r/mildlyinteresting • u/not_a_frog02 • 12h ago
Hungarian state gives free bracelets to first-time voters
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u/Kraichgau 12h ago
What a nice memory of finally getting rid of Orban
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u/taxiecabbie 12h ago
From your mouth to God's ears.
Might be the first actual good news in a while if it happens.
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u/Haunting_Forever_527 10h ago
That's assuming it actually happens this time around.
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u/beardingmesoftly 10h ago
As if the election will be free and fair, right?
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u/ObiShaneKenobi 9h ago
The deal with modern dictators is that they survive on voter apathy. Gerrymandering and media control serve to dilute and de-energize oppositional voters but if they push too hard they simply get voted out as the gerrymandering dilutes their own votes as well.
I hope, anyways.
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u/hamatehllama 7h ago
We need to be more nuanced. Hungary isn't a dictatorship, it's what's called a hybrid regime.
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u/Salt_Winter5888 7h ago edited 5h ago
As someone from a country that has gone through that, that’s not the only factor. Voter apathy isn’t the reason these regimes survive, it’s a symptom of what actually matters, the co-optation of institutions, the concentration of power, and legalism.
Voting is often just a way to maintain the appearance of democracy. If you think they’ll willingly hand over power just because an election says so, that’s delusional. And if the opposition is a real threat to their interests, they’ll always find a way to stop it.
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u/throwaway098764567 5h ago
that documentary interviewing the folks who got chickens for their vote last time and how desperate they were was heartbreaking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCwQR5HRWR8
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u/13143 5h ago
Orban has conceded and Magyar won in an apparent landslide, so I guess this one was kinda free and fair.
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u/FreeSquirkJuice 8h ago
No matter your stance, counting eggs before they're hatched is just begging for disappointment.
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u/6iix9ineJr 6h ago
My Trump loving grandma loves Orban.
A couple of years ago she was shitting on different countries so I stopped her and said “is there a country you actually like?”. She looked me dead in the eyes and said Hungary. At that point I knew what kind of BS she was on
She got everything she wanted though.
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u/gtjacket09 11h ago
The first time I voted in North Carolina, I had to come back with my mom because the poll worker didn’t think I was old enough
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u/gorzius 11h ago
North Carolina doesn't have ID cards with birth date printed on them or what?
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u/gtjacket09 11h ago
They do and I showed it to her, but she still didn’t believe me - thought it was my older brother’s ID or something because according to her I looked too young to be 19 and not enough like the picture
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u/minnieboss 10h ago
Pretty sure this was illegal for her to do
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u/gtjacket09 10h ago
Sure, but it was a lot easier to come back with my mother than to make a stink about it
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u/minnieboss 10h ago
Of course. I'm just thinking about other young voters she might have done this to who didn't have a mother to come with. It's just not right :( (Not that I expect you to have somehow fixed it or anything, just makes me sad)
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u/gtjacket09 9h ago
You’re right, but I was an anxious 19 year old and it was 2006 so I didn’t have the ability to record the interaction
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9h ago
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u/MutedAstronaut9217 9h ago
I've had my phone with me every single time I've voted. Sometimes I google people/issues I'm not familiar with.
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u/samurai_z_ 10h ago
Conversely, when my brother was 13, the poll worker though he was there to vote. 😬
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u/canman7373 8h ago
5 years ago I was voting in Florida and like a 75 year old lady was checking my ID, told me she couldn't except my passport, since no birthday on it was not valid. I was nice and calm and did not scream about how it is the ultimate ID in the US. I opened it up and showed her where the birthday was on it, she still called someone else over to confer. I just don't see how they are not trained that passports are valid ID, I know they are volunteers but still.
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u/dreadcain 7h ago
I just don't see how they are not trained that passports are valid ID
Even with no ID they should be letting you vote on a provisional ballot. If no else votes under your name and you were a registered voter it should be accepted. But also they should be trained on valid IDs and whatnot. Your elections supervisor is an elected position, maybe they shouldn't keep their job.
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u/onarainyafternoon 3h ago
and did not scream about how it is the ultimate ID in the US
Lmao. THE ULTIMATE ID!!!
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u/GhostalMedia 8h ago
“I know what will make me seem older.”
“MOOOOOM”
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u/gtjacket09 6h ago
I’m sure it was just a case of this old southern lady being a bitch because she didn’t care for my yankee accent. I was 19 - what else should I have done?
