Hungarian National Council: Lists Claim 37 of 35 Seats

The two lists competing for the Hungarian National Council after the November 8 vote are making estimates that add up to 37 seats, although the council has 35 members. There are no official results from the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) yet. Preliminary figures are expected at the commission’s session today, November 9, at 8 p.m. Every number in this article is a claim by a list or its representatives, not a result.

What does Hungarian Concord claim?

Balint Pastor, president of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, said that the Hungarian Concord list, which his party backs, will win at least 25 of 35 seats, based on figures from polling stations. He also estimated that more than 40 percent of registered voters turned out, more than at the previous council elections. According to RTS, the list also said it won three quarters of the votes cast.

Asked about the work ahead, Pastor said:

Both in the new convocation of the National Council of Hungarians and in the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, we will keep representing the interests of all Vojvodina Hungarians, and we will certainly be in favor of cooperation.

The list leader and outgoing president of the Hungarian National Council, Arpad Fremond, thanked voters and singled out the new faces on the list. He described the campaign as the dirtiest since national council elections began. “After these results, of course, we want to cooperate with everyone. We will represent our whole community,” he said.

What does the New Beginning Movement claim?

Zombor Roza, president of the New Beginning Movement of Vojvodina Hungarians, says the list won 12 seats, with a chance of 13. Asked about expected results, he said: “We are still counting. It looks like we will have about 12 seats.” He added that the movement processed the data itself:

Based on the data we have at the moment, it looks like we have won 12 seats. These are figures we processed ourselves.

Roza also claims that, according to his headquarters’ data, the movement got more votes than Hungarian Concord in Novi Sad and Zrenjanin. He called entering the council a major success for a six-month-old organization that ran with a 16-point program and 35 candidates. According to Suboticke.rs, he congratulated Hungarian Concord on its victory. On social media the movement posted: “The one-party rule of the SVM is over, a new chapter begins.”

List leader Zoltan Mezei said it matters for the community that different voices will be heard in the council, and named depoliticizing the council and deciding on professional criteria as his goals.

Do the estimates fit into 35 seats?

They do not. Pastor’s 25 and Roza’s 12 make 37 seats, two more than the council has, so at least one estimate has to be too high. Unofficial sources cited by Vreme speak of 24 or 25 seats for the SVM and 10 or 11 for the movement, and even that is unconfirmed. In the previous convocation the SVM held all 35 council seats, according to Vreme.

Roza also made claims of irregularities. He says the movement received reports of suspected vote buying, parallel voter lists, pressure on voters and violations of the election silence. According to Suboticke.rs, he also mentioned reports of possible tracking of voters through apps and leaflets handed out at polling stations. Hungarian Concord’s response to these allegations was not known at the time of publication.

Why are there no results yet?

Dusan Dincic, a permanent member of the RIK, told FoNet that the commission will announce preliminary results on Monday at 8 p.m., covering processed polling stations, meaning those whose data has been entered into the system and whose records had no problems. On election day the RIK did not publish turnout snapshots or hold a press conference. Dincic explained this by the complexity of processing: at a single polling station in Kragujevac there are voter list extracts for 17 minorities, the ballots go into one box, and after voting 17 separate records are drawn up.

Voting ran from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 949 polling stations, with 52 electoral lists taking part. Sources differ on the number of voters: RTS and Vreme give 481,785, while FoNet, carried by Danas and KoSSev, gives 481,789 registered in the special voter lists. We also followed the opening of polling stations in an earlier article on voting at 949 locations.

What do the Croatian and Bunjevac lists say?

For the Croatian National Council, which has 23 seats, the outgoing council president Jasna Vojnic, leader of the “HNV Croatian National Vision” list, declared victory. According to her headquarters’ data from about 80 percent of processed polling stations, her list has 4,506 votes and 16 seats, “Together for the HNV” has 1,278 votes and four seats, and “Alliance of Croats of Vojvodina, Everything According to Plan 2026” has 814 votes and three seats. According to RTS, 7,400 of 22,793 registered voters cast ballots. Vojnic said:

Tomorrow we expect the official results, but we do not need anyone for a coalition.

In the same statement, carried by RTS, she added that “Croatian National Vision” won about 4,500 votes, which is 16 seats in the new convocation.

For the Bunjevac National Council, Suzana Kujundzic Ostojic, leader of the list “Let It Be Known That the Bunjevac Lives!”, presented data from 55 polling stations in Subotica and Sombor: her list has 789 votes, “Bunjevci United for Serbia” 651, and “Bunjevci for Their Identity, Alliance of Backa Bunjevci” 172. She estimated turnout at 25 to 30 percent and said the council elections stayed in the shadow of the October 25 vote, so some voters were not well enough informed.

Until the RIK issues its announcement, all of these figures remain estimates by campaign headquarters. The official distribution of seats in the new councils will be shown only by the commission’s preliminary results.