Presidential elections were held in Slovenia on 23 October 2022. Incumbent President Borut Pahor was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits.
As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff between the top two placing candidates, former foreign minister Anà ¾e Logar, an SDS member running as an independent, and independent former Information Commissioner Nataà ¡a Pirc Musar, took place on 13 November 2022. Pirc Musar won the runoff with 53.86% of the vote, becoming the first female president of Slovenia.
Logar acknowledged his defeat and congratulated Pirc Musar on her victory.
The President of Slovenia is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, the top two candidates contest a runoff.
Under Slovenia's election law, candidates for president are required to meet one of three criteria:
Each political party could support only one candidate.
In the first round Anà ¾e Logar received 34% of the voter share against 27% for Nataà ¡a Pirc Musar. Milan Brglez was third with around 15%. For the second round Golob then turned his support to Pirc Musar.
In the run-off, independent Pirc Musar was expected to win since August 2022. Logar also ran as an independent, but was a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which lost parliamentary elections six months prior. Logar was therefore associated with Janà ¡a, who was accused with attempting to restrict the freedom of expression and undermine the independence of the judiciary during his term in office.
In the evening of 13 November 2022, the electoral commission reported that Pirc Musar won with nearly 54% of the vote, after which Logar conceded defeat and congratulated Pirc Musar on her victory. Pirc Musar will become Slovenia's first female president, commander-in-chief of the Slovenian Army and also be responsible for appointing the head of the Central Bank of Slovenia.