After 23 years since the EU accession referendum, Hungary voted on Sunday, with opposition leader Péter Magyar urging patience as results are tallied.
Opposition Cautiously Optimistic, Reports Irregularities
Opposition leader Péter Magyar stated they are “cautiously optimistic” but urged supporters to await the official results, emphasizing the need for patience.
Magyar claimed his party observed “thousands of irregularities” during Sunday’s election.
Initial Results Expected Around 8 PM
Partial results were expected to begin appearing around 8:00 PM local time, with the percentage of votes counted indicated alongside each update.
High Voter Turnout Reported
By 6:30 PM, voter turnout reached 77.80%, with 5,856,515 people having cast their ballots.
Voting concluded at 7:00 PM, though those already in line were permitted to vote.
Eligible Hungarian voters within the country had two votes: one for a candidate in a single-member district and another for a party list or national minority list. Voters abroad cast only one vote, for a national party list.
Vote Counting Underway
Vote counting commenced immediately after polling stations closed at 7:00 PM.
Ruling Party Confident of Majority
Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s Office, stated the Fidesz-KDNP coalition expects to secure a majority in the Hungarian parliament.
Gulyás expressed hope that the governing parties would receive a new mandate to govern for another four years, attributing the high voter turnout—partially driven by Fidesz-KDNP mobilization—as a sign of a “very strong” Hungarian democracy.
