title: 2010 Hungarian presidential election
text: # 2010 Hungarian presidential election
  
  Politics of Hungary :
  
  Constitution
  
  1949 Constitution :
  
  Executive
  
  President (list)
  
  Katalin Novák
  
  Government
  
  Current cabinet
  
  Prime Minister (list)
  
  Viktor Orbán :
  
  Parliament
  
  National Assembly
  
  Speaker: László Kövér
  
  Political parties
  
  Fidesz
  
  Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP)
  
  Jobbik
  
  Politics Can Be Different (LMP)
  
  Dialogue for Hungary (PM)
  
  Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)
  
  Democratic Coalition (DK)
  
  Momentum Movement (M)
  
  Everybody's Hungary Movement (MMM)
  
  Our Homeland Movement (MH) :
  
  Recent elections
  
  Parliamentary: 201420182022
  
  Presidential: 20172022next
  
  Local: 201020142019
  
  European: 201420192024 :
  
  Budapest
  
  Mayor of Budapest
  
  Gergely Karácsony
  
  Mayoral elections
  
  1994
  
  1998
  
  2002
  
  2006
  
  2010
  
  2014
  
  2019 :
  
  Administrative divisions
  
  Districts
  
  Counties
  
  Regions
  
  Subregions :
  
  Foreign relations
  
  Austria–Hungary relations
  
  China–Hungary relations
  
  France–Hungary relations
  
  Germany–Hungary relations
  
  Hungary–Italy relations
  
  Hungary–Russia relations
  
  Hungary–United Kingdom relations
  
  Hungary–United States relations
  
  Timeline of Hungary–European Union relations
  
  Politics of the European Union :
  
  Hungary portal
  
  Other countries :
  
  vte :
  
  An indirect presidential election was held in Hungary on 29 June 2010. The Prime Minister's nominee Pál Schmitt was elected by an absolute majority.
  
  ## Background
  
  Following the 2010 Hungarian parliamentary election, Fidesz came out with an overwhelming majority of seats. With a two-thirds majority requirement needed to elect the president, Fidesz was expected to win since it already had the necessary numbers.
  
  ## Candidates
  
  Nominations were due by midday of 25 June 2010; the Hungarian Socialist Party nominated university lecturer and Hungarian ambassador to Thailand András Balogh on 6 June 2010. Fidesz nominated speaker of parliament Pál Schmitt on 23 June 2010. Jobbik intended to nominate Krisztina Morvai, and Politics Can Be Different wished to nominate incumbent President László Sólyom, but neither had enough MPs to respectively do so.
  
  Once elected, the new president would take office on 5 August 2010.
  
  ## Popular poll
  
  Most Hungarians said they didn't think the President should be a member of any party. Forty-eight percent of respondents said that the president's independence from the government is among the most important considerations for the office, though 46 percent said it is also important that the president be able to work well with the prime minister.
  
  However, polling suggested that should the election be a popular one, Schmitt would get 32 percent of the vote, outgoing President László Sólyom would get 24 percent, Socialist Party nominee András Balogh would get 14 percent and Jobbik's Krisztina Morvai would get 6 percent. Twenty-four percent said they would not vote for any of the candidates or declined to answer the question.
  
  ## Results
  
  Hungarian Presidential elections, 2010 :
  
  | Candidate | Nominating Party | Votes | % |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Pál Schmitt | Fidesz | 263 | 68.1 |
  | András Balogh | Hungarian Socialist Party | 59 | 15.3 |
  | Did not vote | Did not vote | 20 | 5.2 |
  | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 44 | 11.4 |
  | Total votes | Total votes | 366 | 94.8 |
  | Total seats | Total seats | 386 | 100.00 |
  
  * ↑ 20 MPs opted for not registering and did not pick up their ballots
  * ↑ 44 empty ballots cast with neither candidate supported
  
  ## Reactions
  
  Several Fidesz MP's expressed concern over the electoral outcome saying that though Schmitt was "a charmer and very capable person," they didn't feel he was right for the job because any mistake he may make would reflect poorly on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had selected him.
  
  The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek welcomed the election of Schmitt.
  
  