The estimate is based on the expectation that a run-off will be held after the first round of voting on 22 October.

Allowances to members of electoral bodies represented the biggest cost five years ago (EUR 2.2m), followed by EUR 1.6m in material costs.

The National Electoral Commission paid EUR 690,000 for postal and courier services for the 2012 presidential election, and EUR 226,000 for printing and distribution.

Presidential elections are more expensive than general elections, with the last general election in 2014 costing EUR 3.5m.

The organisational costs are not the only costs to the budget related to presidential elections, as election campaign organisers are eligible for partial reimbursement of costs.

This applies only to candidates who win at least 10% of the vote. Organisers get EUR 0.12 back for each vote, but the total amount must not exceed the actual amount spent on the election campaign.

The coalition Social Democrats (SD), who organised the campaign for Borut Pahor as the winner of the 2012 presidential election, were reimbursed for all their costs, amounting to EUR 53,000.

On the other hand, Pahor's predecessor Danilo Türk, who lost to the incumbent president in the run-off, got slightly less than EUR 28,000 back, which is significantly less than the EUR 148,000 he invested in the campaign.