Joy and Sorrow, Crowds and Emptiness – 2022 Elections in Pictures!

The 2022 elections, which were once again won by Fidesz-KDNP by a two-thirds majority, were captured in photos. We have collected some of them for you.

In the picture below, a little girl casts her parents’ ballot in the ballot box at the polling station in the Farkasréti Primary School.

The national-colored “I voted!” badge for first-time voters is pinned on a young man’s sweatshirt at the polling station in the Vasvári Pál High School in Nyíregyháza. More than 231,000 voters were able to exercise their right to vote for the first time.

Those who asked for the opportunity to vote from home did so, using a mobile ballot box. In the picture below, for example, members of the ballot counting committee are with a ballot box on the farm of an elderly couple in Petőfiszállás.

Many people crossed over into other counties, not voting where they are registered. As a result, voters had to wait in long queues in several places; for example, at the polling station at the Gazdagrét-Csíkihegyek Primary School.

The government also held a referendum at the same time as the elections, but the result was not valid because so many people voted invalidly. The referendum’s questions had previously struck controversy.

Politicians have also cast their votes. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, President of Fidesz, and his wife Anikó Lévai cast their votes at Zugliget Primary School in District XII.

Katalin Novák, the President-elect, cast her vote with her son Ádám Veres at the polling station in Farkasrét Primary School.

Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, also voted at the József Attila High School in Újbuda, Budapest.

Judit Varga, Minister of Justice, accompanied by her children and her husband Péter Magyar, cast her vote at the polling station in the Hegyvidéki Mesevár Kindergarten in Budapest.

President János Áder and his wife Anita Herczegh cast their votes at the polling station in Zugliget Primary School, the same place Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his wife voted.

Finance Minister Mihály Varga cast his vote in the Fillér Street Primary School, District 12.

Zsolt Semjén, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for national policy and President of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), accompanied by his mother, Miklósné Semjén, and his wife, Gabriella Menus, also cast his vote at the polling station in the Ferenc Rákóczi High School in the 2nd district.

The politicians of the opposition also voted. Péter Márki-Zay, the candidate for Prime Minister of the United for Hungary party, cast his vote with his adult family members in the parliamentary election and child protection referendum in the polling station of the Szent István Primary School in Hódmezővásárhely.

Mayor Gergely Karácsony, co-chairman of the Párbeszéd party, and his family also cast their votes. They voted at the polling station set up in the Örökzöld Kindergarten in District XIV.

Democratic Coalition (DK) MEP Klára Dobrev and former Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány cast their votes with their son at the polling station at the Áldás Street Primary School in Budapest.

Péter Jakab, President of Jobbik, cast his vote at the polling station of the St. Francis Roman Catholic Primary School in Miskolc.

Gergely Kovács, president of the Hungarian Two Tailed Dog Party cast his vote at the polling station in the Terézváros Children’s Library.

György Gattyán, President of the Megoldás Movement, voted in the polling station at the Bolyai Utca Kindergarten in Budapest.

László Toroczkai, president of Mi Hazánk, candidate for the government, cast his vote with his daughter at the polling station in the Szent Gellért community center in Ásotthalom.

In the evening, the staff of the National Election Office (NVI) started processing the postal votes at their headquarters in Budapest on the day of the parliamentary elections and the referendum on child protection, after the polling stations closed.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, President of Fidesz, delivers a victory speech at the Fidesz-KDNP results waiting event at the Bálna in Budapest. Behind him, Zsolt Semjén, Deputy Prime Minister, Máté Kocsis, Fidesz parliamentary group leader, Andrea Máger, Minister without Portfolio for the Management of National Assets, Szilárd Németh, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Vice President of Fidesz, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Gábor Kubatov, Party Director, and MEP Kinga Gál (from left to right). People were cheering on Orbán, chanting his name and the “Ria, Ria, Hungária!” slogan which is often chanted at sporting events as well, in support of Hungary.

Péter Márki-Zay, the opposition’s joint candidate for prime minister also gave a speech at the United for Hungary results waiting event at the City Park Ice Rink. Not surprisingly, the atmosphere there was not as good as at the Fidesz-KDNP results party. He was the only opposition politician who went to the stage, with the six-party alliance quickly disappearing behind him as the situation went downhill. Later, however, Momentum president Anna Donáth and Párbeszéd co-president Gergely Karácsony also went up to the stage and each held a short speech.

As you can see, with the results having come out, not many people remained.

The election posters, reading: “People Have the Power,” ended up in trash cans.

At the Mi Hazánk Mozgalom’s election results waiting event, there was a happier atmosphere as the far-right party made it into the parliament. In the picture below, Novák Előd, vice-president of Mi Hazánk, celebrated at the Budapest Congress Center.

László Toroczkai, President of Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement), and Vice President Dóra Dúró hug each other, with István Apáti and Előd Novák (vice-president and Dúró’s husband) in the background.

It seems that at the results waiting event of the covid-skeptic party Normális Élet Pártja (NÉP/Party for Normal Life Party), there was not much of a celebration. György Gődény, chairman of the party, Szilvia Morán-Mihucza, the party’s candidate for the 2nd constituency in Hajdu-Bihar county, and Gábor Szuchányi, the party’s candidate for the 5th constituency in Pest county, held a press conference at La Toscana restaurant in Cegléd.

Although there was not much reason for joy, as the Hungarian Two Tailed Dog Party was not elected to parliament, the satirical party’s results event was not filled with sadness. In the picture below, Gergely Kovács, the party’s chairman, gave an interview to the press at the satirical party’s results waiting event at the Metro Club in Budapest. “It’s a pity we didn’t get in and marijuana will not be legal in Hungary from tomorrow and the public procurement system will remain as it is,” the party’s president said.

Featured image: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, President of Fidesz, delivers a victory speech at the Fidesz-KDNP results waiting event at the Bálna in Budapest. Behind him are Gabriella Semjénné Menus, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, Miklós Kásler, Minister of Human Resources, András Gyürk, Fidesz-KDNP candidate for the European Parliament, Judit Varga, Minister of Justice, Máté Kocsis, Fidesz parliamentary group leader, Andrea Máger, Minister without portfolio for the management of national assets, Antal Rogán, Minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office, Gergely Gulyás, Minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office, Szilárd Németh, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Vice President of Fidesz, Tamás Deutsch, Head of the Fidesz Delegation to the European Parliament, Tibor Benkő, Minister of Defense, Kinga Gál MEP, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Gábor Kubatov, Party Director, and István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture (from left to right). Photo by Zoltán Fischer/MTI/Prime Minister’s Press Office