Polls close in high-stakes Hungarian election as Magyar seeks to oust Orbán

A Tisza victory could lead to an overhaul in relations between Budapest and Brussels.

Telewizja Polska S.A

@benroyce

“As voting closed at 7 pm, turnout stood at 77.8%…”

That’s amazing. Meanwhile, in this dystopian society, that’s the percentage who can’t be bothered to vote.

Here’s to changing that in 2026.

100 days before #Arizona #primates!

@evoterra @benroyce
In Australia that turnout would be considered disastrous & prompt an investigation into what went wrong & how to fix it.
Make voting easy, proportional & compulsory.
@JustRobForNow @evoterra @benroyce I like the Australian system (I think STV), other than compulsory voting. Not voting can also be a statement of political choice, even if it is too often abused.

@hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

not voting is for morons

Mamdani v Cuomo

Magyar v Orban

HELLLOOOOOO???

@benroyce @JustRobForNow @evoterra To vote or not to vote . . . . I stand by my statement. And while I support a very large proportion of what @benroyce says, I think it would improve his viewpoint of electoral democracy if he were to be able to stop viewing the exhibition in the lobby only through the US letterbox. When there are 30 candidates, and none of them are worth a vote, then it's a tad hard to label the non-voter a moron. It's not always a simple strategy game.

@hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

a nonvoter is a fucking moron

100%

always

perfect doesn't exist

you pick the person closest to you and iterate

that is the only way you improve the world

not choosing only means "i don't care"

and if someone doesn't care, considering the issues we are facing today, fuck such a piece of shit

@benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

I can see both sides of this argument, because it implies an understanding of politics that billionaires spend billions trying to prevent normies from understanding.

For instance trump being 'anti-war', it was obviously BS, but it was also stronger then any statement made by Kamala on Palestine.

Parties also need to earn votes and not just rely on gaining support for being the least worse option.

@wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

it's not true the democrats suck therefore leftists don't vote

the truth is the left doesn't vote, therefore the democrats suck

"i'm going to wait until centrist corporatist assholes magically turn into leftists, then i'll vote" is just a stupid joke

you vote, in the primaries, and replace them

that's the way it works

looking to the democratic establishment as your cue before acting is bullshit. ignore them. replace them

proof:

mamdani

@benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

i don't disagree with that but doners also play a large part not only in primary elections, but also the window of political discourse at a national level.

when money speaks louder than the people supposed to represented, may will feel disenchanted.

i'm not just talking about the left, but i do think that the majority of the electorate are leftist even if they don't know it yet.

@wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

The problem is you frame it as a reason to give up and not vote

To depend upon an insane impossible signal before voting: centrists magically becoming leftists. You know that's never going to happen

And let them spend billions

Billions were spent on Orban. How did that turn out?

Because people fucking voted

Stop framing problems as a reason to disengage. It's weak and stupid

Our problems are a reason to get angry and fucking vote

@benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

not at all. i encourage voting. i just think parties should be fair in reasoning why those who didn't didn't.

to state otherwise is to blame the electorate for the actions of the opposition.

@wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

No

You're completely wrong. Your focus is all wrong

You're obsessed with teaching centrist corporatist Democrats a lesson

Why?

Who fucking gives a shit what they think

You just show up. In the primaries. And vote. And replace the assholes

That's it

Beginning and ending of your concerns

That's the lesson of Mamdani

Why do you fucking care what Schumer thinks? Just replace the asshole. That should be the entirety of your thought process

@benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

We defiantly need more Mamdani's. In fact he gained prominence preciously because he was able to cut through with amazing comms and true leftist values.

It also highlighted the HUGE campaign against him, not just by racist republicans but a far more pernicious smear campaign within the democratic party spearheaded by the likes of Cuomo.

@wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

"It also highlighted the HUGE campaign against him"

right but i want to make sure you fully get the point

people didn't sit home and not vote because the establishment opposed mamdani

they didn't whine that centrist assholes didn't support mamdani, therefore they couldn't vote, because they had to teach dem hq a "lesson" about listening to the left

they just ignored them

they just fucking voted

and the left won

*the whole fucking point*

@benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

he had an amazing campain preciously because he was able to cut through all the barriers.

i'm not saying don't vote, i'm saying lets address some of those barriers designed to keep leftists of the ballot.

@wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

*the* barrier to leftists on the ballot is leftists not voting

what is turn out in the usual primary?

dismal

what happens if leftists mobbed the #primaries?

spent 1/1,000th the energy spent online whining, in just showing the fuck up?

we'd have 50 Mamdanis

all the centrist assholes, all the money, all the systemic issues: who fucking gives a shit

just show the fuck up

#vote

the biggest problem for the left, is the left

they don't vote

@benroyce @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra I love you so much when you're on a roll on voting. Goddamn. <3

@qkslvrwolf @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

it's easy for me to go on a roll about voting

reality is on my side

#mamdani beats #cuomo: we just show the fuck up and vote and the left wins, forget all the bullshit. IN THE PRIMARIES

#magyar beats #orban: the money, the influence, the tricks... but people just showed the fuck up anyway

when the left constructs elaborate bullshit reasons to not vote, they are merely doing self-fulfilling cynicism prophecy

JUST FUCKING VOTE

@benroyce @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra I mean, when the left does that they're being horse shit (horseshoe) lefties, controlled by the very righties they're claiming to hate; russians, oligarchs, and aristocrats all push the "they're not left enough don't vote" message because it resonates with the ennui and totally depowers the left.

So non-voters are so far leftwing they're rightwing.

