Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)

Kálmán Petőcz: National Populism and Electoral Behaviour

National Populism and Electoral Behaviour

Plešivec, Rožňava, Moldava nad Bodvou, Kráľovský Chlmec and Veľké Kapušany were inhabited by almost 60% of ethnic Hungarians.17 Even if we included territorial units of Lučenec, Levice, Šurany and Vráble where the share of ethnic Hungarians fluctuated between 9.5% and 13%, the overall share of ethnic Hungarians in all 27 units exceeded 50%.

Of course, these territorial units’ existence had its foothold in history. The lowest-level administrative units (also called districts or administrative districts) that more or less matched the territorial units from the period of 1990-1996 existed on modem Slovakia’s territory from the mid-1850s until 1960.

EIectoraI BeIhavíour of SlovAks LiviNq on EtIhnícaIIy MíxecI Terrítoríes

When examining electoral behaviour of people inhabiting southern Slovakia, it is sometimes useful to divide them into voters of ethnic Slovak origin and voters of ethnic Hungarian origin. Since the ballot is secret, finding out exact figures is impossible. The aggregate data for individual constituencies, municipalities, areas or districts provide only a rough guide. Based on overall election results as well as on surveys examining parties’ voting preferences, we assume that most citizens of Hungarian origin (or with ethnic Hungarian identity) voted for the Party of Hungarian Coalition (SMK-MKP) or its legal predecessors in previous elections.18 Unfortunately, election statistics do not reveal how many ethnic Hungarians voted for Slovak parties and how many Slovaks voted for SMK-MKP or its predecessors. Also, these figures do not always reveal voting patterns of the Roma who also make up a significant share of the population living on the territory inhabited by ethnic Hungarians while only part of them officially declare Romany ethnicity.

If we intend to find out whether electoral behaviour of Slovaks living on ethnically mixed territories significantly differs from that of Slovaks inhabiting ethnically homogeneous Slovak territories, working with aggregated statistical data for particular districts may be misleading. For instance, a quick glimpse on the map of President Ivan Gašparovič’s election results in the 2009 presidential elections might suggest that neither Gašparovič nor political parties that intensely supported his candidature, namely SMER-SD and the SNS enjoy strong voter support on the ethnically mixed territory.

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