1985 Hungarian parliamentary election

1985 Hungarian parliamentary election

8 June 1985
All 387 seats in the National Assembly
Turnout	94.02%
First party Second party   Leader János Kádár – Party MSZMP Independents Alliance HNF HNF Leader since 25 October 1956 – Seats won 288 98 Seat change 36 2

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 8 June 1985. The Patriotic People's Front, dominated by the Communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, was the only organisation allowed to contest the election. All prospective candidates had to accept the Front's program in order to be eligible.

The HSWP, the only legal political party in the country, won 288 of the 387 seats, with 98 of the remaining 99 going to independents selected by the party. The one other seat remained unfilled until the following year.

Electoral system

The elections took place under new rules enacted in 1983 that allowed for wider participation in the electoral process. In addition to the 352 single-member constituencies, a further 35 MPs were elected unopposed via a national list. According to Politburo member Mihaly Korom, this was necessary in order to ensure the "representation of leading personalities" whose activities extended "beyond the boundaries of their electoral districts." Voters who were away from home on election day could only vote on the national list, which had around 160,000 extra voters compared to the single-member constituencies.

There had to be at least two candidates in the single-member constituencies, which was achieved everywhere except Keszthely, where one candidate withdrew his nomination. A by-election was later held for the seat in the spring of 1986. In 54 constituencies, mainly in urban areas, at least three and as many as four candidates appeared on the ballot.

Results

Party		SMCs		National list		Seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Votes	%
	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party	6,636,685	98.81	7,145,601	99.10	288	+36
	Independents					98	–2
Vacant						1	–
Against		79,702	1.19	64,894	0.90	–	–
Total		6,716,387	100.00	7,210,495	100.00	387	+35
Valid votes		6,716,387	94.56	7,210,495	99.24
Invalid/blank votes		386,759	5.44	55,420	0.76
Total votes		7,103,146	100.00	7,265,915	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,586,480	93.63	7,728,208	94.02
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, IPU, Other