Baja vote to be repeated in one station
September 30th, 2013Muted celebrations of the court ruling in the left-wing press – and few reactions from the government side
On Saturday, the Kecskemét Court scrapped the results of the Baja local by-election sub-district where poor (mostly Roma) voters were driven in groups to the booth. (See BudaPost, September 25). The opposition won the race by a very slight margin in the more urbanized areas of the district but they lost in that particular one. (See BudaPost September 26). Their objection was rejected by the election boards both in the first instance and upon appeal. They then lodged a complaint at the Kecskemét Court, which finally acknowledged that voters were illegally transported to the polling station in an organized manner. New elections are to be held in this sub-district.
In an irreverent piece on 444.hu, as no statement was forthcoming from the government side after the verdict, Márton Bede wrote a mock reply on their behalf: “we will win twice if that is what it takes to continue the war against utility costs and the powerful international forces”. The next day, he notes in his update, an official communique did appear but “we basically got it right in our version” – the statement contains no reference to the fact that the court found irregularities in the election process but accuses the opposition parties of caring for no-one but themselves and their rivalry.