In the quiet town of Paks, a former nuclear plant manager lost his seat by fewer than 900 votes after absentee and overseas ballots were counted, marking the second electoral reversal in Tolna County within days.
The shift came after election officials finished processing absentee and overseas votes on Friday evening, overturning initial results in two Tolna constituencies. In the second district, Gábor Szijjártó of the Tisza Party edged out Fidesz’s Krisztina Csibi by 653 votes, securing 46.58 percent to her 45.17 percent with 20,086 ballots cast. In the third district, Tamás Cseh defeated János Süli by 893 votes, capturing 47.42 percent of the vote to Süli’s 45.39 percent, with 20,880 votes tallied.
Süli, who served as a minister under Viktor Orbán for five years and briefly as a state secretary overseeing the expansion of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, had led by 138 votes before the absentee ballots were added. Of the 2,037 absentee and overseas voters registered in the district, a clear majority backed Cseh, reversing the outcome from election night.
Across Hungary, the Tisza Party now claims 139 seats in parliament, up from 138 after the Paks result, while Fidesz-KDNP holds 54 and Mi Hazánk holds six. The party’s gains hinge on votes cast outside traditional polling stations — a pattern emerging in multiple districts where final tallies remain pending.
Officials say final, non-binding results for all constituencies will be released by Saturday, though legal certification will follow later. In Dombóvár, Mi Hazánk’s deputy leader Dóra Duró ran as an independent, capturing 7.22 percent of the vote with 3,113 ballots. In Nyírbátor, with 98.86 percent of votes processed, a Fidesz candidate led by 174 votes.
For more on this story, see Péter Magyar Tour: Is Tisza Party ‘Fidesz 2.0’? – Békéscsaba Report.
The pattern suggests that early results, which favored Fidesz in several rural districts, may not reflect final outcomes once all votes are counted. Analysts note that overseas voters, often younger and urban-leaning, are increasingly influencing results in constituencies where margins are thin.
In Tolna, the shift underscores a broader trend: parties that underperform on election day can still win if their supporters are more likely to vote absentee or from abroad. For the Tisza Party, this dynamic has turned narrow losses into gains in two constituencies in under a week.
Fidesz, which had relied on strong early returns to claim momentum, now faces the prospect of losing ground as postal and diplomatic ballots are tallied. The party’s strength in traditional voting booths has not translated to dominance in absentee pools, particularly among voters with ties to urban centers or diaspora communities.
This follows our earlier report, Tisza Party: Constitution Protection Office Silent on Secret Operation Claims.
Meanwhile, smaller parties like Mi Hazánk continue to struggle to break through in head-to-head races, even as their candidates draw meaningful support in multi-contest fields. Duró’s showing in Dombóvár, while not enough to win, signals residual influence in southwestern Hungary where the party has historically polled stronger.
Why did the results change after election night?
Absentee and overseas ballots, which were not included in the initial count, favored the Tisza Party in both Tolna constituencies, overturning early leads by Fidesz candidates.
How many votes decided the outcome in Paks?
Tamás Cseh won by 893 votes after absentee and overseas ballots were processed, having trailed János Süli by 138 votes on election night.
What does this mean for the national parliament?
The Tisza Party now holds 139 seats, Fidesz-KDNP has 54, and Mi Hazánk has six, with the potential for further shifts as remaining constituencies finalize their counts.
