Act No. XXXIV of 1989
on the Election of Members of Parliament


PART ONE: SUFFRAGE

Art. 1. Suffrage shall be general and equal, voting shall be direct and secret.

Art. 2. (1) Every adult Hungarian citizen except those mentioned in para. (2) shall have the right to vote during the election of Members of Parliament in the Republic of Hungary (hereafter referred to as elector).

(2) Any person who
    a) is under curatorship restrictive or exclusive of his capacity for action;
    b) has been barred by a final judicial decision from participating in public affairs;
    c) is serving a prison sentence;
    d) has been committed in criminal proceedings to compulsory medical treatment 

shall be disqualified from the franchise.

(3) Every person entitled to vote and domiciled in Hungary shall have the right to be elected.

(4) Any person having no permanent or temporary place of residence in Hungary shall be impeded in exercising his right to vote.

Art. 3. Exercise of the right to vote shall be based on the free decision of the elector.

PART TWO: THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Chapter I: Members of Parliament

Art. 4. (1) The number of Members of Parliament (MPs henceforth) shall total 386.

(2) 176 MPs shall be elected in individual constituencies and 152 in county and metropolitan (hereafter territorial) constituencies, on list. On the basis of a national aggregate of votes in individual and territorial constituencies failing to obtain mandates the parties may obtain an additional 58 compensatory mandates from their national list.

(3) The number of individual constituencies in the counties and the capital city and the number of mandates obtainable in each territorial constituency is contained in the Schedule to this Act.

(4) MPs shall have equal rights and duties.

Chapter II : Nomination

Art. 5. (1) Candidates in individual constituencies may be nominated, subject to the conditions specified by para.(2), by electors and social organisations complying with the provisions of the Act on the Functioning and Finances of Political Parties (party henceforth). Candidates may also be proposed and nominated jointly by two or more parties.

(2) In an individual constituency the proposals of at least 750 electors, authenticated by their signatures, shall be required for nomination. An elector may propose only one candidate in one individual constituency, and only in the individual constituency of which s/he is a resident.

(3) In territorial constituencies parties may nominate on territorial lists. A territorial list may be drawn up by the party which in the territorial constituency has, in a quarter of the individual constituencies, but in at least two individual constituencies, presented the number of candidates specified by the Schedule to this Act.

(4) A national list may be presented by the party which has drawn up lists in at least seven territorial constituencies.

(5) Parties on the basis of their joint individual constituency nomination - with the participation of the same parties - may jointly present territorial lists, and on the basis of their joint territorial lists - with the participation of the same parties - may jointly present national lists. With respect to paras. (3) and (4) at the drafting of the territorial and national list joint individual constituency candidates and joint territorial lists may not be taken into account. Single or joint territorial and national lists may be combined.

(6) Thrice as many candidates may be put forward on territorial and national lists as there are mandates obtainable on those lists. If the number of announced candidates is smaller than the number of mandates on the list, the remaining mandates shall remain vacant.

(7) One person may be nominated concurrently in one individual constituency, on one territorial list and on the national list. If a candidate obtains a mandate in the individual constituency, his name shall be stricken from the territorial or the national list. If the candidate obtains a mandate on the territorial list, the name of the party candidate shall be stricken from the national list.

(8) If a candidate is eliminated from a party list, he shall be replaced by the next succeeding candidate.

(9) One party may only put forward one - single, joint, or combined - list in a constituency.

Art. 6. cancelled

Chapter III: Determination of Election Results

Art. 7. (1) A candidate in an individual constituency shall become an MP after the first poll if s/he has obtained more than half the votes validly cast, provided that more than one half of electors in the constituency have cast their votes. Electors may cast their votes on one candidate.

(2) If during the first poll the turnout did not exceed half of electors in the constituency (invalid poll henceforth), then during the second poll

a) all candidates who have done so during the first poll may stand for election;

b) the candidate having obtained the greatest number of votes validly cast shall become an MP, provided that the turnout exceeded a quarter of electors in the constituency.

(3) If during the first poll the turnout exceeded one half of electors in the constituency, but no candidate has obtained more than half the votes validly cast (unsuccessful poll henceforth), then during the second poll

a) candidates having obtained at least fifteen percent of the votes validly cast during the first poll may stand for election; if there are not three such candidates, the three candidates having obtained the greatest number of votes during the first poll may do so; if any one of the candidates decides to step down during this time, no other candidate may take his/her place;

b) the candidate having obtained the greatest number of votes validly cast shall become an MP, provided that the turnout exceeded a quarter of electors in the constituency.

