Election 2024 – Vitezy calls for Budapest mayoral ballots to be recounted

According to the website of the National Election Office, some 22,000 ballots were invalid, hindering both candidates in clinching a convincing majority, Vitezy said.

Vitezy said he had tried to discuss the issue with his main competitor, the incumbent Gergely Karacsony, but couldn’t reach him on the phone.

With 99.26 percent of the vote counted, Vitezy had 47.49 percent of the vote, while Karacsony, the candidate of the Dialogue – Greens-Socialist-Democratic Coalition parties, had 47.52 percent.

Vitezy said the results showed that Budapest had “a vibrant democracy”. He said that although who would end up being mayor was uncertain, the result “is a huge success for us … because it shows that it was worthwhile campaigning with programmes, a vision of Budapest and with issues impacting its inhabitants,” he said.

Vitezy thanked voters for casting their ballots and activists and volunteers for “making Budapest citizens aware that the city can be led better and developed at a faster pace.”