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Hungary votes as Prime Minister Viktor Orban seeks fourth term on anti-migrant platform

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Many polling places around Hungary remained open after their expected closing time to accommodate people waiting in long lines to vote Sunday after the country’s parliamentary election received a larger than expected turnout.

Ballots were being tallied in the election stations that closed on time, but officials said no results would be announced until after everyone in line by the scheduled 7 p.m. deadline had been able to vote and all polling sites were shut.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is seeking a fourth term on a platform that openly demonizes migrants to Europe.

Predictions on whether Orban’s message resonated with voters were complicated by the exceptionally high turnout, last-minute deals between some of left-wing opposition parties and a complex electoral system that allows citizens to cast two votes.

Hungary’s National Election Office reported that over 5.3 million voters of the 8.3 million eligible voters had cast ballots by 6:30 p.m. (1630 GMT), fir a turnout of 68.1 percent. Some officials said the final participation figure could be the highest since Hungary returned to democracy in 1990.

Preliminary results were expected after 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) Sunday night. In all, 199 seats in parliament were up for grabs.

Opposition parties were keen to make sure Orban’s bloc does not obtain a super-majority that would allow the autocratic leader to more easily push through constitutional changes, continue his crackdown on civic groups that he claims work against Hungarian interests and further strengthen his grasp on the highly centralized state power structure.

Orban has campaigned heavily on his unyielding anti-migration policies. He claims that the opposition is collaborating with the United Nations, the European Union and wealthy philanthropist George Soros to turn Hungary into an “immigrant country,” threatening its security and Christian identity.

Voters, though, said they were more concerned with poverty, growing government corruption and the country’s underfunded health care system.

Long lines of voters were reported at the Hungarian embassies in London and Paris.

“Hungarian democracy is strong,” Gergely Gulyas, the parliament faction leader for Orban’s Fidesz party. “Alongside high voter turnout, the country will have a strong, legitimate parliament.”

Analysts, however, were more cautious about the significance of the turnout.

“Voter turnout is at record high,” tweeted Tamas Boros, co-director of the Policy Solutions think tank. “This means either an overwhelming support for Orban or the end of Fidesz as (the) omnipotent political party in Hungary. The Hungarian political landscape will dramatically change today.”

Government influence on the media was palpable in Sunday’s broadcast by state television M1 news channel, where reports highlighting the negative effects of migration dominated the programming.

On Origo.hu, a formerly independent website now owned by government allies, stories promoted Orban while also focusing on migration, The headlines included “Migrant gangs fought in England,” ”They can’t stand it anymore in Sweden: They’ve had enough of migrants,” and “A migrant in underpants beat a German retiree half to death.”

The opposition denies Orban’s claims on migration. Gabor Vona of the nationalist Jobbik party said the question was not about migration into Hungary, but about the large number of Hungarians who were leaving the country and heading to Western Europe in search of higher wages and better prospects.

“Today will decide whether Hungary becomes an emigrant country or not — and I wouldn’t like Hungary to be an emigrant country,” Vona said.

Uncertainties about Orban’s expected margin of victory are due in part to Hungary’s complex electoral system, in which voters cast ballots for both an individual candidate in their region and another for a party list.

Opposition parties have urged Hungarians to vote tactically for the opposition candidate with the best chance to defeat the Fidesz candidate in the 106 individual districts — but it’s not clear how much impact that will have. Another 93 seats will be distributed based on votes for entire party lists.

Andras Nagy contributed to this report.