Hungarian people vote to reject immigration quotas but low turnout

[Deleted]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37528325
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...but-what-does/
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-10-02/h...igrant-quotas/

"Hungarians who voted in a referendum on Sunday have overwhelmingly rejected mandatory EU migrant quotas, the national election office has said.

But exit polls suggest that turnout failed to reach the 50% needed for the result to be valid. (OP small edit here: thanks to other sources, we know that the turnout was around 42-45%)

With nearly all the votes counted, 98% rejected the quotas, officials said.

Right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged Hungarians to reject the EU scheme, describing it as a threat to Europe's security and way of life.

He described the result as "overwhelming" and said the EU "cannot force" Hungary to accept migrants. He urged EU decision makers to take note of the referendum.

The EU plan to relocate 160,000 migrants across the bloc would mean Hungary receiving 1,294 asylum seekers.

During last year's migrant crisis, Hungary became a transit state on the Western Balkan route to Germany and other EU destinations.

In an effort to curb the influx, it sealed its border with Serbia and Croatia. The measure was popular at home but criticised by human rights groups.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Budapest says that if the poll is declared invalid it would be a disappointing result for the Fidesz government following months of mobilisation and an expensive campaign.

Voters were asked: "Do you want the European Union to be able to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary even without the approval of the National Assembly?"

Shortly after voting, Mr Orban said: "Hungarians are aware of what is at the stake. And it's important because it's not about the will of the government, it's not the intention of the parliament. It's the voice and will of the people - that's most important."

The EU proposal was meant to ease pressure on Greece and Italy, the main entry points for migrants and refugees into the bloc.

In December Hungary filed a court challenge against the EU plan, which would see relocations over two years."

"With nearly 95% of votes counted, 98.2% had rejected the EU quotas, according to figures posted on the National Election Office website."

[Deleted]

Sad.......That we couldn't make it :/

[Elegiac]

The xenophobic Eurosceptics in fact represent just a very loud minority? Colour me shocked.

[Nitro Fun]

The xenophobic Eurosceptics in fact represent just a very loud minority? Colour me shocked.

Not sure how you do math. If 42-45% of the population votes and the vote is 98% for rejecting the quotas, does that mean they're a loud minority? It looks like a quite clear majority to me, the rest of the population voting are not gonna be enough to even bring that 98% to less than 50%, unless somehow only people who are against it voted. You can be certain that among those who didn't vote that many share the exact same sentiments as those that did vote.

[Cybran]

The xenophobic Eurosceptics in fact represent just a very loud minority? Colour me shocked.

40% of Eligible voters is not a minority.

[Elegiac]

40% of Eligible voters is not a minority.

If it's less than 51%, it's a minority dude.

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure how you do math. If 42-45% of the population votes and the vote is 98% for rejecting the quotas, does that mean they're a loud minority? It looks like a quite clear majority to me, the rest of the population voting are not gonna be enough to even bring that 98% to less than 50%, unless somehow only people who are against it voted. You can be certain that among those who didn't vote that many share the exact same sentiments as those that did vote.

Since when is 45% of the population a 'majority'? By what fucking metric of mathematics are you basing this on?

Not like it matters anyway, Hungary's pretty irrelevant.

[ranzino]

The xenophobic Eurosceptics in fact represent just a very loud minority? Colour me shocked.

Minority ? Not in Hungary, they did just not appear in full force. And to be honest: if those who attended voted so overwhelmingly "NO", it shows some general stance against EU refugee politics. No wise leader would oppose his own people on such numbers, even only 45 % in quantity.

[Elegiac]

Minority ? Not in Hungary, they did just not appear in full force. And to be honest: if those who attended voted so overwhelmingly "NO", it shows some general stance against EU refugee politics. No wise leader would oppose his own people on such numbers, even only 45 % in quantity.

No wise leader would call a referendum over such a trivial issue in the first place, quite frankly.

[Nitro Fun]

If it's less than 51%, it's a minority dude.

How stupid are you? The voter turnout was 42-45%, that means less than half the population VOTED. Even if another 30% of the population voted for the quotas, the rejection of it would be in clear majority.

[Elegiac]

How stupid are you? The voter turnout was 42-45%, that means less than half the population VOTED.

Which makes it a minority by definition.

Again, this is why referenda are stupid.

