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Fidesz-KDNP has won its 136th seat in the National Assembly following the continued counting of mail-in votes to Hungary. The National Election Office (NVI) has not yet completed the counting of all 316,754 thousand ballots that were mailed to Hungary from abroad. In turn, the United for Hungary alliance now has one less seat, 55 in the National Assembly.
The 2022 Hungarian election is not yet concluded, since mail-in ballots are still being counted. The Election Office reported on Wednesday that Hungarians abroad could vote in 97 different countries at 147 different Hungarian embassies throughout the world. Almost all of the votes have arrived, but as of Wednesday, 9,800 votes were still expected. According to Hungary’s election laws, these votes need to reach Hungary by the fourth day following the vote, in this case until Thursday at midnight.
More than half of the more than 316 thousand ballots that were mailed in have been counted by the election office so far. Among these ballots, 36 thousand arrived by mail, 278 thousand arrived through Hungarian embassies abroad, and 1,500 arrived from individual constituencies throughout Hungary.
The overwhelming majority of these votes, more than 90 percent, have gone to Fidesz-KDNP. This is not surprising, since ethnic Hungarians with dual citizenship abroad have been known to vote in favor of Fidesz. Considering that thousands of ballots still need to be counted, it is not out of question that their finalization could potentially have further impacts on the results of the election.
This year a major scandal occurred with regard to mail-in ballots, when a bag of partially burnt ballot papers containing votes for the united opposition were found next to a garbage dump in Transylvania. Votes from abroad all go towards the national list, in which members of Parliament are elected through proportional representation, and thus every vote can impact the share of representation each party recieves.
Not only national voting, but constituency results could still change as well. In Budapest’s 13th district there is a difference of 38 votes, and more than one thousand votes still need to be counted.
Featured photo illustration by Lajos Soós/MTI