Viktor Orban's Fidesz government in Hungary stands accused of mass voter intimidation in a film released on Thursday ahead of 12 April parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party is trailing in the opinion polls.
The Price of the Vote documentary film, which aired on Thursday evening at a Budapest cinema and on YouTube, presents the results of a six-month investigation by independent filmmakers and reporters. In the film, voters, mayors, former election officials, and a police officer claim that large sums of money and even illegal drugs are being offered to pressure people to vote for Fidesz.
Fifty-three of Hungary's 106 individual constituencies and up to 600,000 voters are targeted, the film alleges – potentially 10% of the expected turnout of six million. After 16 years of Fidesz rule under Orban, most recent polls indicate that the party is trailing Peter Magyar's centre-right opposition party Tisza by at least that margin.
All the constituencies involved are rural or small-town communities, increasingly dominated by Fidesz since 2010. The film portrays a rural Hungary made up of a patchwork of poor villages, home especially to the country's large Roma minority. Local mayors exercise an iron grip over daily lives, providing work, firewood, transport to polling stations, and, in one case, even access to medicine, in exchange for the 'correct' vote on election day, according to claims made in the film.
The BBC has reached out to individual government ministers, and the communications offices of the government, the interior ministry, and the national police for a reaction. The only response so far has been from Minister for Public Administration and Regional Development Tibor Navracsics, who is seen as a moderate. If there is any wrongdoing just let the ministry of interior do its job, Navracsics replied. He declined to comment on specific allegations in the film.
The documentary details that voters offered money typically receive 50,000 to 60,000 forints (approximately £110-£133) per vote. Furthermore, some individuals allege that addictive drugs are being used as part of a broader strategy to procure votes, amidst chronic poverty affecting many rural constituents.
These accusations come as the upcoming election fast approaches, casting a shadow over the legitimacy of the electoral process in Hungary. Critics continue to raise alarms about the potential implications for democracy in the nation and the need for a fair electoral environment.
The Price of the Vote documentary film, which aired on Thursday evening at a Budapest cinema and on YouTube, presents the results of a six-month investigation by independent filmmakers and reporters. In the film, voters, mayors, former election officials, and a police officer claim that large sums of money and even illegal drugs are being offered to pressure people to vote for Fidesz.
Fifty-three of Hungary's 106 individual constituencies and up to 600,000 voters are targeted, the film alleges – potentially 10% of the expected turnout of six million. After 16 years of Fidesz rule under Orban, most recent polls indicate that the party is trailing Peter Magyar's centre-right opposition party Tisza by at least that margin.
All the constituencies involved are rural or small-town communities, increasingly dominated by Fidesz since 2010. The film portrays a rural Hungary made up of a patchwork of poor villages, home especially to the country's large Roma minority. Local mayors exercise an iron grip over daily lives, providing work, firewood, transport to polling stations, and, in one case, even access to medicine, in exchange for the 'correct' vote on election day, according to claims made in the film.
The BBC has reached out to individual government ministers, and the communications offices of the government, the interior ministry, and the national police for a reaction. The only response so far has been from Minister for Public Administration and Regional Development Tibor Navracsics, who is seen as a moderate. If there is any wrongdoing just let the ministry of interior do its job, Navracsics replied. He declined to comment on specific allegations in the film.
The documentary details that voters offered money typically receive 50,000 to 60,000 forints (approximately £110-£133) per vote. Furthermore, some individuals allege that addictive drugs are being used as part of a broader strategy to procure votes, amidst chronic poverty affecting many rural constituents.
These accusations come as the upcoming election fast approaches, casting a shadow over the legitimacy of the electoral process in Hungary. Critics continue to raise alarms about the potential implications for democracy in the nation and the need for a fair electoral environment.
