The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, and opposition leader Peter Magyar, main favorite according to polls, have already exercised their right to vote in legislative elections marked by unprecedented levels of participation in the country.
As of 3:00 PM, 66% of the census had passed through the polls, according to data released by the Electoral Commission on its official website. The figure represents about thirteen points more than in the elections four years ago at the same time (53.59%) and everything indicates that the upward trend will be maintained until the closing of the polling stations, scheduled for 7:00 PM.
In Budapest, citizen involvement is even greater and participation already stands at 69.4%, nearing 70%. The mayor of the capital, the oppositionist Gergely Karácsony, has urged citizens to "make history" using "the pen waiting in the voting booths."
Magyar has once again emphasized the weight of each ballot by recalling that "there will be electoral districts where the result will depend on a few votes," he stated after casting his vote in the ballot box. Afterwards, he showed himself fully confident of the victory of his party, Tisza: "No one seriously thinks that Tisza will lose, nor Hungary either." True to the tone of his campaign, more pro-European than that of his adversary, he has presented the election as a contest "between the East and the West."
Orbán, who has also already voted, has promised that he will congratulate Magyar if he wins the elections, while also asking for support for his party, Fidesz, because "it is the safest option". In recent hours, the head of government has received messages of support from international allies such as Donald Trump Jr, eldest son of the president of the United States, and the Israeli minister for the Diaspora, Amichai Chikli.
"One must respect the decision of the people," Orbán stressed, in a context marked by crossed reproaches between both candidacies about possible electoral fraud. Shortly after, the prime minister celebrated on Facebook the high provisional participation with a message in which he asked that "Let no patriot stay at home."
From Tisza they claim to have received on their website around 60 complaints for alleged irregularities attributed to Fidesz supporters. For his part, the Fidesz MEP, Csaba Domotor, has stated that his formation has registered 639 cases of irregularities and that there are still 74 police reports in processing.