Czech parliament approves postal voting

PRAGUE: The Czech parliament on Friday approved a law allowing postal voting for the first time, despite strong opposition in the lower house.

To date, voting in the Czech Republic must take place in person, while most other European Union states allow postal or electronic voting. The bill was approved by 92 of 168 lawmakers present on Friday, following several sessions drawn out by opposition objections.

The centrist ANO movement of former billionaire premier Andrej Babis and the far-right SPD party argued the bill would hamper voters´ right to secrecy.

The leader of the ANO deputies in the house, Alena Schillerova, accused the government of trying to cling on to power “by manipulating the vote”.