Bratislava mayor Vallo projected to win third term

Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo appears set for a third term after Saturday’s local elections, with an exit poll suggesting a much wider lead over his main challenger than pre-election surveys indicated.

The exit poll, conducted by Denník N in cooperation with students from Comenius University in Bratislava, puts Vallo on 63.4 percent of the vote, compared with 32.5 percent for Transport Minister Jozef Ráž.

Vallo was backed by opposition parties Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and the Democrats. Ráž ran as an independent with support from Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer party and the governing coalition.

According to the exit poll, Vallo won almost 90 percent of the vote among people under 45 and secured majority support even among voters over 60. Ráž drew most of his backing from supporters of the governing parties and the far-right Republika party.

The two remaining candidates, Zuzana Šubová of the Pirates and Ľubomír Geci of MySlovensko, were projected to receive approximately 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

The exit poll surveyed 2,220 voters leaving polling stations. It put Vallo’s likely vote share between 59.6 percent and 66.9 percent, compared with 28.8 percent to 36.7 percent for Ráž.

A pre-election survey published by broadcaster JOJ 24 had suggested a much closer contest, putting Vallo at 49.3 percent and Ráž at 42.3 percent.

The exit poll figures are estimates, not official election results.

When will Slovakia know its election results?

Bratislava and Košice are the only cities where voters can follow the mayoral count as it happens. Elsewhere, including Prešov, Slovakia’s third-largest city, results will be released only after all votes have been counted.

Results from the elections for governors of Slovakia’s eight self-governing regions are also being updated throughout the night.

Some smaller villages may already know who their mayors will be, while larger cities could be counting votes well past midnight.

The full results, including the names of elected local councillors and vote totals for all candidates, are expected on Sunday, usually between 10:00 and 14:00.