Steven N.
The state has only managed to collect a fraction of the fines it levied on parties during the 2018 parliamentary elections, reports rtl.hu. Just three parties racked up 78% of these fines, but they have yet to pay a single forint of them.
For the April 3 parliamentary elections this year, data from the National Election Office (NVI) shows that two parties, Solution Movement and the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, have already received fines over 1 million Ft. (US $2,990) each by local election commissions for not returning blank signature endorsement sheets on time.
A total of 6,576,000 Ft. ($19,663) was levied on nine nominating organizations (which includes both political parties and ethnic self-governments) and independent candidates, which is significantly less than the fines given out in the 2018 parliamentary elections because of unreturned endorsement sheets. Four years ago, more than five times as many parties were fined compared to 2022, but hardly any of those fines have been paid.
RTL reports that a total of 723.3 million Ft. ($2.16 million) in fines was imposed against parties who took part in the 2018 parliamentary elections.
But data published by NVI shows that as of December 2021, only 6.4 million Ft. ($19,145) of this amount had been collected in the past three and a half years. This means that out of the 100 parties that registered for the 2018 parliamentary elections, 51 of them still owe the government 716.8 million Ft. ($2.14 million) for their infractions.
