Orban's Hungarian government accused of mass voter intimidation ahead of election

## Summary
Orban's Hungarian government accused of mass voter intimidation ahead of election 58 minutes ago Share Save Nick Thorpe Budapest correspondent Share Save Getty Images Viktor Orban has been in power for 16 consecutive years but most opinion polls suggest he is trailing his election rival 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. 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. AFP via Getty Images Prominent far-right politicians from across Europe have backed Orban's bid to remain in power The film has been released with little more than two weeks to go before Hungarians go to the polls, and the campaign has been shrouded by almost daily claims alleging domestic and foreign plots to undermine a fair vote. If necessary, I consult with the Chinese, the Africans, and the south-east Asians in order to establish co-operation that serves Hungary's interests as much as possible," he said. "We will not abandon the national interest, even if there is very crude foreign intelligence interference in the Hungarian elections with the participation of Brussels." Rival polls suggest a big difference in voting intentions ahead of the election.

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Orban's Hungarian government accused of mass voter intimidation ahead of election
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Nick Thorpe
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Viktor Orban has been in power for 16 consecutive years but most opinion polls suggest he is trailing his election rival
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.
EPA
Peter Magyar's Tisza party is bidding to oust Fidesz from power
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.
It was in January that Viktor Orban addressed a large gathering of local mayors and village and town councillors in Budapest: "Mayors, ladies and gentlemen, the situation is the following: this election must be won by you."
"The 2026 election will be decided by whether you get involved. If you do, we'll win; if you don't, we won't."
De Akcióközösség
Outside a polling station in the village of Tiszabura, which saw a mayoral election rerun repeatedly last autumn
In the film, Orban's words are juxtaposed with interviews with around 20 figures across 14 of Hungary's 19 counties, from the south to the north-east.
The sheer extent of the practice, and the similarity of the stories in villages tens or hundreds of kilometres apart led the filmmakers to conclude that the action is planned by senior Fidesz officials.
"In the beginning, we thought the key piece of this process is vote-buying. But then we realised that the money is just the icing on the cake. The key word here is dependency and vulnerability," Aron Timar, one of the filmmakers, told the BBC.
"The money comes in on a pretty serious scale, and with quite a large entourage," says one interviewee, a serving police officer whose face and voice is disguised, in the documentary.
"I didn't become a police officer to serve a corrupt system. To help cover things up."
In one village, the Fidesz mayor is also the district doctor for a catchment area covering 32 settlements. Patients say they fear they will not receive their prescription if they do not vote for the party.
Firewood is only distributed to those who vote for the party, several people interviewed claim.
In another, a former candidate dropped his bid for elected office, after the child protection office allegedly threatened to take his children into care.
The authorities did not want him running against the candidate preferred by the governing Fidesz party, he claims.
De Akcióközösség
This Roma woman in northern Hungary said her children were at risk of being taken away because her husband tried to run for office
One day after the crew filmed in a certain village, the police allegedly visited the hotel where they stayed to ask for the guest list.
"We believe that most of the policemen in the country are fair people. So this is not about the police force. This is more about the political influence on the police," filmmaker Timar told the BBC.
For voters offered money, the sum mentioned is usually 50-60,000 forints (£110-£133) per vote - a significant sum in communities where child benefit is only £26-£43 per child per month.
But the filmmakers emphasise that what they describe is far more than a vote-buying operation.
At previous elections, some of the villages cited in the film have re

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- For voters offered money, the sum mentioned is usually 50-60,000 forints (£110-£133) per vote - a significant sum in communities where child benefit is only £26-£43 per child per month.
- War in Ukraine spills into Hungarian election campaign Ukraine-Hungary oil pipeline row threatens EU loan Hungary's Orbán accused of disloyalty and blackmail over Ukraine loan veto There have been allegations of vote buying in Hungarian elections before, but on a far smaller, localised scale, and without any claim of a significant impact on the outcome.
- A significant proportion of Hungary's estimated 800,000 Roma minority live in deep poverty.

### Areas for Consideration
- De Akcióközösség This Roma woman in northern Hungary said her children were at risk of being taken away because her husband tried to run for office One day after the crew filmed in a certain village, the police allegedly visited the hotel where they stayed to ask for the guest list. "We believe that most of the policemen in the country are fair people.

### Implications
- It was in January that Viktor Orban addressed a large gathering of local mayors and village and town councillors in Budapest: "Mayors, ladies and gentlemen, the situation is the following: this election must be won by you." "The 2026 election will be decided by whether you get involved.
- Patients say they fear they will not receive their prescription if they do not vote for the party.
- This is more about the political influence on the police," filmmaker Timar told the BBC.
- War in Ukraine spills into Hungarian election campaign Ukraine-Hungary oil pipeline row threatens EU loan Hungary's Orbán accused of disloyalty and blackmail over Ukraine loan veto There have been allegations of vote buying in Hungarian elections before, but on a far smaller, localised scale, and without any claim of a significant impact on the outcome.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers fidesz, hungary, film topics. Notable strengths include discussion of fidesz. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1408.