In Baja, Csaba Kovács, candidate of the governing Fidesz party bested the MSzP/E14/DK coalition, bested candidate Melinda Teket and the field to take the seat representing Baja in a constituency the right-wing hadn’t held since 2002. It seems, however, that Kovács’s “win” was due to a conspicuously large number of votes in the fifth district producing *just* enough extra Fidesz-marked ballots to swing the end result.
The opposition left-wing parties uncovered a video recording that shows Fidesz activists – reportedly including Fidesz-allied Lungo Drom president Flórián Farkas – telling people that they could come and vote several times which led to their filing charges of voter fraud.
Opposition parties came down on the governing party for its attempt to cheat. E14-PM president Gordon Bajnai and MSzP president Attila Mesterházy released a joint statement responding to the court’s decision in which they called for the resignation of Baja mayor Róbert Zsigó, while declaring that “We will continue to use fair means, but with even greater vigilance” in the rerun by-election.
The governing party has yet to comment and the news of the court ruling received little to no coverage in local right-wing media outlets.
– Material from Gergő Rácz was used in this story
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