October 2026.
• The term has been shortened four times so far, with elections in 1994, 2006, 2012 and 2023. Each time, between 128 and 242 days passed from approval to polling day.

What the constitution has said since 2023

The constitution states that MPs are elected for four years (Article 73(1)). Until January 2023 it had no general rule on how to shorten that term. When the parties agreed on an earlier election, parliament passed a one-off constitutional act that itself set the polling day and the end of the term.

Constitutional Act No. 24/2023, passed on 25 January 2023, added a new procedure. Under Article 73(3), the current term may be shortened "on the basis of a resolution of the National Council of the Slovak Republic that sets the time when the election is called and held" (our translation). Four rules follow from this:

1. Who files the motion: "at least one fifth of MPs", that is 30 of 150. The government, the president or a single MP cannot do it alone.
2. What the resolution must contain: when the election is called and the polling day. It is not enough to decide that the term ends early and leave the date for later.
3. How many votes are needed: the consent of "at least a three-fifths majority of all MPs" (Article 84(4)), that is 90. An ordinary law needs a majority of those present; here the count is out of all 150 seats, so an absent MP has the same effect as one voting against.
4. How it is published: the resolution is printed in the official Collection of Laws (Zbierka zákonov); the shortened term then ends on polling day.

For this procedure the constitution names no period in which the resolution could not be adopted. A restriction that the term could not be shortened in its first or last year appeared only in a Hlas proposal on a referendum route, which parliament moved to second reading in September 2026; it is not law.

A referendum on the same question

Before the constitution was amended, a referendum was held on 21 January 2023 on whether it should be possible to end the term early by referendum or by a resolution of the National Council. 1,193,198 of 4,377,565 eligible voters took part, or 27.25% (Statistical Office). Validity requires a turnout above 50% of the electorate, so the result did not count. Four days later parliament passed the amendment itself, but only the resolution route; shortening the term by referendum did not enter the constitution.

In 2026 two initiatives returned to the idea. President Peter Pellegrini did not allow a question on shortening the term, proposed in a petition by Demokrati, into the July referendum (TASR, 5 July 2026). A Hlas proposal that would allow a referendum for this purpose has been in second reading since 17 September 2026; 78 MPs backed it at first reading, while it would need 90 to pass.

Why 90 is the key number

According to nrsr.sk, as of 15 October 2026 there are seven parliamentary groups and nine independent MPs. We checked the list of groups and independents again on 10 November and it had not changed.

The table gives a simple sum: if Smer and Hlas did not vote for the resolution, 150 − 41 − 24 = 85 MPs remain. Even if everyone else, including SNS and all independents, voted in favour, there would be no 90 votes. The resolution therefore cannot pass without at least some MPs from Smer or Hlas. Conversely, 90 votes could be put together without SNS if the other groups agreed (our calculation from the nrsr.sk figures; it assumes MPs vote with their group).

An ordinary majority is a different matter. According to TASR (3 November 2026), after independent MP Roman Malatinec moved to Tomáš Taraba, the governing coalition has 75 secure votes; TA3 (8 November) gives the same figure. To pass a law, however, it is enough that most of the MPs in the chamber vote for it (Article 84(2)), so losing the 76th vote does not in itself mean parliament cannot take decisions. Shortening the term is counted differently: always 90 out of 150.

Deadlines: from resolution to polling station

Even if MPs agreed, an election cannot be organised within a few weeks. Elections to the National Council are called by its Speaker no later than 110 days before polling day (Section 56(1) of Act No. 180/2014). The act has no separate, shorter deadline for early elections. The decision calling the election is published in the Collection of Laws, and voting always takes place on a Saturday (Section 20). Further deadlines in the electoral calendar, such as filing candidate lists, depend on the 110 days; you will find them in the election guide.

How this works out on the calendar (our calculation under Section 56(1)):

The first row shows why January 2027, discussed at the end of September, is no longer possible without changing the law: the election would have had to be called by 12 October 2026. In 2023 the resolution itself required the Speaker to call the election "no earlier than 130 and no later than 110 days" before it; a future resolution can choose a different window, but not one shorter than the statutory 110 days unless the law is changed.

Can the president dissolve parliament?

Yes, but only in the cases listed in the constitution (Article 102(1)(e)). The president may dissolve the National Council if:

• it has not approved the government's programme within six months of the government's appointment,
• it has not decided within three months on a government bill to which the government tied a vote of confidence,
• it has been unable to pass resolutions for more than three months although it was repeatedly convened,
• or its session has been suspended for longer than the constitution allows.

Under the constitution the president "may not exercise this right during the last six months of [the president’s] term of office, during war, a state of war or a state of emergency" (our translation). The president must dissolve parliament in only one case: if voters do not remove the president in a recall referendum (Article 102(1)(e)). Robert Fico's government was appointed in October 2023, and the National Council keeps voting; on 14 October 2026, for example, it passed the 2027 budget. Political scientist Aneta Világi told TA3 (10 November 2026) that a situation in which parliament could not pass resolutions for more than three months has not yet occurred. All four shortenings so far were decided by the National Council itself.

Four shortened terms

Source: texts as published in the Collection of Laws on slov-lex.sk; the number of days is our calculation.

All four acts have similar content: the term of the parliament elected in a given year ends on polling day, and the election takes place on the date set. Some also contain rules for unusual situations. The 1994 act also ended the mandates of the Slovak MPs elected to the Federal Assembly in 1992. The 2006 act cancelled the Speaker's decision of 7 February 2006 calling the election and provided that if no Speaker had been elected, a designated Deputy Speaker would call it. Never did fewer than 128 days, more than four months, pass between the decision and polling day.

What the parties say

A summary of the public statements we found, with date and source. Positions can change; we report what was said, not how anyone will vote. For parties without a parliamentary group these are statements, not votes in parliament.

We found no statement on early elections in this period from Právo na pravdu, Sme rodina or Maďarská aliancia; none of them has a group in parliament. The October 2026 NMS poll reports that "roughly half of the population" supports calling an early election. That is one measurement by one agency; for the other polls see our poll analysis.

Quotations from Slovak are our own translations; the originals are in the sources.

What this means for Volebný test

The test works the same way whenever the election takes place: it compares your answers with the parties' positions, not with the date. If the National Council adopted a resolution shortening the term, we would add the polling day to the guide, recalculate the timetable of deadlines and check whether the list of parties standing has changed. The conversion of votes into seats is covered in the analysis of how the 150 seats are allocated, and how the groups voted on key laws so far in the overview of votes.