Voluntary vote-counters work for Hungary's election integrity

Many supporters of Hungarian opposition parties believed that if there were no observers, irregularities in the vote count could impact the outcome of the April 3rd ballot. Therefore, they set out to have at least two counters who are volunteers for each of Hungary's over 10,000 polling locations.

Judit Szanto (Let's Count Together), a volunteer with SzamoljukEgyutt, one of many civic organizations that recruits and trains ballot counters, said "It's not right that Hungary in a large amount of electoral districts... there aren't any ballot counters representing opposition."

"This thing was designed to organize people to supervise the cleanliness of election on suspicion that if the don't, fraud will occur," stated Szanto, who offers training to volunteers.

Recent polls indicate that Orban's Fidesz party, which has enjoyed a near continuous two-thirds majority in parliament since 2010, will likely face his closest election since he took power.

United For Hungary is a coalition of six opposition parties from the political spectrum, right to left, that aims to overcome the system they perceive as being dominated by Fidesz. It was designed to give them an unfair advantage in politics, media, and elections.

However, while the coalition's strategy to coordinate its candidates across the country and running one joint candidate for prime Minister will likely boost its performance on Election Day, it is possible that the outcome in many districts could be down to just a few votes.

Adam Sanyo, a data analyst who assists Let's Count Together with training the ballot counters, stated that such a close race makes transparent and accurate tallying crucial.

"The counting process actually is quite important because even though the general public thought it was close, in some constituencies there were very small margins between candidates," Sanyo stated. He also said that many of Hungary's 106 district will likely be decided by less than 1,500 votes.

Each of the six opposition parties will officially delegate one volunteer to work alongside the other ballot counters designated by Fidesz on election day.

They will not only count the ballots after the polls close, but they'll also be monitoring the voting process at each place throughout the day and have been trained on how to report and recognize irregularities.

Szanto stated, "It's more than just getting people to the polling stations. It's also important that they understand what's going on there." They must be well-versed in the laws and electoral legislation in order to perform their duties properly.

Hungarians who sympathize with the opposition parties won't be the only ones keeping their eyes on the election.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has announced that it will send a full scale election observation mission to Hungary. It will include 18 long-term observers and 200 additional observers on election day. This is only the second time such a mission has been sent in a European Union country.

The OSCE declared Hungary's 2014 parliamentary election "free, but not fair" and pointed out that 2018's vote was marked by "pervasive overlap among state and ruling party ressources, undermining contestants ability to compete on an equally basis."

Orban's critics also point to alleged cases voter buying and clientelism, which they claim have distorted previous elections.

The ruling party passed a change in electoral law last year that allows Hungarians to vote in any district where they have a registered residence, even if they aren't there. The opposition and civic organizations warned of voter tourism, where voters could register addresses in competitive districts to tip the vote.

The OSCE's interim report, released last week, drew attention on these amendments to the electoral law. It claimed they were adopted by the ruling parties "without any genuine consultation process."

"Most of the previous... recommendations are still largely unaddressed," the OSCE reported in its report.

Hungary's government insists that elections are fair and free, and rejects concerns that the ruling party is in a position of advantage.

In an email, a spokesperson for the government stated that OSCE observers are "very welcome at any time" and that the "procedural management of elections in Hungary was always considered one of the best in the EU, and we hope it will continue to be so."

Sanyo, the data analyst, believes that the election results will be decided in 10 to 15 districts, where the vote is expected be close, and that even a few misallocated ballots can have an impact on the outcome.

He said, "That's basically what the message is to (the ballot-counters)," "Your job is very important, because this time, every vote really counts."