2004 Slovak presidential election

{{Short description|none}}

{{Infobox election

| country = Slovakia

| type = presidential

| previous_election = 1999 Slovak presidential election

| previous_year = 1999

| next_election = 2009 Slovak presidential election

| next_year = 2009

| election_date = 3 April 2004 (first round)
17 April 2004 (second round)

| turnout = 47.94% (first round) {{decrease}} 25.95pp
43.50% (second round) {{decrease}} 31.95pp

| image1 = Ivan Gašparovič (cropped) Election infobox.jpg

| nominee1 = Ivan Gašparovič

| party1 = Movement for Democracy (Slovakia)

| popular_vote1 = 1,079,592

| percentage1 = 59.91%

| image2 = Vladimir Meciar.jpg

| nominee2 = Vladimír Mečiar

| party2 = People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia

| popular_vote2 = 722,368

| percentage2 = 40.09%

| map_image = {{Switcher

|300px

|First round results by district

|300px

|Second round results by district

|default=2

}}

| title = President

| before_election = Rudolf Schuster

| after_election = Ivan Gašparovič

| before_party = Independent

| after_party = Movement for Democracy (Slovakia)

}}

Presidential elections were held in Slovakia on 3 April 2004, with a second round on 17 April.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1747 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}} Although former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar received the most votes in the first round, he was defeated by Ivan Gašparovič in the run-off.Nohlen & Stöver, pp1755–1756

Eduard Kukan, who had led the opinion polling prior to the elections, was surprisingly eliminated in the first round, narrowly beaten into third place by Gašparovič. Gašparovič later admitted that he had not expect to qualify for the second round, and on first round election night he had gone home to sleep and only found out about his success when he was woken up by phone calls from friends.{{cite web|title=Voľby 2004: Gašparovič doma spal, úspech nečakal|url=http://domov.sme.sk/c/7122756/volby-2004-gasparovic-doma-spal-uspech-necakal.html|website=Sme.sk|accessdate=10 August 2016}}

Incumbent president Rudolf Schuster finished fourth with just 7% of the vote. He subsequently retired from politics.{{cite web|last1=TA3|first1=TA3.COM |title=Televízia TA3 {{!}} Rudolf Schuster bol prvým priamo zvoleným prezidentom|url=http://www.ta3.com/clanok/1036690/rudolf-schuster-bol-prvym-priamo-zvolenym-prezidentom.html|website=TA3.com|accessdate=9 February 2017|language=sk|date=4 April 2004}}