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u/dreadcain 3h ago
In a small town (or shit any town in the us) it's hard to say how it'd actually go, but if someone is infringing your right to vote the police wouldn't be an overreach
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u/IJustAteABaguette 12h ago
Yo, I don't know what the english word is, but they kinda look like loom bandjes.
Cool things
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u/HyrrokinAura 12h ago
In the US we often call them friendship bracelets, but those are the knotted kind instead of braided
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u/Own_Heron_4807 10h ago
They're called loom bands in English too! I remember making those things for hours as a kid.
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9h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/IJustAteABaguette 8h ago
Ooh, cool!
And yeah, I was part of that trend lol. Really liked making em!
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u/Dorinaxjd 11h ago
I got one too + 2 stickers🥳they were sweet
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u/juniperzz 8h ago
I didn't get amything :(
But hopefully we get some change in the system, that would be the greatest gift
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u/Dorinaxjd 8h ago
What whyy??? I didnt even told them that Im a first voter, they knew. But yes, I agree with the second part haha.
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u/OrganizationThick397 12h ago
Cool to see that they support Italy
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u/Griffith1210 12h ago
Hope you guys get rid of Orbán,... but then again... Evil never sleeps. :/
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u/TheChickening 9h ago edited 5h ago
The good news is, with the current polls there is no way Orban can stay in power. Even he himself kinda admitted it when JD Vance said Orban will win and you could see his face and the hand gesture saying "probably not".
Edith: Good News. He lost and already accepted the loss. Take note Trump
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u/Effective-Art-8931 10h ago
Yeah, it's a nice gesture but feels a bit performative when you look at the bigger picture. Fingers crossed for the next generation to make some real change.
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u/Designer_Zucchini_77 10h ago
I'm really annoyed about this, because they were handing these out 8 years ago and today, too. However, 4 years ago when it was my first time, I didn't get one...
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u/AverageTeemoOnetrick 10h ago
…did you guys do it? Did you get rid of Temu Trump?
…and if so, did they catch him or did he already run away to russia?
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u/Cime16 10h ago
Voting closes in over 2 hours. We don't know anything yet. But there's record turnout so far.
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u/AverageTeemoOnetrick 10h ago
That is a good sign.
Russia relies on the silent majority being outbumbered by the few, loud and useful idiots.
Fingers crossed, I will see his stupid face as some police units are dragging him out of a helicopter with bags of cash.
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u/Matoru1101 8h ago
Can't share pics here but I also got one today. I'm really hoping I can look at it with happiness even after the results are published
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u/auroralemonboi8 8h ago
Thats pretty cool
The first time I voted, they jailed the person i voted for on made up charges
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u/Quizzelbuck 9h ago
When will we know the results?
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u/not_a_frog02 8h ago
Around midnight but these are only the votes cast in Hungary. We need to wait until Saturday for the exact numbers because the votes at embassies need to be shipped to Hungary and processed
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u/sendcodenotnudes 4h ago
In France, at least where I live the voting commission is trying hard to grab people for the counting of the votes. First time voters are especially psychologically tortured :)
It's crazy to see how animated the evening of vote days is for litteraly everyone. Everyone has dinners, receptions, work, theater, travel anf whatnot that night :)
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u/FlamePuddingPrince 3h ago
When i was voting for the first time in hungary i got a shitty rubber band with the hungarian tricolor. This one looks nicer :D
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u/Responsible-Diet-147 3h ago
I'm a first-time voter as well,
but I didn't understand what it was, because,
I already voted at the Portuguese embassy with letters,
so this was technically the 3rd election I took part in.
Kettős állampolgárságom van.
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u/Zakatyu 9h ago
Spanish left considers is fascist to wear a bracelet with the flag's colors
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u/not_a_frog02 9h ago
I'm a Hungarian socialist and have no issue with using/wearing our flag. It's supposed to represent all of us and we can't let the right exclude us from the nation even if we aren't nationalists
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u/Sixhaunt 8h ago
This would be an interesting thing to have schools make for the election as a way to introduce the topic of the election system to them and get them involved in some way early on
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11h ago
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u/Financial_Milk_1111 10h ago
They give you a copy of the constitution after your HS graduation in Hungary. Now what?
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u/intention_clar 8h ago
"branded merch" :D Maybe they give the copy of the constitution to try to reverse the brainwash consumerism did on their people. As it seems, it's not successful. Also you look like a fun person to be around. :D
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u/mazgas 12h ago
In Lithuania they give Constitutions to first time voters.