Czech Republic: "Middle class" Roma share photos on Facebook of themselves casting ballots in lower house election

Photographs of Romani people casting votes during this year’s elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic flooded Facebook on Friday and Saturday. Some photographs were shared publicly, others just with friends, and those posting urged other Romani people to go to the polls.

The “Romani middle class” did apparently turn out for the elections, unlike Romani people living in socially excluded localities. News server Romea.cz reported yesterday that voter turnout at the mostly Romani-inhabited Chanov housing estate, for example, was 4.41 %, while in the Předlice quarter it was 7.91 % and ranged between 20 and 25 % in other such localities.