(4) cancelled

(5) A by-election shall be conducted in an individual constituency where, for lack of candidates, it was impossible to hold the first or second poll (Art. 46.).

Art. 8. (1) The candidates on party lists in territorial constituencies shall obtain mandates in proportion to the number of votes cast, to be calculated in the manner specified by the Schedule to this Act, in the order in which they are included on the lists, provided that the turnout exceeded one half of electors. Electors may cast their votes on one list.

(2) If the first poll in a territorial constituency is invalid because the turnout did not exceed one half of electors, all party lists which had done so during the first poll may stand for election during the second poll. The candidates on party lists shall obtain mandates in proportion to the number of votes cast, to be calculated in the manner specified by the Schedule to this Act, provided that the turnout exceeds a quarter of the electors.

(3) If, following the calculation in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2), there remain vacant mandates in a territorial constituency, a mandate shall be obtained even by a list that received a number of votes smaller than, but exceeding two-thirds of, those required for a mandate. If there are several such lists, the mandate shall be obtained by the one that has received the next greatest number of votes. If after the calculation there still remains a vacant mandate, it shall be added to those obtainable on the national list.

(4) In the case of a mandate being obtained under para. (3), the difference between the numbers of votes required for a mandate and actually received shall be deducted from the number of national list surplus votes according to paras. (2) to (4) of Art. 9.

(5) A list shall not receive a mandate under the cases in paras. (1) and (3) if it does not satisfy the following conditions:

a) A party list shall not receive a mandate if the territorial list put forward by that same party failed to receive more than 5 % of the national aggregate of the votes validly cast for the territorial party-lists. In this respect only the validly cast votes for the same party territorial lists may be aggregated.

ba) A joint list, or combined lists do not receive a mandate if they fail to receive at least 10 % of the national aggregate of validly cast votes, and in the case of a joint or combined list put forward by more than two parties, a total of at least 15 % of the national aggregate of validly cast votes. In this respect only the validly cast votes for the joint and combined lists put forward by the same parties in identical ways may be aggregated.

bb) The member of the combined list or joint list who did not receive more than 5 % of the national aggregate of validly cast votes for all the territorial lists shall be omitted and may not receive a mandate. In this respect only the validly cast votes for the same lists and parties participating in list joining and combined lists put forward by the same parties in identical ways may be aggregated. If a list is omitted from a list combination, or a party is omitted from a joint list, this shall be considered hence as if the list omitted from the combination or the party omitted from the joint list had not participated in the putting forward of the list, and thus candidates appearing on them may not receive mandates.

(6) Parties combining their lists shall obtain mandates in proportion to the aggregate votes cast for their respective lists taking part in the combination.

(7) The calculation of the percentage boundary according to subpara. bb) of para. (5) votes cast on the joint list shall be distributed according to the prior - nation-wide and uniform - statement made by the parties involved on the basis of para. (3) of Art. 9., if such is lacking they shall be halved.

(8) If two or more parties have received equal numbers of votes and stand to obtain mandates with that number of votes, but the number of mandates in the territorial constituency is smaller than that of the parties having received equal numbers of votes, the mandates shall be distributed in the order of the ordinal numbers of list.

(9) If no party-lists are presented in a territorial constituency, the respective mandates for that territorial constituency shall go on the national list, and shall be distributed according to the surplus votes.

(10) If the second round of election shall prove to be unsuccessful in a territorial constituency, because not even a quarter of the electorate cast their votes, then the votes cast in the first round of election shall be considered as surplus votes, and the vacant territorial constituency mandates shall be distributed on the national list.

Art. 9. (1) Candidates on national lists shall obtain mandates in proportion to the national aggregates of surplus votes and in the order notified. To be counted as surplus votes are those

a) which were cast, in an individual constituency during the first valid poll, for party candidates who did not obtain a mandate during either poll;

b) which were cast for lists, in a territorial constituency during the valid poll, in a number smaller than required for mandate, or which exceeded the number of votes used to receive a mandate.

(2) Surplus votes cast on individual constituency candidate and territorial list shall be added:

a) to the national list of the party which nominated the candidate, and put forward the territorial list,

b) to the combined national list in which combination the national list of the party nominating the candidate, and putting forward the list participates.

(3) Surplus votes cast on joint individual constituency candidate and joint territorial list shall be added according to the ratio previously agreed - nation-wide and uniform - upon by the parties involved to the national list according to para. (2) of the parties putting forward a joint candidate and joint list. In the absence of otherwise arrangement by the parties the surplus votes shall be added:

a) to the joint national list put forward by the parties nominating the candidate and putting forward the list,

b) to the combined national list in which combination the joint national list of the parties nominating the candidate and putting forward the list participates.

