The timing of voter decisions is one of the key focuses in election studies, influenced by a trend of delayed choices and the growing prominence of last-minute deciders. While some voters commit early to their preferences and do not change them, many remain undecided until late in the campaign, influencing the strategies of political parties and candidates as well as the election's outcomes.
This study examines voting timing in concurrent regional and local elections in Slovakia, both of which use the first-past-the-post electoral system. Based on an online representative post-election survey (N = 1,000), it explores whether voter decision timing differs between these two elections and identifies factors that can be associated with late decisions.
The results show that in less salient elections—those for regional presidents—voters decided much closer to the election date, whereas in municipal mayoral elections, most voters decided more than a month beforehand. Additionally, findings from a multinomial regression align with previous research, showing that women, younger voters, and those less interested in politics are more likely to be late deciders in both types of elections.