Voter turnout in Hungary shatters democratic records

People arrive to cast their votes during the Hungarian parliamentary elections at a polling station in Budapest. | Janos Kummer/Getty Images

Voter turnout in Hungary on Sunday shattered records for the country’s democratic history — in a sign of the level of engagement in an election to decide whether Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule comes to an end.

According to data from the Hungarian national election office, 74 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots by 5 p.m., already outpacing the final turnout of preceding elections. In the previous parliamentary election in 2022, turnout stood at about 63 percent at the same time.

POLITICO’s Poll of Polls projects a comfortable lead for Orbán’s challenger, Péter Magyar, and his center-right Tisza party. But polls have also diverged significantly and in Hungary’s electoral system, vote shares don’t necessarily equal final political weight.