On the grounds of the authorisation pursuant to clauses a) and c)-f) of paragraph (1) of Article 153 of Act 100 of 1997 on Electoral Procedure (hereinafter referred to as "the Procedural Law"), I shall order the following:

§ 1

(1) Election offices shall be responsible for preparing and conducting the election of the European Parliamentary elections in terms of organisation, management, information technology, pursuant to the provisions set forth under this Decree.

(2) The election offices shall

1. be responsible for the organisation of the preparation and completion of the election;

2. contribute to performing tasks related to the accounting and internal supervision of electoral monetary assets determined under a special decree;

3. arrange to inform voters through the election information services and perform other information tasks;

4. carry out administration and IT pilot run related tasks. The election offices taking part in pilot runs shall be assigned by the head of the National Election Office (hereinafter referred to as the NEO);

5. contribute to aggregating ballots, ascertaining the results of the election;

6. by meeting IT security and data protection requirements, operate computer systems necessary for conducting the election;

7. provide the material, technical conditions required for the operation of the election bodies and the completion of voting, if necessary, arrange to add members to election committees, and prepare the election of new members;

8. arrange for the training of the election bodies;

9. carry out the secretarial tasks of the election committees, prepare the matters falling under the competence of the election committees for decision making;

10. immediately forward reserves submitted to the election office operating beside the election committee entitled to adjudge issues, and to the court;

11. arrange for the management, secure guarding, transfer to the archives and annihilation of the electoral documents.

(3) The computer system of the election is based on the administrative network of the Ministry of the Interior, the computer park of the Central Data Processing, Registration and Election Office of the MI (hereinafter referred to as "CO MI"), the administrative offices, document offices, and work stations transferred to settlements not operating a document office and being in contact with the computer centre of the CO MI. The IT tasks shall be carried out under the IT control of CO MI with the contribution of the above listed agencies and bodies. The computer system of the election is run by CO MI with the contribution of the administrative offices. It is the head of the election office that shall make decisions regarding the use of the computers to provide information and not connected to the administrative network of MI.

(4) During the election, the local election office (hereinafter referred to as "LEO") of each settlement operating a document office shall carry out computer based data processing.

(5) The head of LEO shall decide if they produce the register locally, or with the assistance of another LEO, or that of the CO MI.

(6) The head of settlements not operating a document office, having a work station referred to paragraph (3), shall use a computer to aggregate electoral district data, process data sheets and check electoral district minutes in order to report the turnout during the day.

(7) The LEO of settlements not operating a document office, not having a work station referred to in paragraph (3) shall use a computer to check data sheets, electoral district minutes (local recording control system), and to aggregate electoral district data in order to report turnout during the day. Solely the head of the regional election office (hereinafter referred to as "REO") may exempt LEO's from using a computer.

Local election office

§ 2

An independent LEO shall be operated at each settlement. At settlements that belong to a District Recorder's office, the responsibilities of the LEO will be completed by the LEO of the seat settlement.

The responsibilities of the local election office

during the period prior to the day of voting

§ 3

(1) The LEO shall

1. ensure that its members attend compulsory training;

2. issue an announcement on the date of displaying the register, and shall display the register;

3. inform voters about the date and venue of voting, and that they have been entered in the register;

4. shall send them the proposal coupon;

5. carry out the certificate related tasks;

6. shall receive the notification of members delegated to the ballot counting committees (hereinafter referred to as "BCC"); shall arrange for their administration of an oath; shall publish the way it is customary locally the names of the members of the BCC and the head of the LEO as well as the address of the offices of the LEO;

7. organise voting with mobile ballot-boxes for voters hindered in movement;

8. arrange for receiving the central printed matters at the place and time determined by REO, fulfilling the management tasks related to these;

9. arrange to produce printed matters locally;

10. receive the transportation boxes assembled centrally for each electoral district; and check their content; and place the closed envelopes containing the password and ensure that they are preserved until the day of voting;

11. until the day before voting enter the electoral district identification number on data sheets and minutes;

12. on the day prior to voting, prepare and deliver the printed matters, documents and stamps necessary for completing the voting with notice of receipt to the chairmen of the BCC's or their deputies;

13. provide the technical conditions required for voting, and the equipment in the polling stations;

(2) The head of the LEO shall

1. arrange to compile, continuously maintain the register, produce notices on having been entered in the register, and to maintain the list containing citizens of legal age not having right to vote;

2. make decision regarding reserves because of having been omitted from or entered in the register;

3. make decisions regarding applications of voters of other Member States of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as European Union voters) for entering them in the register; inform applicants about its decision; forward the particulars of European Union voters to CO MI;

4. on the grounds of notice received from the NEO, delete Hungarian voters registered in other Member States of the European Union; inform the persons concerned about its decision;

5. decide applications for inclusion in the register at foreign representations; inform applicants about its decision; forward data of register at foreign representations to the NEO before the 21^st day prior to voting;

6. inform the NEO before the 9^th day prior to voting about the members and alternate member of ballot counting committees at foreign representations entered additionally in the register;

7. delete voters requesting certificate from the register; enter voters who intend to vote with a certificate in the register;

8. maintain the list of the citizens entered in the register on the grounds of certificate as well as the citizens deleted from the register on the grounds of certificate

9. on the grounds of reported demand, deliver a copy of the register displayed publicly to the applicant;

10. ensure that reports during the day, data sheets and electoral district minutes are forwarded and processed, taking the provisions of the head of the parliamentary single mandate constituency election office (hereinafter referred to as PSCEO) and REO into consideration.