(4) Surplus votes of the combined territorial list shall be added to the combined national list in which the national lists of the parties combining territorial list participate.

(5) Votes cast during an invalid poll shall not be counted as surplus votes under para. (1) and hence shall not be taken into account for purposes of obtaining mandates on the national list - except for the event of Article 8 para. (10) -. Votes cast on territorial list, and the member of a combined list or joint list who may not receive a mandate under para. (5) of Art. 8. may not be counted as surplus votes.

(6) Parties combining their national lists may receive mandates in proportion to the aggregate number of surplus votes allotted to the lists participating in the combination.

PART THREE: ELECTORAL PROCEDURES

Chapters IV to X cancelled

Chapter XI: By-elections

Art. 46. (1) A by-election shall be held in an individual constituency if the second poll were to be invalid, or the mandate of an MP in an individual constituency has been ceased.

(2) cancelled

(3) The rules of general elections shall, with the differences made in this Chapter, apply, mutatis mutandis, to by-elections.

(4) The results of a by-election shall not affect the mandates on the national lists.

(5) In cases where the mandate of an MP on a territorial or a national list has ceased, it shall be obtained, among the party candidates originally included on the lists, by the persons named by the party concerned. Within 30 days of the emergence of the reason therefore, the party shall notify the name of the new MP to the competent electoral board.

Chapter XII: Final Provisions

Art. 47. (1). The second round of the election of MPs - simultaneously with the posting of the first round - shall be posted on the 14th day following the first round.

(2) Elections shall be posted in a way as to avoid the first and second round of elections falling on a national holiday or a bank holiday, nor the day preceding and following such.

Art. 48. (1) By-elections shall be called for by the National Electoral Committee according to the statutes of Art. 47.

(2) By-elections shall not be held in the same year as General Elections.

Art. 49. cancelled

Art. 50. (1) The expenses incurred in connection with state tasks concerning the preparation and conduct of elections (personnel, physical facilities, functioning of electoral bodies, electoral registers, prints, transport, telecommunication, etc.) shall be covered from the state budget to the extent determined by the Parliament. The State Audit Office shall inform the Parliament of the utilisation of such funds.

(2) The Government shall be empowered to determine the ordinal numbers, seats and boundaries of individual and territorial constituencies.

Art. 51. cancelled

Art. 52. The Schedules to this Act shall determine

a) cancelled
b) the number of individual constituencies in the counties and the capital city as well as the number of mandates obtainable in each territorial constituency;
c) the number of candidates in individual constituencies required for the presentation of a territorial list;
d) the procedures for the aggregation of votes and the establishment of election results;
e) to k) cancelled

Art. 53. to Art. 55. cancelled

Art. 56. (1) This act shall enter into force on the day of its promulgation.

(2) to (6) cancelled

Appendix 1. cancelled

Appendix 2. [to para. b) of Art. 52.]

Appendix 3. [to para. c) of Art. 52.]

Appendix 4. [to subpara. d) of Art. 52.]

Counting votes and the method of calculating the results of the election

I. Individual constituency

1. Valid and invalid round of election:

a) Valid first round of elections:
The first round of elections shall be valid if more than half of the electors with suffrage have cast their votes at the election.

b) Invalid first round of elections:
The first round of elections shall be invalid, if half of the electors with suffrage, or less have cast their votes at the election.

c) Valid second round of elections:
The second round of elections following an invalid or unsuccessful first round of elections (paras 1/b) and 2/b)) shall be valid if more than a quarter of the electors with suffrage have participated in the election.

d) Invalid second round of elections:
The second round of elections following an invalid or unsuccessful first round of elections (paras 1/b) and 2/b)) shall be invalid if no more than a quarter of the electors with suffrage have participated in the election.

2. Successful and unsuccessful election round:

a) Successful first round of elections
The first round of elections shall be successful and valid (para. 1/a) in which one of the candidates receives more than half the votes cast.

b) Unsuccessful first round of elections
The first round of elections shall be unsuccessful (para. 1/a) if none of the candidates receive more than half the votes cast.

c) Successful second round of elections
The second round of elections following a valid (para 1/a) or invalid (para 1/b) first round of elections shall be successful in which the candidates receive a different number of votes.

d) Unsuccessful second round of elections
The second round of valid (para 1/c) elections shall be unsuccessful if the candidates receive an identical number of votes.
In individual constituencies the candidate who during the valid round of elections received the number of votes according to paras. 2/a or 2/c shall become an MP.


