Election 2018 – Jobbik, LMP seek recount of votes in some districts

Patriotic people’s Jobbik will request recount of the votes in the recent national election in constituencies where a violation of the rules is suspected, Jobbik spokesman Péter Jakab said on Tuesday.

Jakab said “public opinion” suggested that ruling Fidesz has faked the results and added that the choice for candidates of the governing parties was “whether to go to parliament or to prison”. He insisted that apart from using “all base means” such as “transporting voters, distributing food, threatening officials or ensuring fast crossing at the border for Hungarian citizens from Ukraine” Fidesz also “received some extra assistance” from the National Election Office (NVI).

The spokesman criticised the NVI because its server had broken down several times during the voting and preliminary results were not published “for hours” after the polls closed. He added that in the last half hour of the voting “some 170,000-180,000 votes disappeared”.

In the requested procedure, Jobbik’s representatives would match the election minutes of the constituency and the register of the National Election Office, Jakab said.

Concerning the recent resignation of Jobbik head Gábor Vona, the spokesman said that the party had acknowledged Vona’s decision but added that “resignation of the full board is not on the agenda”.

Asked about reports that daily Magyar Nemzet and Lánchíd Radio would be closed down, Jakab said it would be “a black day for Hungary’s free press”.

On the same day, LMP announced that it would also investigate the “background to the flood of compliants” the party has received.