The responsibilities of the local election office

on the day of voting

§ 4

(1) The Keeper of the Minutes acting beside the BCC shall

1. contribute to properly equipping the polling station (e.g., installing polling booths according to rules; closing ballot-boxes properly, etc.);

2. arrange to maintain the register, and the list of those refused, the list of those asking for mobile ballot-box and the list of the citizens entered in the register on the grounds of certificate;

3. supply data for the information system working during the day;

4. forward the minutes made of extraordinary events occurred during voting to the head of LEO

5. fill in the data sheets and contribute to filling in minutes and transporting them as well as other electoral documents to the seat of the LEO.

(2) The LEO shall

1. provide the conditions required for the operation of the BCC and the legality of the voting; forward reserves submitted against decisions of the BCC to the REO;

2. arrange to receive, aggregate and forward data arriving from electoral districts, and ensure the operation of the technical equipment necessary for carrying out these tasks;

3. receive minutes made of extraordinary events, data sheets, and electoral district minutes; check and forward them; furthermore, if it has a computer in network contact with the CO MI, carry out tasks of entering data in the computer;

The responsibilities of the local election office

on the day after voting

§ 5

The LEO shall

1. arrange for safe storage of the minutes and other election documents received from BCC;

2. the latest before 04:00 p.m. on the day following the day of voting, process the electoral district minutes, or forward them in compliance with the orders of the heads of PSCEO and REO;

3. ensure that electoral district minutes can be inspected.

Election Office at Foreign representations

§ 6

A foreign representation election office (hereinafter referred to as FREO) shall be operated at each foreign representation.

The responsibilities of the election office at foreign representations

during the period prior to the day of voting

§ 7

(1) The FREO shall

1. ensure that its members attend compulsory training;
   

2. provide technical conditions required for voting, and equipment in polling stations;

3. arrange for the administration of an oath of the members of BCC's operated at foreign representations who take an oath in the presence of the head of the foreign representation;

4. arrange for proper travelling and accommodation within the host state for members and alternate members of BCC's operated at foreign representations;

(2) The head of the FREO shall arrange for a proper polling station and other technical conditions necessary for voting.

The responsibilities of the election office at foreign representations

on the day of voting

§ 8

(1) The Keeper of the Minutes acting beside the BCC at foreign representation shall

1. contribute to properly equipping the polling station (e.g., properly setting up polling booths, closing ballot-boxes, etc.)

2. arrange for the maintenance of the register at foreign representations and the maintenance of the register of those rejected;

3. contribute to making the minutes determining the result of the election.

(2) The head of the FREO shall

1. forward minutes made of extraordinary events occurring during the day by fax to the NEO;
   

2. forward minutes made of the results of the election by fax to the NEO;
   

3. forward reserves submitted against decisions of the BCC by fax to the NEO.

The responsibilities of the election office at foreign representations

after the day of voting

§ 9

The FREO shall ensure that the copy of the minutes setting forth the results of the election which remains at the foreign representation can be inspected, and that the minutes and other election documents are delivered to the NEO. 

Parliamentary Single Mandate Constituency Election Office

§ 10

(1) The LEO of the settlement operating a document office designated, with the agreement of the heads of PSCEO and LEO, by the head of the REO, shall fulfil the responsibilities and shall have the competence determined under this Decree for the PSCEO's. The area of competence of such LEO's shall be defined by the head of the REO, who shall inform the head of the NEO about this.

(2) The LEO of the settlement operating a document office shall fulfil the tasks with regard to its own settlement prescribed by the PSCEO's for it.

The responsibilities of the parliamentary single mandate constituency election office

during the period prior to the day of voting

§ 11

In addition to the responsibilities set forth under Article 3, the PSCEO shall to the extent of its area of competence fulfil the prescribed data processing and data forwarding tasks.

The responsibilities of the parliamentary single mandate constituency election office

on the day of voting

§ 12

In addition to the responsibilities set forth under Article 4, the PSCEO shall as a further task

1. process the data of reports made during the day and minutes made of extraordinary events;

2. fulfil the prescribed data processing and data forwarding tasks under the ballot aggregating system;

3. arrange to prevent disturbances, emergencies hindering the aggregation of ballots; see to it, when necessary, that the alternate solutions stipulated for emergencies are applied, and inform the heads of REO and LEO about such actions.

