Karácsony files appeal, asks for a repeat of election for mayor of Budapest

Incumbent Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony announced on his Facebook page that he had submitted a petition to the Curia on Monday afternoon, asking for the annulment of the results of the mayoral election and for the repetition of the vote in the entire city.

Karácsony is asking for a re-run despite the fact that after Friday’s recount of the invalid ballots, the National Election Committee (NVB) found that he had won the mayoral election by 41 votes. He had previously indicated that he would seek a rerun of the election no matter the result, which he also confirmed after the NVB's decision. 24,592 invalid votes were recounted on Friday after Dávid Vitézy had appealed the first result, which also gave the victory to Gergely Karácsony.

"I know it's unusual for a politician to keep his word, just as it is unusual for a politician to ask for a repeat of an election he won. I also know that many people have grown tired of this prolonged election campaign, but the democratic legitimacy of an election should not depend on who won and who lost. Certainly not in the Republic of Budapest," the mayor wrote.

According to Karácsony, he is not objecting to the fact of the recount. "If the result was a close one, it's good to make sure that we have counted correctly. However, the recount of invalid ballots revealed that in nearly half of the polling stations in Budapest, there were no guarantees that the ballots were received for the recount in the same way as they had been bound by the counting commission on election night. In several districts, members of the local electoral commission were not even present when the ballot boxes were opened," he said. He added that he did not allege that there had been any abuse.

“What I am saying is that the legal guarantees that would rule out election abuse have been violated.”

The recount initiated by Dávid Vitézy found 53 valid votes for András Grundtner, 112 for Gergely Karácsony and 395 for Dávid Vitézy among the votes originally deemed invalid. After the result was announced, Vitézy congratulated Karácsony in a Facebook post, but added that two more appeals procedures had to be concluded before the result could become final. One is Karácsony's current appeal and the other is Vitézy's: this appeal would affect two Budapest districts, as Vitézy wants to see new elections in districts IV and VII, because he believes that in these districts the name of Alexandra Szentkirályi, who withdrew from the race last minute was crossed out with too thin a pen on the ballots. This appeal was dismissed by the NVB on Friday, but Vitézy may still appeal to the Curia, which he has not announced yet.

Gergely Karácsony first mentioned that he would request a repeat of the vote in the whole city as early as last Thursday, citing uncertainties surrounding the recount of the invalid votes, and called for a demonstration in front of the National Election Office on Friday evening. Shortly afterwards, Vitézy responded by saying that Karácsony's press conference was basically about demanding new elections until he wins.