The centre-right candidate Milan Zver is projected to get 20.9%. With no candidate winning an outright majority, Pahor and Türk will contest the second round scheduled for 2 December.

The result is a major surprise, as all polls but one conducted in the final week of the campaign showed Türk slightly ahead, though Pahor was closing the gap.

The exit poll was conducted by pollster Mediana on a sample of 11,502 respondents.