Overview

• Voters are casting ballots Oct. 3–4, with polls open until Friday 10 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m.–2 p.m., and results expected Saturday afternoon.
• Opinion surveys put Babiš as the frontrunner to finish first, yet projections indicate ANO and its small ally Motorists would still fall short of a majority in the 200-seat lower house.
• Babiš campaigns on raising wages and refocusing on domestic priorities, pledging to end the Czech-led ammunition procurement initiative for Ukraine that he labels overpriced.
• He has ruled out working with parties from the outgoing government, leaving potential support from the far-right SPD, the far-left Stačilo!, or Motorists, while insisting he does not seek an EU or NATO exit.
• A victory for Babiš could shift Prague closer to Hungary and Slovakia after he co-founded the Patriots for Europe bloc with Viktor Orbán, even as his fraud trial and conflict-of-interest issues shadow coalition talks.