Czech Republic begins municipal and Senate voting as Babiš faces political test

Voters in the Czech Republic began voting on Friday, 9 October 2026, to choose municipal councils and one-third of the Senate. The two-day elections will decide local representation across the country and could alter the balance in parliament’s upper chamber. Deutsche Welle reported the start of voting, while the Czech Ministry of the Interior confirms that the elections were called for 9 and 10 October.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš faces what Deutsche Welle describes as a test of his government’s popularity. That is a political assessment, not an election result. The official schedule establishes when ballots are being held; it does not establish how voters have cast them or what the outcome will be.

Which Czech elections are being held on 9 and 10 October?

The president’s election decision, published by the Ministry of the Interior as decision 117/2026 Sb., called elections for municipal councils and for one-third of the Senate. The Czech Statistical Office lists both votes for Friday and Saturday, 9 and 10 October. Its calendar also includes the municipal and Senate elections separately, reflecting the two distinct choices before voters this weekend.

The municipal ballot concerns councils in cities, towns and other local districts. Deutsche Welle reports that more than 8 million eligible voters are set to elect councils in more than 6,200 districts nationwide. Those figures are from the broadcaster’s reporting; the official election notices cited here confirm the election dates and types, but do not provide those electorate or district totals.

Why the vote matters for Andrej Babiš

Babiš took power last December after forming a coalition with two smaller political groups, according to Deutsche Welle. His ANO party had won the preceding parliamentary election. The broadcaster links that victory to economic frustration and criticism of the previous government’s spending on Ukraine. Those are elements of its account of the political backdrop, rather than findings about how people will vote in these local and Senate elections.

Since forming a government, Babiš has faced opposition criticism over a widening budget deficit, Deutsche Welle reports. He survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote earlier this month. The municipal and Senate elections offer another measure of political support, although the two ballots choose councils and senators, rather than directly deciding whether his coalition remains in office.

Housing shortages are a concern in major Czech cities, according to Deutsche Welle’s account of the campaign. The available reporting does not quantify how many voters rank housing as their main issue or show whether it will determine any result. Local council contests may therefore be significant to residents for reasons that differ from the national political test attached to the Senate vote.

When could Senate voting continue?

The Czech Statistical Office schedules a second round of Senate voting, where needed, for Friday and Saturday, 16 and 17 October. That date follows the first round a week later; it does not mean every Senate contest will require another ballot. The official calendar does not identify outcomes in individual contests, and the sources available for this report establish no turnout or results.

For now, the confirmed development is the start of the elections on 9 October and their scheduled continuation on 10 October. The scale of Babiš’s political test is Deutsche Welle’s interpretation of a vote whose results remain unknown. Whether the opposition keeps its Senate majority, and which local councils change hands, will depend on ballots cast and counted after voting.