Hungary votes in referendum on EU refugee quotas

Prime Minister Viktor Orban seeking support for his opposition to any future rulings

A man rides a motorcycle by a poster in Budapest that reads in Hungarian ‘Let’s send a message to Budapest, so they also understand! A stupid answer to a stupid question! Cast an invalid vote!’ in opposition to Prime Minister’s Viktor Orban policies on migrants. Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo

Hungarians are voting in a referendum called by Prime Minister Viktor Orban seeking support for his opposition to any future European Union quotas to relocate refugees.

Nearly 8.3 million citizens can cast ballots on Sunday and “No” votes supporting the government position are expected to be in the majority.

However there is uncertainty whether turnout will exceed the 50 per cent plus-one-vote threshold needed to be valid.

The referendum's question is: "Do you want the European Union to be able to prescribe the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary even without the consent of Parliament?"

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Polls show that the relentless campaign urging citizens to “send a message to Brussels” while associating migrants with terrorism has increased xenophobia in Hungary.