Tag: elections

Blabbing April 2022

April was busy and slow at the same time, and I can’t believe we’re past one-third of the year already! I started April at home in Nagykálló preparing for the elections. The weather was terrible (it was snowing on the 3rd!) and I was having a cold anyway. Election day (April 3rd) also happened to be the only day this year, when I haven’t done any yoga and haven’t read a book, since I was on my feet from 3:45am to 2:00am the next morning, having other things to do. I’ve had four days off of work, from Thursday to…

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Reflections on the Hungarian elections

As I mentioned in earlier posts (here and here), I was a counting officer on the April 3 parliamentary elections and referendum. It was hard to even start writing this post, I gave it a lot of thought in the past three weeks, because it’s almost impossible writing about this topic in a neutral tone, and that’s the only tone I should use here. I am not (never was, never intend to be) involved in party politics. I went to great lengths during this whole thing to emphasise that although I was delegated by “the opposition”, I am not affiliated…

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Blabbing March 2022

This March was busier than my past two years altogether and still feels like it went by in a blink. I did still go on making the 1 second videos every day, and amazingly enough, even though so many things happened, it was the hardest month to keep doing it so far. There were days when it was obvious what to include, but other times I could forget about it altogether. First of all, we went back to work from the office full time from March 1. The next week from March 7 all Covid restrictions were lifted in Hungary,…

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Blabbing about every election I’ve ever voted on

In Hungary we get to vote on elections after the age of 18, and I’ve taken voting very seriously from the beginning. I can’t say I was very consistent with my party preference over the years, although I can definitely say that I was and still am consistent with the principles I follow. It’s the specificity of Hungarian party politics that certain parties changed colours. Of course I will not share how I voted, but here is a quick account of my memories of all the elections I’ve voted on. The first ever elections I’ve voted on was the 2002…

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What I expect from serving as a counting officer on the April 3 elections

In Hungary the elections are carried out by Vote Counting Committees consisting of counting officers. On election day (parliamentary elections, municipal elections and referendums alike) in Hungary we vote in a very old-fashioned and not very sustainable way. The ballots are on paper with the alternatives (parties, representatives, questions) listed and you have to use a pen to mark your vote. This of course requires a good number of personnel not just to oversee the voting procedure, but to do all the paperwork it entails (registering the voters, counting the ballots, keeping a record of all the happenings of the…

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I am voting this weekend, are you?

Of course if you are in the UK or the Netherlands, you might have voted already, then well done! I am going to vote on Sunday, and just wanted to check in quickly to make sure all my fellow European voting citizens still hesitating will cast their votes. I know, I am late with this for the British and the Dutch (to be fair, it might not matter at all for the former), but I hope this urging will help some of you. In my country, it is a common tendency that participation is extremely low on European elections compared…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday, everyone! It’s been a while. A long while. Being away from this platform had nothing to do with my professional life, as I am still very much interested in world affairs, I am still reading a lot on the topic, and I really do want to blog about it again. This week’s collection is some kind of a test as I am planning to bring this blog back to life. Today’s weather in Hungary brought a strong autumn-y feeling, and fall is a good (well, as good as ever) occasion to start new things, so I will try…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! This week seems to be all about referendums of a highly sensitive nature. One can only guess whatever today’s Spanish vote could mean for the broader world order. The referendum in Catalonia, explained Here is what you need to know about Catalan referendums past and present. Let’s hope all parties will keep cool for the next several days. What’s Next for the Bundestag, Merkel and Germany’s Security Policies? Chancellor Merkel won the election last Sunday but found herself in a difficult political situation. The Trump Administration Will Dramatically Lower Refugee Admittance Based on a Totally False Premise And…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday and Happy Summer! This week Britain managed to pull off yet another election where practically everybody lost an no-one knows what to come after, this seems to have become the new standard over there.  Also, political turmoil is mounting in the US, but the President still doesn’t seem to be worried. On this week’s episode of The West Wing Weekly (S03E09 Bartlet for America) there were a lot of talk about Congressional hearings and what they are all about. I happened to listen to it the morning after #ComeyDay, and again, I just love when entertainment really adds…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! The first thing I want to mention is actually from last week, but I only got around to listen to last week’s episode of The West Wing Weekly podcast on Sunday after posting Sunday Smack. That episode last week was about Season 3 Episode 5 of The West Wing titled War Crimes. You know how I just love when different territories of my passions meet? The subplot of this TWW episode that the title refers to was about the argument for and against the US participation in a war crimes tribunal. The argument was very relevant when it…

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