The Fidesz government created a new election law in 2011. This has one round of voting, while MPs are elected in 106 constituencies, with an additional 93 entering via a “party list” system. Hence, since the 2014 election, parliament comprises 199 seats in total.

The government said the new system is fairer, cheaper and less complicated than previously. Critics, while agreeing that it makes for a smaller parliament, accused the government of gerrymandering the new constituencies in favor of Fidesz. Whatever the truth, many ordinary Hungarians have difficulty fully understanding the system and its electoral implications.

“The system has many majoritarian elements, meaning it favors the largest party, even if it only wins a minority [less than 50%] of the constituency votes,” says Róbert László of Political Capital.

Hungarians with a registered address in the country receive two votes. One is for their choice of candidate for their individual constituency. This is decided on a first-past-the-post system, meaning the candidate with the most votes wins the seat.

The second vote is for the “party list.” Citizens vote for the party of their choice, and those votes are added to a pot. Ninety-three MPs are then chosen according to the proportion of votes in the pot.

We’ve Had Enough of the Russians
“I’m voting for Tisza because I’ve lived through the 16 years of the Orbán system; they’ve caused enough damage, although they have done some good things. But they’re worn out, and I don’t like this Russian occupation which they are increasingly seeking to establish here. For me, we’ve had enough of Russians in Hungary. I’d rather support Ukraine. Naturally, I have no problem with Ukraine, and I think sooner or later, the Hungarian minority’s struggle for their rights there will be resolved.”
Attila Tamás Császár, a school maintenance worker from Szentendre, attending the Tisza rally on Heroes’ Square, Budapest, on March 15.

5% Threshold

Parties must achieve a threshold of at least 5% of the total nationwide list vote to qualify for seats. If not, they fall out of the list system.

Also added to the pot are the “surplus” votes of the losing candidate(s) in the constituency fights. This practice is quite common in European elections, where the purpose of the list is to compensate the losers in the first-past-the-post individual constituency vote, and give them at least some representation in parliament.

However, in an element unique to Hungary, the new election system includes what might be called a winner’s “surplus booster” component, whereby the excess votes of the winning candidate are also added to the pot.

To explain, let us consider the result of the vote for the fictitious constituency of Daniváros.

This result means Ágnes becomes the constituency MP. The votes for Bence and Dávid go to the compensation pot for their respective parties. So too will András’ 1,000 votes, except with such a small number (only 1.4% of the total in this constituency), the Browns will probably not make the 5% minimum threshold nationwide. In short, the Browns will probably fall out of the race.

Csilla, an independent, does not have a party list, so her 15,000 votes will also be lost. This example illustrates how multiple candidates divide the opposition vote: Ágnes has attracted fewer than half (42.3%) of the total votes, but wins the seat.

Now we come to the winner’s “surplus booster,” a true election Hungarikum. Ágnes only needed 20,001 votes to beat Bence and win this seat. The difference between what the two got results in her 10,000 “surplus” votes. These 10,000 votes are therefore also added to the pot for the Blues Party.

This “surplus booster” element, believed to be unique to Hungary, greatly benefits the largest party. In the 2022 election, analysts estimate it gave Fidesz five additional seats from the 93 party-list seats.

Hungarians living abroad who still have a registered address in Hungary receive two ballots, but can only cast a vote at a Hungarian embassy or consulate abroad, not by mail.

Hungarian citizens who have no registered address in Hungary may vote by post, though they receive only one vote, for the party list. This provision is most used by ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries, especially Romania.

There are currently 490,000 voters registered in this category. Critics allege this is a “hotbed” of voter fraud, as there is next to no security or supervision of this voting procedure.

FAQs About the Hungarian Election System

Q: I’ve heard that Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party has a lead in most polls of about 10, even 20 points over Fidesz, but that the election result remains uncertain. How come? I don’t understand. If the polls are reasonably accurate, it should be a foregone conclusion, surely?

A: Superficially, what you think should be true. Indeed, many foreign pundits, unaware of the intricacies of Hungary’s system, have assumed that Tisza will win, based on the polls you cite. First is the statistical error, which, in a typical 1,000-respondent survey, is around 3.5%. Next, the election system contains biases that are impossible to explain completely in a few words (see the main article for a summary explanation). The fact is that the system, created by the governing party in 2011, favors Fidesz in multiple ways. Most election analysts estimate that an opposition group needs to have a 4-6 percentage point lead to “level the playing field” in terms of seats in parliament.

Q: I’ve heard some Hungarians say Fidesz will win so many “mandates.” What’s a mandate?

A: It’s a mistranslation. In Hungarian, MPs and parties win a “mandatum,” meaning “the mandate to represent the people.” In plain English, here it means a parliamentary seat.

Q: I sometimes hear that the government is Fidesz, sometimes Fidesz-KDNP. What’s the difference?

A: Technically, the government is a coalition of Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP). In practice, analysts (even those who are pro-Fidesz) accept that the KDNP is entirely dependent on Fidesz for its existence and exercises no genuine, independent power. Hence, the use of “Fidesz government” as shorthand. Creating this satellite party allows Fidesz to add to its broader “Christian-conservative” brand, and it also gains more seats in parliamentary committees.

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of March 27, 2026.