MEASURE 5/1998 (III. 23.)
OF THE HEAD OF THE NATIONAL ELECTION OFFICE
on the observation by foreigners of the election of Members of Parliament to be held on 10 and 24 May, 1998
In my authority set forth in paragraph 39 articles (1) and (2) of Act C of the year 1997 on the election procedure, in order to execute the Government Decree 2038/1998 (II. 18.) Korm. on the invitation of foreign observers to the parliamentary election of the year 1998 I take the following measure:
1.Hungary, as a country that has signed the 1990 Copenhagen document on the human dimension of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) undertook liability to invite observers from other member countries and relevant civic organisations for the elections to be held in the country. In line with this, during their own work and while giving information to the electoral organs and helping them in their work, all electoral offices should assist the lawful and successful execution of the observation by foreigners.
2.During the execution of foreign observation the relevant electoral regulations should be consistently adhered to, which are decisive mainly in three
respects:
a) The operation and activity of the election committees and the data - with the exceptions laid down in law - available to them are public. The publicity of the election procedure cannot offend either the secrecy of the voting or the rights related to personality and to the protection of personal data. (cp. paragraph 6 article (1) of Act C of the year 1997).
b) Similarly to press representatives the international election observers are allowed to be present at the work of the electoral committees - therefore also at the work of the vote counting committees- but they cannot disturb their work (cp. paragraph 7 article (1) of Act C of the year 1997), and cannot give orders to
them.
c) The chairman of the vote counting committee is responsible for maintaining order in the polling-station and its environment during the polling day. The measures made in order to maintain the order are obligatory for everybody - including the foreign election observers (cp. paragraph 65 article (1) of Act C of the year 1997).
3.For the purposes of the election of the Members of Parliament those persons are considered as international election observers who have themselves registered as such at the National Electoral Office and, having properly justified their identity and legitimacy, the National Electoral Office has supplied them with accreditation cards. When exercising their activities, the international election observers should put on or show their accreditation card. The accreditation card serves also as an entry permit to the National Election Centre (BM Duna Palota, Budapest, V., Zrínyi u. 5.).
4.In order to exercise his/her relevant activity the international election observer in the period before the polling day is allowed
a) to participate on press conferences held for international observers;
b) to receive information matters related to Hungary and the Hungarian rules of law in Hungarian and in foreign languages;
c) to study electoral information to be found on Internet and other public electronic systems;
d) on the basis of previous arrangement, to collect information on the electoral preparations at the National Electoral Office and at the electoral offices of individual electoral districts and the county (or Budapest) electoral offices.
5.On the polling day the foreign election observer:
a) is allowed to observe on site the beginning and the process of the voting at any electoral ward selected by the observer him or herself;
b) should announce his/her intention to observe to the chairman of the vote counting committee on site;
c) is allowed to be given information about all particulars of public interest related to the voting
d) is allowed to be present at the counting of the votes and to receive verbal information about the results;
e) in the National Election Centre is allowed to follow the arrival and processing of the partial results of the election, for this purpose is allowed to participate in press conferences, to receive preliminary information matters and to watch the development of the election results on screens;
f) is allowed to participate on the conference where the preliminary and final election results are announced in the National Election Centre and in the Parliament.
6.The participants of the international electoral observation have access to the possibilities of observation listed under clause 5 also during the second electoral round, provided that they announce their intention to do so at accreditation.
7.The international election observers are allowed to publish their experience on press conferences organised for them by the National Electoral Office, interviews given to Hungarian and foreign press representatives or in other forms (for example by sending a copy of their reports on their electoral observation activities to the National Electoral Office).
8.In their competency the heads of the county (or Budapest) electoral offices are allowed to receive international observers in their own authority in line with clause 3, provided that the inviting party is the competent municipality, local decentralised organisation, party or social organisation. The National Electoral Office should be informed on the accreditation and the brief opinion of the international observers. The accreditation card issued by a county (or Budapest) electoral office alone does not entitle the owner to the entry into the National Electoral Office.