The opposition wants all postal votes coming from abroad to be destroyed. Fidesz accuses the opposition of committing election fraud.Continue reading
So far, 184,000 Hungarian citizens without permanent residency in Hungary have posted mail-in votes or lodged them with Hungarian embassies ahead of Hungary’s general election, the National Election Office (NVI) said.
According to the NVI, 456,000 people with dual Hungarian citizenship living beyond the border have registered for the election. The office added that 33,600 of the votes have been sent by post, while over 150,000 have been dropped off at Hungarian foreign representations.
The NVI has been verifying the identity of voters based on their statements attached to the votes, and has so far approved 86,655 valid documents.
Mail-in votes must arrive at the election office before 7pm on the day of the election.
In recent days, there have been a number of reports in the press highlighting problems with postal votes cast abroad. The most shocking case occurred in Transylvania, where a bag of partially burnt ballot papers was found next to an illegal garbage dump, all supporting opposition parties. The incident reignited the decade-old debate over the system of postal votes. Just a few days before the 2022 elections, the opposition alliance’s PM candidate, Péter Márki-Zay, even suggested that all postal votes should be destroyed. Meanwhile, the ruling Fidesz party is calling the incident a staged move by the opposition.
featured image via Nándor Veres/MTI