With liberal lawyer Natasa Pirc Musar (54), Slovenia will likely have a woman as head of state for the first time. This is the result of an election forecast published by the Slovenian television channel RTV Slovenija after the end of today’s elections. Thus, Pirc Musar received 53 to 56 percent of the vote, while his opponent in the second round, the conservative former foreign minister Anze Logar, got 44 to 47 percent.
Pirc Musar said in a first statement that he expected victory. Logar didn’t want to admit defeat in his statement. The state electoral commission wanted to publish the first results around 7:30 pm, significant results were expected by 9 pm. Pirc Musar and Logar are running to succeed President Borut Pahor, who was ousted from office after two terms.
The range of fluctuation in the forecast was explained by an uncertainty factor due to the level of voter turnout. After the latest polls indicated a tighter result, there was a surprisingly high turnout on Election Day. By 4:00 pm, 36.7% of the estimated 1.7 million eligible voters had cast their ballots, the state electoral authority announced.
By this point, the turnout was nearly two percent higher than in the first round three weeks ago. Participation in the second round of elections, five years ago, was significantly exceeded when only 30.5% of voters voted by 4 pm.