Three’s a crowd at Czech polling station during presidential vote

Czech Radio reported that at at least one polling station in the České Budějovíce region voters were offered a choice between three candidates instead of the two candidates in the head to head run-off.

Voting papers for Pavel Fischer, who came third in the previous round, were offered in addition to those for current president Miloš Zeman and challenger Jiří Drahoš.

The error was confirmed by the local counting supervisor. The Ministry of Interior said the mistake lasted for around 17 minutes during which time three votes were cast. The overall results of the election are not threatened, deputy minister Petr Mlsna said.

The error was caused when some papers from the previous round were kept just in case one of the two winners dropped out unexpectedly.

At one polling office near the ski resort of Bedřichov voting papers ran out on Friday evening when more people than expected turned up, Czech Radio reported.

Author: Chris Johnstone