PS Slams Proposed Changes to Postal Voting from Abroad

Bratislava, 1 April (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has criticised proposed changes to the rules for voting from abroad in parliamentary elections, calling the coalition's proposal to abolish postal voting purpose-built and aimed at damaging the opposition, PS leader Michal Simecka told a press conference on Wednesday. If the amendment is passed, PS fears that the coalition will prepare further changes to the parliamentary election rules. For this reason, PS has called a protest to be held in front of the parliamentary building at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 April. "Banning postal voting de facto means that tens of thousands of Slovak nationals will be stripped of the chance to vote. They are mostly people who would vote for change; they aren't people who would primarily vote for Smer-SD. This is clearly a purpose-built intervention in the electoral rules to damage the opposition and help this governing coalition cement its power in future elections," stated Simecka. He expressed concern that once these changes are approved, the coalition may come up with further measures aimed at restricting voting rights. "If they succeed in abolishing postal voting, their appetite will grow; they'll raise the parliamentary entry threshold, or they may say all of a sudden that voters can only vote in their place of permanent residence," he warned. Lawmakers from the governing Smer-SD party have submitted to Parliament an amendment to the law on conditions for exercising voting rights. The proposal introduces a new method of voting abroad, whereby voters would cast ballots at diplomatic missions instead of by post. It also seeks to extend the option of voting from abroad to presidential elections. In addition, the amendment changes the level of the electoral deposit for parliamentary and European Parliament elections. jrg/df