@qkslvrwolf @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

i don't consider them "so far left"

i consider them fake left

cosplayers, trolls, edgelords, etc camping on the label "left"

but they don't have ideological reasons for action

they have psychological reasons for inaction

they don't have morality:

morality requires action

but: all action is imperfect

yet they demand perfect action

an impossibility

therefore, they only have ego masturbation instead of morality

fake leftists

@benroyce @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra I mean, "horseshoe left" is a long accepted conscrut I'm just using for a phrase I like, which is "horseshit lefters"

So...y'know...I'll concede it's an affection. :-)

@benroyce @qkslvrwolf @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

It's simply a fact that showing up is half of life. If you don't show up, you miss out on what is being offered. Others *will* show up and then *they* choose the direction to go in, not you.

Show up. Vote.

@mastodonmigration @Stybba3019 @benroyce @qkslvrwolf @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra
To quote noted pedophile (before he even met Epstein) Woody Allen, 80% of success in life is showing up
@wokerati @benroyce Every single voter that shows up in a primary addresses the problem of left candidates not being on the ballot.

When they stop seeing primaries as actual campaigns and not a check box or victory lap, we will get there, and fast.

And the way to do that? Get those most skeptical, most cynical, to just show up for once.

Every percentage point they don't get hardens their spine against Trump regardless of where they get their campaign money.
@benroyce @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra I can understand why someone would engage in a behavior and still label that behavior as harmful. Not voting is always harmful. The larger the turnout, the more likely the outcome will be more progressive. Republicans know this! That’s why, given that their policies and actions suck, they default to depressing turnout. Why is this so hard for leftists to see? 1/
@benroyce @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra if we had had higher turnout:
Humphrey instead of Nixon in 1968 = a shorter Vietnam war, no Cointelpro etc.
Gore instead of Bush in 2000 = action on climate change, better Supreme Court justices who would have decided differently on Citizens United, abortion, etc. etc.
Clinton instead of Trump in 2016, Harris instead of Trump in 2024 = hugely better outcomes 2/
@benroyce @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra on a host of issues, including Gaza. All of these things that we would have gotten if there had been better turnout are now leftist goals that we are struggling to achieve while trying to make sure our democracy doesn’t collapse. So tell me again how not voting can sometimes be progressive, and show me your receipts. I have mine. 3/
@benroyce @wokerati @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra If someone’s engaged in a behavior you know to be harmful, understanding how they got there can be a first step toward supporting them in changing that behavior. But if you stop there, you’re just enabling the harm. Not voting is harmful to all of us. To be clear I’m speaking about people who choose not to vote, not people who get their votes taken from them. 4/
@jbluespruce @benroyce @wokerati "For some, it's deadly"

Thinking about the time I drove a family member five hours across multiple state lines because they needed healthcare illegal here.

That law is relatively new. It didn't used to be this way.
@aaron @benroyce @wokerati thank you. I am so sorry that you and your family member had to experience that. It’s completely wrong. I had to edit out that sentence because of character limits - I needed to clarify who I was talking to. But completely agree. How many people have died because of the actions of people who never should’ve become president in the first place? Millions.
@wokerati
They don't care why people didn't vote. Their only takeaway is "I don't have to spend money campaigning to that person, because they don't vote."
@benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

@baronvonj @benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

I can see why an elected politician might take that position but populists know that isn't true which is why trump won in 2024.

@wokerati @baronvonj @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

trump won because people who showed up for biden didn't show up for harris

people who consider themselves leftists but do not vote are as much to blame for our problems as MAGA

@benroyce @wokerati @baronvonj @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

When you only have 2 choices, you choose the better one.

If you don’t like either choice, too bad. Get involved. Pay attention and VOTE.

@benroyce @baronvonj @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

Those that make the argument that non-voters should not be able to criticise the government seems to be at odds with those that think non-voters should be blamed for the current administration.

@wokerati @baronvonj @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

it's not at odds, it logically follows

if by your inaction you cause a problem, you don't get to whine about what you did

you created the problem if you did not vote

you are to blame

although i suppose you can complain, if you want, about your failure to act and pledge to vote

@benroyce @baronvonj @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

i think this is projection. it is either or. imho they need to be won over. ideally with a campaign like Mamdani's.

we have to acknowledge that democracy is more then just a conjure trick between a few candidates.

I get the harm reduction narrative, but we can't get complacent.

there are issues that are both systemic and bipartisan to which apathy results.

@wokerati @baronvonj @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra

We have mamdani because people voted

There are many other mamadanis we do not have because people did not vote

Not voting is the crucial problem. Everything else is secondary

@wokerati @benroyce @hoare_spitall @JustRobForNow @evoterra The electorate needs to put on their grown-up pants and research what candidates stand for. Political elections aren’t bloody prom queen elections. They are serious things that affect our lives. Sitting around waiting to be wooed is asking for gloss over content.

@CStamp @benroyce

100% but one can't expect the electorate to be as woke as we are. We're up against billionaires that are able to astroturf propoganda.

@wokerati @CStamp

how many billions were spent on orban and what happened?

@wokerati @benroyce Politicians are supposed to work for us and we need to get better at hiring the right people.

I am sick of people needing to be wooed. People need to be demanding.

@CStamp @wokerati

politics is not romance

if you expect to have a politician who makes you swoon you're an idiot

you're supposed look at it like a simple strategy, think harm reduction, and then fucking vote and reduce the harm

if you sustain and iterate at that effort, you eventually will make good progress, and it will get easier

but if you don't vote because you don't hear angels singing you'll never get what you want, and in fact by your inaction you help make things worse