System of election results processing in Czechia is unique

How long does it take to prepare elections and how many people from the CZSO are engaged in it? 
It takes many months to prepare for elections and almost the whole Czech Statistical Office is involved in it starting from people directly engaged in election teams who prepare the methodology, computer technology, software, training of staff, organising and staffing, up to those who take care of material provision and logistics. Directly on the polling days, about two and a half thousand people are devoted to the processing of voting results (including external staff) and almost one and a half thousand computers are used.  

Are there some tests prior to the elections?
Prior to the elections, there are always several complete tests of processing at all workplaces determined for data handover by ward election committees and, of course, in the headquarters of the CZSO, too. Concurrently, programmes and databases are repeatedly tested and functionality of all ICT equipment is checked. Our systems undergo both thorough functional and load tests. It is a standard procedure that we make before every election.

How are votes of voters counted?
Votes are counted manually by ward election committees, the composition of which is not determined by the Czech Statistical Office. This minimises the risk of influencing the results and ensures transparency. The committees have clear methodology for vote counting provided by the CZSO.

Who is in an election committee and how is their work monitored?
Members of election committees may be nominated by political entities standing in the elections. This ensures civic oversight and independence from the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO). Only ward election committee members are allowed to be in the polling station during counting of votes and they only work with the ballots for their ward and monitor each other. Other persons designated by election legislation may be present for observation or monitoring purposes.

What happens to the ballots after the elections?
The ballots remain sealed and archived at municipal authorities for possible judicial review and inspection. The Czech Statistical Office does not have access to them.

How do results from the wards get to the CZSO?
Election committees record results on a paper form or on a computer using a ward auxiliary routine (a programme, which facilitates the work but does not count the votes itself) and print out the form. The signed records with the results, supplemented by an export from the auxiliary programme if necessary, are then handed over by the committees directly to the CZSO at the point of handover, and the data from these signed paper records are transferred for processing and also into the presentation system.

What is the deadline for the committees to submit the results?
The results of voting are submitted by the ward election committee to the Czech Statistical Office immediately after the results of voting in the ward have been determined and the record has been drawn up. The deadline stipulated by law is 24 hours after the polling station closes and may be extended by the Czech Statistical Office to allow the committee to complete its work. It is important to work according to the instructions of the Czech Statistical Office, conscientiously and carefully, not unnecessarily quickly.

What role does the Czech Statistical Office play in the processing of election results?
The CZSO receives signed records from election committees, checks their formal requisites, stores the data in its processing system, calculates the election results, and publishes all data in a presentation system on the Internet. The processing system is completely separate from the presentation system and the public Internet. Any failure of the presentation system therefore has no effect on the correct progress of the processing. The CZSO also issues copies of the taken over (obtained) results to the committees so that they can verify that they have been recorded correctly and then compare them with the published data. It can also provide them with methodological support in determining the results of voting.

How are the election results published?
The results are published on the volby.cz presentation website. This website functions as an "online notice board" and is completely separate from the Czech Statistical Office's processing system. The results are available from the level of individual wards up to the entire country (Czech Republic). Moreover, they are also available as open data, which allows for their further verification.

Why does the election website exist?
The Czech Statistical Office provides this service to the public because it is one of the options for immediate public oversight. The results of voting in the wards are thus available very quickly and are also transparent and verifiable by the committees. After receiving data from all wards, the total election results and the allocation of seats are also published.

What if the volby.cz website is down?
The Czech Statistical Office also allows the media (e.g., television, radio, and news websites) that have registered in advance for that to receive results via a special dedicated line. In the event of a website outage, you can therefore follow ongoing information through those channels or use the backup volbyhned.cz website.

When the election website is potentially inaccessible, does it mean that processing of election results is endangered?
Presentation of election results and processing of results of elections are two absolutely separated processes and potential inaccessibility of the web presentation does not influence the election process, i.e. it does not influence processing of voting results either. It can be compared to an outage of a live TV transmission of a sports match. TV viewers cannot see anything at a given moment, however, players continue to play on the stadium and the match is not impacted at all. We have prepared alternative solutions for potential inaccessibility. The CZSO enables to transmit results via a special dedicated line to the registered media, which are thus one of the main channels informing the public about ongoing results of elections even when the election website is inaccessible.

Is the system also prepared for extreme situations?
Yes. In case that there is a blackout (total power outage) or other serious incident, the CZSO is prepared to process election results even without using computer technology or only with a minimum of it. The continuity and reliability of the entire process is thus ensured.

Can the CZSO manipulate election results?
The data publication system is transparent and allows for public oversight. Any attempt at manipulation would therefore be quickly detected. Votes are counted by ward election committees, which are independent of the CZSO and whose members are nominated by the entities standing in the elections. The CZSO does not have access to the ballots and only takes over (enters) data into its system that it receives in signed records from the committees. Moreover, each committee can check that its data, which are then used to calculate the election results, have been taken over (received) and then published by the Czech Statistical Office correctly.

