Thousands of people took to the streets of Slovak cities on Tuesday, protesting against planned changes to electoral legislation that would abolish voting by mail from abroad, LETA reported, citing DPA.
Several opposition parties called for demonstrations under the slogan "They will not take away our vote!".
About 2,000 people participated in the rally in Bratislava. Several hundred more joined protests in three other cities in Slovakia, as well as in Prague and Brussels, reported the TA3 channel, citing organizers.
The center of the dispute is the government's plan to abolish voting by mail from abroad, which is currently being discussed in parliament.
According to the proposal from the left-populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, Slovak citizens living abroad will only be able to vote in person at diplomatic missions or specially created polling stations.
Voting by mail, which is currently allowed in parliamentary elections, will become impossible.
The new system will also allow Slovak citizens abroad to vote in presidential elections. Currently, the President of Slovakia can only be elected within the country.
The government claims that only the new system can guarantee secret voting that is not subject to manipulation.
However, the opposition believes this plan is an attempt to limit voting from abroad, as in the last elections, the majority of Slovaks living abroad supported opposition parties.
"Robert Fico wants to strengthen his power," said Michal Šimečka, the leader of the liberal opposition, at the rally in Bratislava.
He noted that the proposed law would deprive tens of thousands of Slovak citizens abroad of the opportunity to participate in the next parliamentary elections.
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