2008 Czech Senate election

Senate elections for a third of the members of the Senate (the constituencies 3, 6, 9 etc.) were held in the Czech Republic on 17 and 18 October 2008, with a second round on 24 and 25 October 2008.[1][2][3] At least 180 candidates contested the 27 seats, and more than two-thirds of the incumbents ran for another term – only seven retired.[4]

 Summary of the 17 October, 18 October, 24 October and 25 October 2008 Czech Senate election results

Party		Seats
		before	open	elected	after
	Civic Democratic Party	41	9	3	35
	Czech Social Democratic Party	13	7	23	29
	Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party	10	3	0	7
	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia	3	1	1	3
	SNK European Democrats	3	1	0	2
	Freedom Union–Democratic Union	2	1	0	1
	Liberal Reform Party	1	1	0	0
	Movement of Independents for Harmonious Development of Municipalities and Towns (Hnutí nezávislých za harmonický rozvoj obcí a měst)	1	1	0	0
	Path of Change	1	1	0	0
	Green Party	1	0	0	1
	Independent Mayors for Region (Nezávislí starostové pro kraj)	1	0	0	1
	Party for the Open Society	1	0	0	1
	Independents, Independent Associations (Nezávislí, Sdružení nezávislých)	3	2	0	1
Total (turnout 39.52% first round, 29.85% second round)		81	27	27	81
Source: Senate

Government parties (ODS and KDU-CSL; the Greens had no open seats) suffered massive losses – only 3 candidates (all ODS) were elected. The Opposition Czech Social Democratic Party won the election with 23 out of the 27 seats contested. The Civic Democratic Party lost its majority in the Senate (which was used to delay ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the Czech Republic).

References

1. Senate : Elections to the Senate
2. Volby.cz
3. derStandard.at
4. Czech regional, Senate elections to be on October 17–18 – ČeskéNoviny.cz