Is it possible to hack the electronic vote counting system?
The Czech system minimises these risks because votes are not counted electronically. All data are counted manually in the ward and only then transferred to the Czech Statistical Office's processing system, which is completely separated from the public Internet to minimise risks.

When the volby.cz website stops working, does it mean that the results don't exist?
No, it doesn't. The volby.cz website only functions as a presentation (notice) board and is completely separate from the main processing system. The media (e.g., television, radio, news websites) also receive the ongoing results via a dedicated line and a backup website is available at volbyhned.cz. A website outage would therefore not mean a halt or threat to the entire process, only a temporary change in the channel through which the results are available.

Can anyone from the outside influence the vote counting?
The entire process is controlled at multiple levels. Citizens in committees: The counting is controlled by the members of the election committees themselves, who may be delegated to the committee by entities standing in the elections. Manual control: The counting is done manually, which eliminates cyber threats. Separate systems: The CZSO's processing system is isolated from the Internet. Verification: Each committee can verify that its results have been correctly taken over (received) for further processing and published. In case of serious doubts, a judicial review can be requested and the court then has access to archived ballots for verification.

❌ False claim: “Czech elections can be hacked because votes are counted electronically. The results can be manipulated without anyone noticing.”
✔ Fact: The idea that vote counting is fully automated is mistaken. The Czech electoral system is hybrid – it combines manual counting with subsequent processing of the results using computers. Votes are counted manually in each electoral ward and only then the results are entered into the system. The processing system itself (the Czech Statistical Office's database) is completely separate from the Internet, which strengthens its protection against cyber attacks. The data are published transparently in the presentation system on the volby.cz website and election committees can check that the data for their ward are correct. The calculation of the election result is therefore also subject to public oversight.

❌ False claim: “The Czech Statistical Office uses who knows what kind of software to process election results which it has no control over and that falsifies the results.”
✔ Fact: The electronic processing of election results received from ward election committees is carried out by the Czech Statistical Office itself, which has been developing its own software for a long time and provides it using its own resources or with the support of selected contractors. In addition, the data publication system is transparent and allows for public oversight. Any attempt to manipulate the computer programme would therefore be detected very quickly.

❌ False claim: “When the volby.cz website crashed, it was due to manipulation. The results are changing and we can't see them.”
✔ Fact: The volby.cz website is only used to present data and is completely separate from the processing system. Its failure therefore has no impact on the counting process or the results themselves. In the event of an outage, the results are still available to the media, which receive them via a dedicated line and transmit them further. If someone were actually able to falsify the results, they would not draw attention to themselves by taking down the presentation system.

❌ False claim: “Members of election committees are selected by the state and serve to influence the results in favour of the ruling party.”
✔ Fact: All entities standing in the elections can nominate members of election committees. The committees are thus made up of representatives of various political parties or movements, which is a key element of mutual control. In addition, the committees are completely independent of the Czech Statistical Office or any other state administration authority, and their task is to oversee the correct and fair counting of votes. After the votes are counted, the results are confirmed by the signatures of all present members.

❌ False claim: “Ballots are destroyed (disposed of) immediately after having been counted, so it is impossible to verify the results retrospectively.”
✔ Fact: After the votes have been counted and the election committee has drawn up the record, the ballots are not thrown away, but are sealed and stored. They serve as archival material and can be used for a possible judicial review of the results if doubts arise about the accuracy of the count. Thereby an additional level of control and transparency is ensured.

❌ False claim: “The CZSO is the headquarters where all results are collected and manipulated.”
✔ Fact: A paper record with the data found signed by all members of the committee is the basic document according to which the CZSO takes over the results of voting in a ward for the processing. Each committee receives a copy of the results taken over by the CZSO so that it can check them. If the data in the CZSO’s system differed from the record, the committee could immediately point this out. The committee can also check the data handed over to the CZSO (which are then used to calculate the election results) in the presentation system at volby.cz, where the total election results are also published. The entire process is therefore based on transparency and possible (retrospective) verification.

❌ False claim: “The order of the parties changes during the counting process. This is clear evidence that the votes are being manipulated. At the beginning of the counting process, one party is winning, and in the end, another party wins.”
✔ Fact: Changes in the ongoing (live) ranking of parties are not evidence of manipulation, but a natural consequence of the way the results are counted and published. The Czech Statistical Office receives and publishes the results on an ongoing basis as soon as they are processed. As a rule, the results from small (often rural) wards, where there are fewer voters and the committees count faster, are counted and sent first. Conversely, large urban wards with a high number of voters tend to be counted later.
The key point is that voter preferences in smaller municipalities and large cities often differ. Rural areas, for example, may have strong support for one party, while urban voters may prefer another. Therefore, as results from larger and larger cities are gradually added, the overall ranking may change. For example, a party that was leading at the beginning thanks to strong support in rural areas may fall behind when votes from large cities start coming in. This is therefore a mathematical and geographical phenomenon, not the result of manipulation. The election (live) data that are continuously displayed are only a snapshot of the situation, not the final result. The final ranking is only known after all votes have been counted and processed.