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 EIeCTORaI bEl-IAViOUR of EtEnÍC HuiNqARÍANS Graph 8 illustrates changes in voting patterns of ethnic Hungarian voters from certain villages. The projected deviations oscillate around zero, depending on whether election results of SMK-MKP were relatively worse or relatively better than the overall share of ethnic Hungarians on Slovakia’s total population as established by population censuses carried out in 1991 and 2001. Graph 8 shows that in 1994 and 1998 parliamentary elections, election results of SMK-MKP were relatively worse than the overall share of ethnic Hungarian voters. This finding may be attributed to one of the following factors. In 1994, the three relevant Hungarian parties formed a coalition after a series of lengthy negotiations that also included very sharp rhetoric used by individual party leaders; the principal problem was whether the Hungarian Civic Party would become a third segment of the already established Coexistence - MKDH coalition. This apparently discouraged some ethnic Hungarian voters from voting for the Hungarian coalition. Also, one should not forget the factor of prevailingly leftist voting patterns in southern Slovakia, which is clearly documented by all presented graphs and tables. Back then, even the SDL had a relatively strong ethnic program and its candidates’ lists regularly included several ethnic Hungarian candidates seeded to electable places. If featured graphs show relatively strong election results of the SDL, especially in eastern parts of southern Slovakia, it is partly due to the fact that some ethnic Hungarians (and most probably some Roma as well) voted for the SDL. A similar phenomenon could be observed in the 1998 elections; in fact, the deviation from ethnic Hungarians’ traditional voting patterns was even more significant than four years before. A relatively significant share of ethnic Hungarian voters voted for the SDK. Apparently, the main motive for their voting preference was to contribute to election defeat of Vladimir Mečiar and his administration. The deviation was the most obvious in Kráľovský Chlmec where most local ethnic Hungarians and Hungarian Roma apparently voted for Rudolf Schuster’s party and, to a lesser degree, for the SDK. 157
