A high turnout is expected in the ongoing Hungarian parliamentary elections, where voting began at 6 a.m. on Sunday and around 7.5 million people are eligible to vote.
An hour after polling stations opened, 3.46% of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 7 a.m., a historic record (four years ago it was 1.82%), and 16.9% of eligible voters had turned out to vote by 9 a.m., also a record (four years ago 10.3% had voted by 9 a.m.).
By eleven o'clock, 37.98% of eligible voters had turned out to the polls, a feat never before recorded on election morning in Hungary.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, President of Fidesz, voted in Buda this morning and said he was pleased with the high turnout. It is a victory for democracy. The more people there are, the better.
Péter Magyar, president of the Tisza Party, the largest and only opposition party with a chance of governing, also voted in Buda this morning. He said a possible record turnout and calm and clean elections would favor his party's victory.
"If these elections are held calmly and legally, then Tisza, and consequently Hungary, will win these elections," he said.