II. Regional constituency

1. Valid and invalid round of election:

a) Valid first round of elections:
The first round of elections shall be valid if more than half of the electors with suffrage have cast their votes at the election.

b) Invalid first round of elections:
The first round of elections shall be invalid, if half of the electors with suffrage, or less have cast their votes at the election.

c) Valid second round of elections:
The second round of elections following an invalid first round of elections (para. 1/b) shall be valid if more than a quarter of the electors with suffrage have participated in the election.

d) Invalid second round of elections:
The second round of elections following an invalid first round of elections (para. 1/b) shall be invalid if no more than a quarter of the electors with suffrage have participated in the election.

2. Conditions for calculating the results of territorial list elections:

a) the nation-wide aggregation of votes validly cast on territorial lists separately by party,

b) identification of the range of parties for which the number of votes cast did not exceed the percentage boundary as determined by para. (5) of Art. 8. of this Act.

3. Calculation of the results of a valid round of elections in the territorial constituency:

a) The number of validly cast votes on the election lists of the parties have to be added up (the total of valid votes henceforth).

b) One has to be added to the number of mandates available in the constituency (the divider henceforth).

c) The total of valid votes has to be divided by the divider. The ratio thus calculated is the number of votes required to obtain a mandate.

d) The two-thirds of the number of votes required to obtain a mandate has to be determined (two-thirds boundary henceforth).

e) The number of votes cast on the party's election list has to be divided by the number of votes required to obtain a mandate. The integer resulting from the division shall be the number of mandates obtained by the party, also taking into consideration para. (8) of Art. 8 of this Act. The remainder of the division, along with the votes not resulting in a mandate shall constitute surplus votes.

f) If after the distribution of the mandates according to para. e) there shall still remain a vacant mandate, then the parties shall receive mandates in the decreasing order of surplus votes, until the two-thirds boundary is reached. If all of the mandates available in the constituency have been filled, then, regardless of the two-thirds boundary, further mandates may not be distributed. Surplus votes not resulting in mandates - the surplus votes determined in para. (4) of Art. 8. exclusive - shall be added to the national list.

g) Mandates remaining vacant in territorial constituencies after the calculation under subpara. f) shall be added to the national list.


III. Distribution of mandates obtainable on the national list on the basis of surplus votes

1. Surplus votes generated in individual and territorial constituencies (para. (1) of Art. 9.) shall be aggregated on a national level, separated according to parties, taking into consideration para. (4) of Art. 8. of this Act (surplus votes on parties henceforth).

2. Surplus votes on parties shall be added up on the national level (national surplus vote henceforth).

3. The number of mandates remaining vacant on territorial lists shall be added to the number of mandates obtainable on the national list (58) (II./3 g).

4. On the basis of the surplus votes the mandates on the national list shall be distributed. The procedure for this shall be: A table shall be compiled, the first row shall be made up of the surplus votes cast on the parties. Under each of the surplus votes on parties a numeric column shall be created, the first number of which shall be half the number of surplus votes cast on the given party, the second a third thereof, the third a quarter, etc.

5. Mandates shall be distributed with the help of the table. The greatest integer in the table shall be selected. The party, in whose numeric column we find that number shall receive a mandate. Next the second greatest integer shall be selected. The party, in whose numeric column we find that number shall receive a mandate. This procedure shall be continued until all of the obtainable mandates have been distributed.
Should there appear equal integers during the selection of the greatest appearing in the table, then, on the basis of para. (8) of Art. 9 of this Act, the party to receive the mandate shall be determined.


IV. The connection between the percentage boundary and the number of mandates obtainable on the territorial list

1. The number of votes cast on territorial lists shall be aggregated on the national level, separately according to parties (list votes cast on parties henceforth).

2. The list votes cast on parties shall be aggregated (number of list votes henceforth).

3. The percentage of party list votes as determined under para. (5) of Art. 8. of this Act shall be calculated.

4. The party, which on the basis of the list votes cast on the party, has received more votes than the percentage determined under para. (5) of Art. 8. shall obtain the number of list mandates it reached in the territorial constituency and on the basis of surplus votes the mandates it reached on the national list.

5. The party, which on the basis of the list votes cast on the party, did not exceed the percentage determined under para. (5) of Art. 8. shall

a) lose the surplus votes it received in individual constituencies,

b) not obtain a mandate in the territorial constituency,

c) not obtain a mandate on the national list.

Appendices 5 to 17 cancelled.