A Budapest polling station has only six voters, how is this legal?

A peculiar electoral arrangement has come to light in Budapest, where one polling district has just six registered voters living across five buildings.

The smallest electoral district, not just in Budapest, but the whole country?

The polling station in question – polling district No. 25 in the capital’s No. 1 parliamentary constituency – covers only a handful of addresses, while neighbouring districts typically contain between 1,000 and 1,200 voters.

A site visit revealed that the area is dominated by office buildings, with only a few residential properties. The six registered voters appear to live in one detached home, one apartment building and possibly one other residential unit. Several other buildings in the area are either commercial or abandoned.

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Why the boundaries look so strange

According to the Nemzeti Választási Iroda (National Election Office), the unusual setup in Budapest is the result of strict legal constraints. Under Hungarian election law, polling districts may not cross the boundaries of a settlement, parliamentary constituency or local government electoral district.

Because of these overlapping boundaries, the six voters could not simply be merged into a neighbouring polling district without violating the law. The electoral authority has stressed that the configuration is entirely legal, even if it appears counterintuitive.

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These 6 people will vote outside their own constituency

Adding to the peculiarity, the polling station where these six voters will cast their ballots is not located within their own parliamentary constituency but in a neighbouring one. Officials say this, too, is permitted: the law does not require the polling station itself to be situated within the boundaries of the district it serves, reports Telex.

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How did this happen?

The unusual, yet somehow perfectly legal situation emerged after a redrawing of electoral boundaries in late 2024, when Hungary’s governing majority approved a new constituency map.

This reshuffle altered the composition of Budapest’s No. 1 constituency, adding new areas while removing others, and in the process produced the tiny, six-person polling district. While the arrangement may seem odd, it highlights how strict legal frameworks and redistricting can produce unexpected outcomes.

Similar micro-constituencies exist elsewhere: in Dixville Notch, a small community in the United States, just six voters famously cast ballots shortly after midnight on election day, becoming the first results reported nationwide.

Featured image: depositphotos.com