By-elections were held in four municipalities on Sunday after the previous municipal representatives were elected to the National Assembly, leaving their local council seats vacant. One of the most striking takeaways from the elections is that the candidate openly supported by the TISZA Party lost in Mohács (southern Hungary), and voter turnout was extremely low: in none of the municipalities did the turnout reach 25 percent, Vadhajtások.hu reported. 

On Sunday, special municipal elections were held in four municipalities to fill local council seats left vacant after the previous representatives were elected to the National Assembly. In Mohács, Makó (southeastern Hungary), and Mátészalka (northeastern Hungary), multiple candidates competed for the vacant representative seats, while in Mezőtúr (southeastern-central Hungary), only one candidate ran.

In Mohács, only 522 of the 2,538 eligible voters cast their ballots, representing a turnout of 20.57 percent.

Independent candidate Ákos Horváth won the election with 38.31 percent of the vote, or 200 votes.

The candidate openly supported by the TISZA Party managed to secure only second place: Dr. Marianna Balatinácz Al-Emadné, the candidate nominated by the VAN Public Affairs Association, received 32.18 percent of the vote, with 168 votes. Emese Hegedűs, the candidate of the Our Homeland Movement, received 16.86 percent, while Henrietta Kiss received 12.64 percent.

Voter turnout was slightly higher in Makó, but even there, only 24.34 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. Of the 2,190 eligible voters, 533 cast their ballots. The seat was won by Gergő Török, an independent candidate who received 259 votes, or 48.68 percent of the total.

In Mátészalka, 366 of the 1,813 eligible voters cast their ballots, resulting in a turnout of 20.19 percent. Independent candidate Erzsébet Szabóné Dankó won the election with 221 votes, representing 60.38 percent of votes cast.

Voter turnout was lowest in Mezőtúr. Of the 1,554 eligible voters, 172 cast ballots, representing a turnout rate of 11.07 percent. There was only one candidate on the ballot, Zoltán Valuska of TEKE Mezőtúr, who received 167 valid votes, while five ballots were invalid.

FIDESZ did not field a candidate in these elections. The party’s local organization explained that it had decided not to participate because FIDESZ is currently focusing on internal renewal and developing a new political platform.

Overall, a strikingly small number of people exercised their right to vote in the four special elections. Turnout did not exceed 24.34 percent in any of the municipalities, while in Mezőtúr, just over one-tenth of the voters went to the polls. Thus, in all four municipalities, the winning candidates were elected with the participation of less than a quarter of eligible voters.

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Via Vadhajtások; Featured photo: Facebook/Magyar Péter