Slovak Far Right Courts Youth Vote in Pivotal Ballot

Nicknamed the "forbidden survey", it was crowdfunded by civic initiative 50dni.sk. (Meaning "50days", the name is a cheeky reference to a government proposal late last year to introduce a 50-day moratorium on polls, which was scuppered by the constitutional court.)

See also:

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Jointly conducted by two of Slovakia's largest polling agencies, the survey all but confirms the shoo-ins for first and second place — the ruling SMER-SD party and an opposition faction centred around the OLANO (Ordinary People) movement, both polling at around 17 per cent. 

But it is the party doggedly in third place that raises eyebrows — the far-right Kotleba - People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS).

With 10.4 per cent of the predicted vote, the party that many would describe as neo-Nazi is not only breathing down the frontrunners' necks; it also appears to be chipping away at the youth vote. 

A fifth of 18-33-year-olds are ready to support the proto-fascists, the survey shows. 

For political scientist Radoslav Stefancik from the University of Economics in Bratislava, these numbers show the clout of the protest vote.

"Young people vote LSNS because they want to be different from their parents," he told BIRN. "To them, the party represents a new type of politics and politicians who have the guts to label things while turning a deaf ear to political correctness."

Noting that youthful rebellion is natural in any society, Stefancik added: "Young people have a higher tolerance for radical solutions."

In a poll he conducted himself 12 years ago,...