Orban’s Party and Opposition Tied in Poll Before Hungary Vote

(Bloomberg) --

Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party was tied with the opposition in a poll published a day before Hungary’s election, raising the possibility that the race will be even tighter than previously predicted.

Fidesz and United for Hungary, the six-party opposition alliance, each had 47% support among decided voters, according to a Publicus poll commissioned by opposition newspaper Nepszava and published on Saturday. It had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Most recent surveys have given the ruling party an edge that would hand Orban a fourth consecutive term as his message of “peace and security” appeared to resonate with voters in the shadow of the war in neighboring Ukraine. But pollsters have said that an opposition upset can’t be ruled out because the war has made measuring voter attitudes more difficult. 

Support for Fidesz in polling has also significantly exceeded the party’s actual votes in the previous two elections. That said, changes to the voting system under Orban mean his opponents must win more emphatically to clinch a parliamentary majority.

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