[Nitro Fun]

Which makes it a minority by definition.

No. Are you fucking retarded or something?

If 42-45% are voting with a 98% rejection of it then adding another 30-40% is not gonna make it less than 51% even if they all voted for the quotas instead of rejecting it. It would still be a majority if another 30-40% of the population voted.

infracted - minor flaming

[Malacrass]

The low turn out is still surprising, considering Orban's massive campaign.

[Elegiac]

No. Are you fucking retarded or something?

If 42-45% are voting with a 98% rejection of it then adding another 30-40% is not gonna make it less than 51% even if they all voted for the quotas instead of rejecting it.

I'm not sure where the hell you are pulling this 30-40% number from.

45/100 is a minority by definition. It does not represent a popular mandate beyond a bunch of malcontents bitching that they have to share space with brown people.

[Nitro Fun]

I'm not sure where the hell you are pulling this 30-40% number from.

45/100 is a minority by definition. It does not represent a popular mandate beyond a bunch of malcontents bitching that they have to share space with brown people.

The voter turnout is 42-45% - 42-45% of the population participated in voting. Even if the participation was 70% it would still be a majority for the rejection of quotas when 42-45% leads to 98% rejection.

This is simple mathematics.

[Tijuana]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37528325
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...but-what-does/
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-10-02/h...igrant-quotas/

"Hungarians who voted in a referendum on Sunday have overwhelmingly rejected mandatory EU migrant quotas, the national election office has said.

But exit polls suggest that turnout failed to reach the 50% needed for the result to be valid. (OP small edit here: thanks to other sources, we know that the turnout was around 42-45%)

With nearly all the votes counted, 98% rejected the quotas, officials said.

Right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged Hungarians to reject the EU scheme, describing it as a threat to Europe's security and way of life.

He described the result as "overwhelming" and said the EU "cannot force" Hungary to accept migrants. He urged EU decision makers to take note of the referendum.

The EU plan to relocate 160,000 migrants across the bloc would mean Hungary receiving 1,294 asylum seekers.

During last year's migrant crisis, Hungary became a transit state on the Western Balkan route to Germany and other EU destinations.

In an effort to curb the influx, it sealed its border with Serbia and Croatia. The measure was popular at home but criticised by human rights groups.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Budapest says that if the poll is declared invalid it would be a disappointing result for the Fidesz government following months of mobilisation and an expensive campaign.

Voters were asked: "Do you want the European Union to be able to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary even without the approval of the National Assembly?"

Shortly after voting, Mr Orban said: "Hungarians are aware of what is at the stake. And it's important because it's not about the will of the government, it's not the intention of the parliament. It's the voice and will of the people - that's most important."

The EU proposal was meant to ease pressure on Greece and Italy, the main entry points for migrants and refugees into the bloc.

In December Hungary filed a court challenge against the EU plan, which would see relocations over two years."

"With nearly 95% of votes counted, 98.2% had rejected the EU quotas, according to figures posted on the National Election Office website."

I don't really get the refugee thing. What is different about this war, this time, that requires the entire populace to be transplanted abroad? I don't recall discussions over refugee quotas during the Iraq war, or during any other war. Why is it we as a global society have decided zero Syrians should live in Syria?

[Deleted]

shame the turnout was so low, so what happens now that the vote is invalid? do the EU plans go through?

[Deleted]

It's not about "sharing place with brown people" or any xenophobic shit. Just purely don't want to take the risk. (See France,Germany or Brussel).

[Nitro Fun]

shame the turnout was so low, so what happens now that the vote is invalid? do the EU plans go through?

It would still be a majority vote even if the turnout was 70% when 42-45% leads to 98% rejecting the quotas.

[Kalis]

The xenophobic Eurosceptics in fact represent just a very loud minority? Colour me shocked.

That only really makes sense if you are assuming that the ones who didn't vote would have voted in favour of the quotas, however 98% of the ones who did voting against them seems to indicate the exact opposite.

[Elegiac]

The voter turnout is 42-45% - 42-45% of the population participated in voting. Even if the participation was 70% it would still be a majority for the rejection of quotas when 42-45% leads to 98% rejection.

This is simple mathematics.

Again, you're basing this off arbitrary benchmarks of voter turnout as opposed to what a mathematical minority actually is.