Presidential elections were held in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

in March and April 2009, the country's third direct presidential elections. After no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round on 21 March, the second round on 4 April saw

Ivan Gašparovič Ivan Gašparovič (; ; born 27 March 1941) is a Slovakia, Slovak politician and lawyer who was the third president of Slovakia from 2004 to 2014. He was also the first and currently the only Slovak president to be re-elected. Biography Ivan Ga� ...

become the first Slovak president to be re-elected, defeating opposition candidate

Iveta Radičová Iveta Radičová (; ; born 7 December 1956) is a Slovak sociologist and former politician who served as prime minister of Slovakia from 2010 to 2012. The first woman to hold the position, Radičová led a Radičová's Cabinet, coalition governme ...

by 56% to 44%.

Candidates

There were seven candidates for the first round, which was held on 21 March: *

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

president, supported by governing parties

Direction – Social Democracy Direction – Social Democracy (, Smer–SD), also commonly referred to as Smer, is a left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist and left-wing populism, left-wing populist political party in Slovakia led by the incumbent Prime Minister of Slov ...

and

Slovak National Party The Slovak National Party (, SNS) is an ultranationalist political party in Slovakia. The party characterizes itself as a nationalist party based on both social and European Christian values. Since 1990 SNS has won seats in every Slovak pa ...

, and extra-parliamentary Movement for Democracy *

: candidate of the

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (, SDKÚ-DS) is a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Slovakia. The SDKÚ-DS was a member of the Centrist Democrat International and was a member of the Eur ...

, supported by the

Party of the Hungarian Coalition The Hungarian Alliance (; , Szövetség–Aliancia) is a political party in Slovakia for the ethnic Hungarian minority, previously known simply as the "Alliance", it was founded when "Party of the Hungarian Community" and Most–Híd merged i ...

Christian Democratic Movement The Christian Democratic Movement (, KDH) is a Christian democratic political party in Slovakia that is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and an observer of the Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ...

and

Civic Conservative Party The Civic Conservative Party (, OKS) is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Slovakia. It has one seat in the National Council, following the 2023 election. It has also representation at regional and local level. The OKS was ...

František Mikloško František Mikloško (born 2 June 1947) is a Slovak politician. He was the Speaker of the Slovak National Council from 1990 to 1992 and a long serving MP of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (1990-2010). For most of his career, he was ...

: candidate of the

Conservative Democrats of Slovakia The Conservative Democrats of Slovakia (, KDS) is a defunct Slovak political party established by four MPs (František Mikloško, Vladimír Palko, Rudolf Bauer and Pavol Minárik) who belonged to the Christian Democratic Movement, but left it o ...

* Zuzana Martináková: candidate of the

Free Forum The Free Forum (, ; "Free" in the sense of "freedom") was a political party in Slovakia, founded in 2004 by dissident parliamentarians from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ). Zuzana Martináková is the leader of the party. The Fr ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate supported by the governing

People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (, HZDS), later known as the People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (, ĽS–HZDS), was a populist political party in Slovakia. The party is commonly considered as having been authoritarian ...

*: independent candidate supported by the

Communist Party of Slovakia The Communist Party of Slovakia (, KSS) is a communist party in Slovakia, formed in 1992 through the merger of the Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 and the Communist League of Slovakia. The party is observer of the Party of the European Lef ...

Dagmara Bollová Dagmara Bollová, also known as ''Dagmar Bollová'' (born 16 September 1942 in Kopčany) is a former Slovak politician, who served as an MP of the National Council between 2002 and 2006. She was elected on the Communist Party of Slovakia list ...

: independent candidate, former member of the

Gašparovič and Radičová advanced to the second round, winning 46.7% and 38.1% of the first round votes, respectively.Zora Bútorová, Jarmila Filadelfiová & Oľga Gyarfášová, "Towards Gender Equality in Slovakia?" in ''Gendering Post-socialist Transition: Studies of Changing Gender Perspectives'' (eds. Krasimira Daskalova, Caroline Hornstein Tomić, Karl Kaser & Filip Radunović:

LIT Verlag LIT Verlag is a German academic publisher founded in 1980. Its managing director is Wilhelm Hopf. Its principal place of publication is Münster; further publishing offices are located in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, London, Zurich, and New York Cit ...

, 2012), p. 269. Slovak women tended to be more supportive of Radičová. In the second round of elections, held on 4 April, Gašparovič received 1,234,787 votes (55.5%), winning election. Radičová received 44.5% of the vote. After the election, Gašparovič said, "I am glad I can be standing here today with the prime minister and the speaker of the parliament ... The

lection A lection, also called the lesson, is a reading from scripture in liturgy. In many Christian denominations, the readings of the day are appointed in the lectionary. History The custom of reading the books of Moses in the synagogues on Sabbat ...

is the most direct evidence that people trust us."

Results

Voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was 44% in the first round and 52% in the second round.Grigorij Mesežnikov, Miroslav Kollár & Michal Vašecka, "Slovakia" in ''Nations in Transit 2010: Democratization from Central Europe to Eurasia'' (ed. Lisa Mootz: Freedom House, 2010), pp. 483-84. Voter turnout among women slightly increased in both the first and second rounds of the election, which was attributed to Radičová's candidacy.

By region

First round

Second round

Notes

References

External links

NSD: European Election Database - Slovakia
publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2010 {{Slovak presidential elections

Presidential elections in Slovakia

Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...