Campaigning for the October 13th municipal elections begins on Saturday.
In practice, this means that parties and individuals wanting to run for a seat in the local councils or mayor race can begin to gather the required number of signatures from their constituencies.
Rmx.news points out that the number of votes required for candidacy varies depending on the size of a settlement. In Budapest, for example, one percent of the number of voters in any given district can validate a candidate for the local council while the candidacy for Budapest mayor requires 5,000 signatures.
Although local elections are never ran strictly along political dividing lines as at the parliamentary elections – local candidates often enjoy the support of normally opposing parties. The ruling Fidesz is expected to win majorities in most regional cities and current polls indicate that Budapest mayor István Tarlós will be hard to beat.
Photo credit: vg.hu