Presidential candidates who run with support from MPs will need to secure signatures from at least ten MPs, while those who run with voter support will need to secure at least 5,000 signatures registered at administrative units.

The National Electoral Commission will accept candidacies until midnight on 27 September, which is also the last day when voters can contribute their signatures.

After examining the candidacies, the commission will publish a list of valid candidates in an order determined by a draw. The deadline for this is 15 days before the vote or 6 October.

Early voting will be held on 17, 18 and 19 October at seats of local electoral commissions and at administrative units in towns where local electoral commissions are not seated (Bled, Cerknica, Dravograd and Metlika).

Voters who will be abroad on the day of the elections will have to inform the commission by 21 September that they would like to vote by mail or at Slovenian diplomatic missions abroad.

Such voters will be able to inform the commission about this option also via a special on-line application, Dušan Vučko of the commission told the press on Thursday.

The commission has also set the date for a possible presidential voting run-off to 12 November.

Incumbent President Borut Pahor, whose term expires on 22 December, has announced he will stand for re-election as an independent. He is likely to be endorsed at least by the Social Democrats (SD), the party he used to head.

A presidential bid has also been announced by Ljudmila Novak, the leader of the conservative opposition party New Slovenia (NSi).

Other parliamentary parties are yet to announce their candidates, or say whether they plan to endorse any of the existing candidates.

Apart from Pahor and Novak, bids have also been announced by Ambassador to Macedonia Milan Jazbec, Kamnik Mayor Marjan Šarec and almost a dozen comedians and fringe hopefuls.