Politician demands recount of votes over irregularities, even though he won election

"I know it's unusual for a politician to keep his word and ask for a repeat of an election he won," Karacsony wrote on Facebook, and announced he would submit a similar application even before the final results were announced.

According to the mayor, who has been in office since 2019, electoral procedures were not carried out properly in many places.

His opponent, David Vitezy, put forward by LMP - the Hungarian Green Party and ultimately supported by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz, demands that another vote be held in two districts of the capital.

On Monday, June 10, the Hungarian National Electoral Commission (NVI) announced that Karacsony defeated Vitezy by only 324 votes, a difference of 0.04%. Over 370,000 people voted for both candidates. voters. For a long time, Vitezy was in the lead; candidates switched places after more than 90% were counted.

On Friday, at Vitezy's request, a recount of invalid votes was held and Karacsony remained the winner, but his lead dwindled to just 41 votes.

Since Karacsony became mayor of the capital in 2019 with the support of an alliance of opposition parties, he has been sharply attacked by Fidesz. In the election campaign before the local government elections, he was supported by, among others, Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski.

Vitezy, economist, former Secretary of State for Transport in Orbán's government, was general director of the Budapest city transport operator - BKK in 2010-2014.

Although he was the candidate of the opposition LMP, the media speculated several months before the elections that he might ultimately receive the support of Fidesz.

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This article was originally published on Onet Travel.