Slovaks voted yesterday in a general election with the ruling leftist coalition struggling to stay in power amid growing public debt and scandals battering the prime minister and his party.

Turnout was high despite sweltering temperatures exceeding 30˚C, the central electoral committee said, without providing concrete figures.

In Bratislava's borough of Karlova Ves, extra voting booths were set up in the polling stations to accommodate the high numbers of voters, the SME daily reported.

Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer-Social Democracy was tipped by opinion polls to place first with 30 per cent voter support, according to the Focus agency.

But despite its pole position, Smer's future in government was uncertain as its current coalition partners may fail to garner the five per cent of votes needed to win parliamentary seats. Opposition parties are reluctant to team up with Smer.

With the Greek debt crisis fresh in mind, Slovaks were voting on the future of generous social benefits and extra pensions introduced by Fico's government in the country of 5.4 million people where joblessness reached 12.25 per cent in May.