Overview

• Voting runs Friday to Saturday with polls opening at 12:00–20:00 GMT on day one and 06:00–12:00 GMT on day two, with results expected Saturday evening.
• Andrej Babiš’s ANO polls around 30% ahead of the governing Ensemble coalition near 20%, yet fragmentation leaves him short of a guaranteed majority after a campaign centered on Ukraine aid and refugee pressures.
• Parties in the outgoing government have ruled out partnering with Babiš, who may look to the far-right SPD at about 12% as well as smaller lists including the motorists’ slate and a radical-left coalition.
• President Petr Pavel has signaled he could find it difficult to appoint Babiš as prime minister, creating an additional hurdle for forming a government even if ANO finishes first.
• The European Commission held an emergency meeting with TikTok over pro‑Russian network activity during the campaign, and authorities reported that several bots were removed.