The responsibilities of the parliamentary single mandate constituency election office

after the day of voting

§ 13

In addition to the responsibilities set forth under Article 5, the PSCEO shall as a further task

 

1. the latest on the day after the voting, before the point of time determined by the head of the REO, receive the electoral district minutes of the settlements located in its area of competence, and process them, and check if they are processed.

2. record particulars of those entered in the register on the strength of certificate (E) and of those deleted from the register on the strength of certificate (D).

Regional election office

§ 14

1. The head of the REO may in writing transfer control of the activities of the LEO's, determined under decree, that are subject to the area of competence of the PSCEO, and the supervision of the fulfilment of their responsibilities to the head of the PSCEO.

2. The REO shall fulfil the electoral IT tasks with the contribution of the civil servants of the administrative office, who carry out these tasks as members of the REO.

The responsibilities of the regional election office

during the period prior to the day of voting

§ 15

(1) The REO shall

1. ensure that its members attend compulsory training;

2. receive the notification of the members delegated into the regional election committees, arrange for their administration of an oath; publish, the way it is customary locally, the names of the members of the regional election office and the head of REO, and the address of the office of the REO;

3. through the administrative office, contribute to installing computers and their programs, give support in their operation, monitor the operation of the computer network between the PSCEO's and other settlements connected to the administrative network of the Ministry of the Interior and the REO;

(2) The head of REO shall

1. control and check the activity of PSCEO's and LEO's;

2. determine the order of distributing central printed matters;

3. issue its directive on the rules of implementation of forwarding and processing minutes, which allows that the processing of minutes can be completed before 02:00 p.m. on the day after voting;

4. supervise the organisation of forwarding and processing minutes, identify the venue of data processing to be operated to replace a document office falling out in the event of emergency.

The responsibilities of the regional election office

on the day of voting

§ 16

REO shall

 

1. supervise the operation of the system of reports during the day and the ballot aggregating system;

2. arrange to prevent disturbances, emergencies hindering data processing; see to it, when necessary, that alternate solutions are in place, and inform the head of NEO about such actions;

3. inform the public through the central information system.

The responsibilities of the regional election office

after the day of voting

§ 17

The REO shall fulfil duties related to receiving and forwarding minutes to the NEO;

National Election Office

The responsibilities of the National Election Office

during the period prior to the day of voting

§ 18

The NEO shall

The responsibilities of the National Election Office

on the day of voting

§ 19

(1) The NEO shall

1. receive and aggregate informative data generated during the day, and publish them;

2. inform NEC regarding extraordinary events occurred during the day;

3. receive the results of elections at foreign representations from heads of FREO and record them in the computer system;

4. continuously inform the public.

(2) NEO shall operate the national election centre, and inform NEC about the preliminary results of the election.

The responsibilities of the National Election Office

after the day of voting

§ 20

NEO shall

1. receive electoral district minutes before 04:00 p.m. on the second day after voting, and minutes made of the results of elections at foreign representations as they arrive; and carry out data processing tasks ordered by the head of the NEO;

2. provide NEC with data with a view to ascertain and publish the results of the election;

3. develop statistics, statements;

4. forward reserves submitted against the decision of the NEC on the results of the elections to the Supreme Court;

5. ensure that the results of the elections are published in the Official Gazette of Hungary;

6. operate, through CO MI, the system indicating the probability of electoral abuse.

§ 21

1. Before the call for the elections, at a point of time determined by the head of the NEO, the head of the LEO shall review the arrangement of electoral districts, and record changes that have occurred since the previous elections. Such review shall include updating the electoral district pursuant to paragraph (2) § 10 of the Procedural Law.
   

2. Pursuant to the decision of the head of the REO, the PSCEO or the REO shall on the grounds of data received from LEO ensure that the central electoral district register is updated.
   

3. The head of the REO shall check if electoral districts are developed lawfully, and inform the head of the NEO about such findings.

§ 22

Outside the period and apart from the point of time set forth in paragraph (1) § 21, the head of the LEO shall monitor changes affecting the way how electoral districts are set up, modify the arrangement of electoral districts accordingly, and, with the contribution of the PSCEO and the REO, ensure, pursuant to paragraph (2) § 21, that the central electoral district register is updated.

§ 23

The tasks related to the registration of suffrage are set forth in Annex 1 of this Decree; the entering of nominating organisations, lists and candidates in the register in Annex 2 hereof; the report made during the day on turnout and extraordinary events in Annex 3 hereof; the preliminary aggregation of ballots in Annex 4 hereof; the aggregation of ballots in Annex 5 hereof; the list and samples of printed matters to be used obligatorily in Annex 6 hereof.

§ 24

This Decree shall come into force on the day it is promulgated, and shall be repealed on 31 December 2004.

(Dr. Mónika Lamperth)