OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission’s Recommendations Remain Disregarded in Hungary
Hungarian civil society organisations working on election-related issues; 20k, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Mérték Media Monitor, Political Capital, and Unhack Democracy wish to draw the attention of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the many respects Hungarian elections not only fall short of the requirements for democratic elections despite clear recommendations by OSCE/ODIHR election observation missions but are manipulated in which the electoral system is rigged with a range of sophisticated tools.
The Hungarian Citizen Election Report 2024
The 2024 Hungarian Citizen Election Report is a joint initiative of the most prominent Hungarian election-related organisations: Unhack Democracy, 20k, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Mérték Media Monitor and Political Capital. It aims to provide a credible picture of the European Parliament and local government election process through the eyes and experience of Hungarians, based on the analyses of experts with decades of experience and the personal observations of nearly a thousand poll workers who followed the voting process this year.
Electoral Integrity Reports
Since 2018 Unhack Democracy’s we have gathered over 1600 polling station commission members’ testimonies across 4 elections.
Read our full reports or the summary below showcasing key findings.
Restricting and intimidating party delegates
Polling Stations Committee (PSC) members in our research revealed that they had not been allowed to carry out certain phases of the commission's work despite all PSC members having equal rights and obligations.
“We could stamp ballots, note the turnout number etc. like in previous years. Now they let us do it too for a while then the local official came in. I think she was from the Local Election Office and said that party delegates are not allowed to check the data (of voters), they cannot stamp ballots and note the turnout number. This was around 11 in the morning.” (2018 parliamentary elections)
It is not uncommon that party delegates are subject to stigmatisation and intimidation. This has been particularly the case in precincts where delegates are part of the co-dependent system.
“In the neighbouring precinct a Socialist party delegate told me that he had not been able to come because his car had broken down. He later told me that it hadn’t been his car but he had been threatened to lose his public workfare job so he cancelled.” (2019 municipal elections)
Not recorded perceived irregularities
Respondents revealed that they did NOT record perceived irregularities, including other members of the PSC pressuring voters, using mobile phones, intimidating elderly mobile ballot-box voters and restricting PSC members’ work.
However, our research reveals that these numbers do not reflect the high rate of actual anomalies.
Vote-buying for public work, cash and benefits
After the 2019 EP elections, one in ten delegates interviewed said that they had suspected vote-buying or carousel voting. This number was similar in the municipal elections.
In the 2020 Borsod by-election every 3rd respondents suspected such illegal activity.
"What's very important here, in my opinion, is that the mayor is keeping people very much on a tight leash. Because there were many times when the voters put the ballot in front of me and looked me in the eye, asking ‘can you see that I’m voting for THAT?’ There were hundreds of times when the phone cameras clicked and flashed inside the booth ." (2019 municipal elections)
“It's a very poor village; I was told that they got 5,000 HUF per person for their vote. And the old people were indoctrinated, and a family member helped them. Supposedly 10,000 was given to those who carried a voter (per voter), millions were collected.” (2018 parliamentary elections)
Mobile ballot box voting irregularities
PSC members surveyed reveal mass intimidation of people living in nursing homes, who are unable to care for themselves.
“There was an elderly woman, who was sitting across from us and said she had had 2 strokes already and that she had not remembered anything but remembered that they had been instructed to vote for Fidesz because otherwise they would lose their bed in the care home.“ (2019 EP elections)
Damaged credibility of precinct results
Across elections, we identified 6 cases, when delegates were asked to sign the protocols blank.
In the 2020 by-election in Borsod, nearly 12% said they did not recall signing a blank protocol. This calls into question the credibility of the results to a large extent.
“After the first voter cast his ballot, the administrator asked the members of the commission to sign 5 blank protocols on the side, where the results should be recorded. I said that it was against the law and that I couldn’t sign it. I asked whether this is a practice they always follow and they said yes, the town’s notary instructed them to do it this way.” (2019 EP elections)
Illegal mobilisation
Illegal mobilisations have been reported by polling stations across the country. These often took place inside the polling station over the phone, which is a serious violation of the law.
"The note taker said, "They're here, Mr. Mayor", I said, "Get your phone out of here right now! But then I realised that he didn't want to know how many came, but who, because the voters came by streets. Because the church has a van." (2018 parliamentary elections)
You can find all of our research here:
Our year-long investigation into the April 2018 Hungarian Parliamentary elections published in OpenDemocracy indicated Prime Minister Viktor Orbán secured his one-seat supermajority thanks to a combination of outright fraud, gerrymandering and by engineering the electoral system. Unhack Democracy’s investigations have been covered in 18 countries and 6 languages around the world, including on France24, BBC World and AFP.