It will be the third time this year that Slovenians will have to head to the polls. The local elections for mayors as well as for city and municipality councilors will take place on Sunday, the 5th of October. Officials will be able to start preparing for their election duties on the 21st of July.
Responsible for the carrying out of the elections are the local municipality election commissions and the State Election Commission. National Assembly Speaker Janko Veber hopes they will have enough time to prepare everything that is needed for the elections to go ahead on the 5th of October. "We're in the middle of the parliamentary election campaign and we also have the summer holidays, so it is only right that we organize ourselves on time," said the President of the National Assembly.
The local elections for municipality councilors and mayors are regulated by the Local Elections Act. According to the law the elections must be held two months before or in the last week before the completion of the four years from the last local election.
The date for the elections can be announced by the Speaker of the National Assembly 135 days before the completion of the four years from the last election. From the day the elections are announced to the actual day of the elections, there must be no more than 90 days and no less than 60 days.
The last regular local elections were held on the 10th of October 2010, which means this year's elections could have been announced as early as in May. Mr. Veber previously said he would call the elections to be held between the 10th of August and the 5th of October, which was also the last possible date.

Elections also in Ankaran
Last Friday MPs confirmed the ruling of the Constitutional Court with regards to the establishment of the Municipality of Ankaran, with 24 MPs voting for and 17 against. Those who asked for the vote presented a declaration aimed to prevent the holding of local elections in Ankaran.
Mr. Veber's opinion is that "it's unacceptable to call on others to disrespect the decisions of the Constitutional Court. The declaration is an act which isn't legally binding, so it cannot represent a legal basis for state institutions to act on. Besides that it is completely wrong in terms of subjective legitimacy, as the National Assembly, to which the declaration was addressed, doesn't call elections. It's the Speaker of the National Assembly who does that."
The National Assembly Speaker also stressed that the elections were announced in accordance with the Local Self-Government Act and also in accordance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court, referring to the establishment of the Municipality of Ankaran. He added that the ruling clearly stated that first elections in Ankaran should be held in the year 2014. He is convinced that with his decision he has also made it easier for the State Election Commission and the municipality election commissions.
Mr. Veber expects that the declaration will be used by the Municipality of Koper "probably as a basis not to prepare all that is needed for the elections in the Municipality of Ankaran to go ahead, which is their responsibility".
According to Veber that was also one of his reasons "for calling the elections on that date, to give officials time to eliminate all possible dilemmas". He doesn't expect any more pressure on himself as "constitutionally it is not acceptable to make calls for a Constitutional Court ruling to be circumvented".
Strmčnik is cautious
Calling the elections in Ankaran is a great step forward. The president of the Ankaran local community, Gregor Strmčnik, is pleased, but cautious.
"Sadly we do expect problems from the Municipality of Koper before the election date, so we'll have to wait for a few more months."
The Municipality of Koper has been opposing the establishment of the new municipality with all means necessary. Koper's main argument is that a new municipality would stop the development of the Luka Koper sea port. Therefore according to Mr. Strmičnik, it is more than sure that Koper will not name an election commission for Ankaran. He says that task should be carried out by the State Election Commission.
"Our biggest fear is that they will politically abuse the ethnic Italian population, which we have already experienced twice. We expect there to be problems upon the naming of an Italian representative in the council of the Municipality of Ankaran," Mr. Strmičnik said.
The Italian minority association will start collecting statements of affiliation, in order to help form a special electoral register.
Mr. Strmičnik says they haven't yet decided on lists of candidates. He says they've had enough to do as it is, trying to preserve the assets and properties inside the Municipality of Ankaran, which are also wanted by the Municipality of Koper.
Although they haven't yet functioned as a municipality, Ankaran has cooperated with the state in different procedures, especially regarding the port. That is why it is expected that the team, which has managed to bring Ankaran to the level of a municipality, will continue with its work.
G.C., translated by K. J.