QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
REGARDING THE NATIONAL REFERENDUM ON 12 APRIL
1. Who is entitled to take part in the national referendum?
Citizens having suffrage are entitled to take part in the national referendum. The existence of suffrage is adjudged pursuant to the provisions valid pertaining to the election of members of parliament. This means that citizens who may take part in the election of members of parliament may vote in the national referendum too. (It is within the discretion of the voter entitled to take part in the referendum if he/she wants to exercise such right.)
Accordingly, every Hungarian citizen of legal age having domicile or residence in Hungary has the right to vote in the national referendum, except when he/she
– is under guardianship limiting or excluding the ability to act (because he/she is mentally handicapped);
– is under the force of judgment at law barring him/her from exercising public affairs;
– is serving his/her sentence of imprisonment;
– is spending his/her finally ruled compulsory therapy at an institution in criminal procedure.
Hungarian citizens who, albeit they are voters, stay abroad on the day of the referendum shall be hindered from exercising their right to vote.
2. What is the register for?
The register is a publicly attested registration available for inspection by anyone, from which citizens can make certain if they can vote in the national referendum. In addition to that, the register is an important aid for election bodies conducting the referendum as with it they can check if the citizens who appear before the ballot boxes have suffrage, and to avoid abuses they can screen those who vote several times.
3. Where and when is the register publicly displayed?
It is the clerk of the settlement (village, town, district of the capital) who arranges for compiling the register for each settlement, more specifically for each constituency before 20 March 2003, and then displays it publicly at the mayor’s office of the settlement municipality from 25 March to 1 April 2003 where it can be inspected by anybody. The population shall be informed in advance the way it is customary locally about the time of displaying the register publicly.
4. What purpose does the information notice slip (coupon) serve?
The notice slip on having been entered in the register, or, as widely known, the coupon, calls the voters’ attention to the national referendum, or the fact that they may vote there. It contains information on ordering the national referendum, being entered in the register, and when, where and how it is possible to vote. The notice slip will be produced before 20 March 2003 using the register, and the clerk of the settlement maintaining the register will forward it to voters before 20-27 March 2003.
5. When and where can one lodge a reserve because of having been omitted from the register or having been entered in the register?
Because of having been omitted from the register and having been entered in the register, reserves can be made in writing during the term of displaying the register in public, that is from 25 March to 1 April 2003 with the settlement clerk maintaining the register.
6. Which body and with what term adjudges reserves made because of having been omitted from or entered in the register?
The settlement clerk maintaining the register decides reserves in 3 days. The dismissal of a reserve may be contested in 3 days from receipt of the resolution at the local court, in Budapest at the Pest Central District Court. The court decides the reserve in also 3 days, and if finds it well-founded, it will order the adjustment of the register, otherwise, it will dismiss the reserve. No further redress against the court decision lies.
7. What are the major rules of establishing electoral districts?
Electoral districts are official rooms that serve the voting of the voters who live in one abode, voters are informed about their address through the notice slip. Electoral districts shall be established in such fashion that one electoral district should include 600-1200 voters, however, at least one electoral district shall be established for each settlement. Electoral districts are mostly identical with the electoral districts set up for parliamentary elections, thus, the majority of voters can vote at the usual place.
8. What should be done if one changes his/her domicile?
It might occur that voters cease their domicile on the territory of the settlement maintaining the register after the register has been made (20 March 2003). When changing domicile, the recorder of the new domicile and the recorder of the old domicile will automatically contact each other, and, on the grounds of checking data, the voter will be deleted from the old register and entered in the register of the new domicile.
9. How can voters away from their domicile vote?
The certificate is a public instrument issued by the Mayor’s Office, which serve to allow voters to vote elsewhere than the place they are originally recorded in the register. In national referendums, the issuance of a certificate lies when a voter is away from his/her domicile but is in Hungary on the day of the referendum. In this case, the certificate contains on the grounds of the voter’s statement the settlement where he/she intends to vote.
In such case, voters may apply for a certificate where they are domiciled at the Mayor’s Office before 4:00 p.m. on 10 April 2003, or by registered mail in such fashion that the application is received by the election office the latest on 7 April. With this certificate, voters may request at the Mayor’s Office of their residence before 4:00 p.m. on the day before the referendum, and at the electoral district on the day of the referendum to be entered in the register, and may subsequently vote there.
Voters staying abroad on the day of the referendum may not vote.
10. How can the blind and the disabled vote?
Voters who have impaired eyesight or are unable to read, or who are hindered by their physical handicap or some other cause from voting, may rely on another voter’s assistance, or, for lack of it, the joint assistance of two members of the ballot counting committee, that is, may as well call them even to the polling-booth, and there with their help but according to the voters’ instruction they may fill in the ballot paper jointly. Also, on individual request, two members of the competent ballot counting committee will visit persons hindered in motion, at their request, in their flat, place of residence, to allow them to vote (with a mobile ballot-box). Pursuant to the standpoint of the National Election Committee, voting with mobile ballot-box is an exceptional case of voting outside the polling station, and serves solely to ensure, at the time of voting, that voters hindered in motion can vote.
11. How can people who are in hospital on the day of the referendum vote?
People who are in hospital on the day of voting may vote with a certificate. They can apply to the clerk of their domicile for the certificate (see the question “How can voters away from their domicile vote?”). However, one shall apply to the election office competent on the territory of the hospital on the day before voting, or the ballot counting committee on the day of voting for mobile ballot-box.
12. What election committees are operated in national referendums?
In national referendums the following election committees are operated: ballot counting committees, territorial election committees and the National Election Committee. By aggregating the electoral district results ascertained by ballot counting committees, the National Election Committee ascertains and announces the national result of the referendum.
13. Who do ballot counting committees consist of in national referendums?
With respect to the standpoint 3/2003. (II.21.) of the National Election Committee, ballot counting committees consist of members elected by the bodies of representatives of municipalities and members delegated by political parties having representation in the Parliament.
14. Who may take part in counting the ballots?
Only the members of ballot counting committees may take part in the process of counting the ballots.
15. Who can be present during the process of counting the ballots?
Only the members of the ballot-counting committee and media people may be present while ballots are counted, the latter, however, may not disturb the work of the ballot-counting committee.
16. On what condition can public opinion polls be conducted on the day of the referendum?
In order to ensure calmness of voters and undisturbed voting, public opinion polls may be conducted on the day of the referendum only on condition that:
1. they are anonymous and based on voluntary participation,
2. public opinion researchers may not enter either the polling-station or the building where the polling-station is located,
3. public opinion researchers may not harass voters, or force them to make a statement, and may ask only those leaving the building.
Subject to complying with the above provisions, polls may be conducted also on the day of the referendum, however, voters have the right to keep their opinion secret. The results of the polls may not be published before 9:00 p.m. 12 April 2003.
17. When is the national referendum conclusive?
Pursuant to our Constitution, the referendum is conclusive when more than half of the voters who have voted validly but at least more than one fourth of all of the voters have given the same answer to the question raised.
18. What redress is possible during the national referendum?
Reserves against the decisions of ballot counting committees may be lodged with the territorial election committees. Reserves against the decisions of the territorial election office are decided by the metropolitan, county court.
The result of the referendum is ascertained by the National Election Committee. Redress against the decisions is adjudged by the Supreme Court.