End of voting in Hungary. Will record turnout wipe out Orbán?

On Sunday at 19 polling stations were closed in the parliamentary elections in Hungary. People who were already standing in lines before the official end of the elections will have the opportunity to vote. The announcement of the first partial results is expected around 20.

Hungarians elected 199 deputies of the National Assembly (Orszaggyules), i.e. a unicameral parliament. 106 of them are elected in single-member constituencies, and the remaining 93 – from national lists. In each district, the candidate who receives the most votes wins, even if he or she does not obtain a majority.

Each eligible Hungarian citizen voting in the country had the right to cast two votes: one for a candidate in a single-member district, and the other for a party or national list in the case of people belonging to one of the minorities registered in Hungary. Voters residing outside the country cast one vote, only for the national list.

According to data from the National Electoral Office (NVI) as of 17, the turnout was 74.23 percent. – two hours before the polls closed, 5,587,935 people took part in the elections. In Hungary, there is a 5% threshold. for political parties, 10 percent for a coalition of two parties and 15 percent. for a joint list of three parties or more. The D'Hondt method is used to divide seats from party lists. Five party lists and 12 lists of Hungarian minorities registered to take part in the elections. However, their result will be decided between the coalition of Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the opposition TISHA party led by Peter Magyar.

The counting of votes will begin immediately after 19, therefore the preliminary results – together with the percentage of votes counted – should be published around 20, NVI reported. Exit polls are not conducted in the country.

Votes cast abroad must arrive in the country no later than the fourth day after the election and be counted no later than April 18. In the case of a similar number of votes cast for the largest lists, it is possible that the final result will be known only on Saturday after the elections. This year, the highest number of people registered to vote in foreign representative offices so far – over 90,000. The number of voters voting by mail also set a record, amounting to almost 224,000. – according to NVI data.

Both main rivals will await results in Budapest. Orban and his Fidesz will organize the election evening in the Balna complex on the Danube, and Magyar and Tisza members will organize it in Batthyany Square, located opposite the seat of the Hungarian Parliament.

After casting his vote in Budapest, Prime Minister Viktor Orban assured that if the opposition wins, he will respect the election results and congratulate the winner. – The people's decision must be respected – he noted in front of the polling station, emphasizing, however, that “he came here to win.”

After casting his vote, Tisza chairman Peter Magyar emphasized that “no one can seriously think that TISZA will not win the elections.” He added that it is an open question whether the party will obtain a simple or qualified two-thirds majority of votes, necessary, among others, to change the constitution. He stressed that the results would be accepted by him if there were no frauds that would have a significant impact on the final result.

Jakub Bawołek from Budapest (PAP)

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