1/2014. NVB Directive
on recommendation sheets and the recommendation process[1]

The National Election Committee, acting within its competence laid down in Section 51 (1) of Act XXXVI of 2013 on Electoral Procedure (hereinafter: Ve.) - issues the following

directive

1. Only the recommendation sheet provided by the election office operating alongside the election committee competent for registering the candidate - in the procedural order prescribed by law - is considered an official recommendation sheet. It is not possible to make a copy of the recommendation sheet in an unfilled state, and a recommendation on a copied recommendation sheet is invalid, regardless of the method of copying.

2. Section 123 (2) a) of the Ve. contains a prohibition only on collecting signatures at the workplace of the person collecting the recommendation or the voter providing the recommendation, so it also applies to workplaces maintained or operated by nominating organizations, if the recommender or the person collecting the recommendation works there. However, the referred provision of the Ve. does not preclude the organizing of recommendation collection in the headquarters of the nominating organization.

3. An essential condition for the validity and authenticity of a recommendation is a handwritten signature. The other data can be entered on the recommendation sheet in other ways in the presence of the voter providing the recommendation.

A voter who is unable to sign their name by hand (e.g., physically disabled, blind or visually impaired, illiterate) can initial the recommendation sheet in front of the head or a member of the election office, as well as a court or a notary public. The voter's initial is authenticated by the head or a member of the election office acting as an official person, as well as the court or the notary public.

4.[2]Based on Section 124 (1) of the Ve., the candidate is announced by handing over the recommendation sheets containing the appropriate number of recommendations and the form specified in the ministerial decree to the election committee competent for registration. The National Election Committee's position is that it is possible to submit a recommendation sheet even after the candidate has been announced, but all recommendation sheets made available must be handed over to the election office no later than the deadline for announcing the candidate. In case of failure to fulfill this obligation, the election committee competent for registering the candidate shall impose a fine, in accordance with Section 124 (2) of the Ve. An exception to this rule are recommendation sheets that do not contain any recommendations, which can be returned on the day following the deadline for the announcement without a fine obligation. However, a fine must be imposed for recommendation sheets that do not contain any recommendations and are submitted after this.

5. If the candidate is announced before the deadline expires, and the competent election committee rejects the registration of the candidate due to the lack of a sufficient number of valid recommendations, it is possible to submit additional recommendation sheets in case of a repeated announcement of the same candidate, in which case all previously submitted valid recommendations must also be counted in the number of valid recommendations.

6. The candidate, or nominating organization, may not make copies of the recommendation sheets and may not use the data on them for the purpose of creating a voter database or for any other purpose.

7. The recommendations are checked by the election office. A member of the election committee can only perform an independent checking task or view the technical register based on a decision of the committee.

The directive is intended to interpret the following provisions of the Ve.:

"Section 120 (1) A candidate can be recommended on a recommendation sheet.

(2) The recommendation sheet can be requested by the voter intending to run as an independent candidate, or by the nominating organization, from the election office operating alongside the election committee competent for registering the candidate after the election has been set."

"Section 121 (2) The election office shall hand over the requested number of recommendation sheets to the applicant immediately after their request, but no earlier than the forty-eighth day before the vote. The election office shall provide all recommendation sheets with a serial number and an authenticating stamp impression."

"Section 122 (1) A voter who has the right to vote in the constituency in the election can recommend a candidate.

(2) The name, personal identification number, Hungarian address, and mother's name of the voter providing the recommendation must be entered on the recommendation sheet. The recommendation sheet must be signed by the voter providing the recommendation by hand.

(3) A voter can recommend several candidates.

(4) A voter can only support a candidate with one recommendation; their subsequent recommendations are invalid.

(5) The recommendation cannot be withdrawn.

(6) The person collecting the recommendation shall indicate their name and signature on the recommendation sheet."

"Section 123 (1) A representative of a nominating organization or a voter intending to run as a candidate, or their representative, may collect recommendations anywhere, without harassing citizens - with the exception laid down in paragraph (2).

(2) Recommendations cannot be collected:

a) at the workplace of the person collecting the recommendation and the recommender during their working hours or while performing their work obligation arising from their employment relationship or other legal relationship directed at work, [...]"

"Section 123 (3) It is prohibited to give or promise a benefit to the voter providing the recommendation. The voter providing the recommendation may not ask for or accept a benefit or the promise of one for the recommendation.

(4) A recommendation collected in violation of the recommendation rules is invalid."

"[3]Section 124 (1) A candidate must be announced to the election committee competent for their registration by handing over the recommendation sheets.

(2) A voter intending to run as an independent candidate, or a nominating organization intending to nominate a candidate, is obliged to hand over all recommendation sheets made available to them to the election office within the deadline for the announcement of the candidate. In case of failure to fulfill this obligation, the election committee competent for the registration of the candidate shall ex officio impose a fine. The amount of the fine is ten thousand forints for each recommendation sheet not submitted.

(3) A fine cannot be imposed for a recommendation sheet that does not contain any recommendations and is submitted no later than the day following the deadline according to paragraph (2)."

"Section 125 (1) The election office shall check the recommendations.

(2) During the checking of the recommendations, it must be examined whether the requirements laid down in Section 122 have been met, the voter providing the recommendation must be identified, it must be determined whether they have the right to vote, and it must be determined whether the number of valid recommendations reaches the number required for candidacy.

(3) The identification of the voter providing the recommendation and the determination of their right to vote must be performed by comparing their data on the recommendation sheet with the data in the central voter register and the register of polling stations and constituencies."

"Section 126 The recommendation is valid if

a) the voter providing the recommendation was entitled to recommend a candidate in the constituency at any time between the forty-eighth day before the vote and the day of the submission of the recommendation sheet,

b) the data of the voter providing the recommendation on the recommendation sheet are in full agreement with the data of the central voter register,

c) the recommendation meets the requirements laid down in Section 122."

"Section 127 (1) The checking of the recommendations must be performed within three days from the announcement of the candidate.

(2) The detailed checking of the recommendations does not need to be continued if it becomes certain that the number of valid recommendations reaches the number required for candidacy.

(3) The election office shall inform the election committee competent for the registration of the candidate about the result of the checking of the recommendations."

"Section 128 The competent election office shall destroy the recommendation sheets on the working day following the ninetieth day after the vote."

"Section 252 (1) An individual constituency candidate must be announced no later than the thirty-fourth day before the vote.

(2) An individual constituency candidate shall be registered by the parliamentary individual constituency election committee."

"Section 253 (1) The national list must be announced no later than the thirty-third day before the vote."

"Section 307/G (1)[4]An individual list and individual constituency candidate, a mayoral candidate, and a metropolitan mayoral candidate must be announced no later than the thirty-fourth day before the vote.

(2) An individual list and individual constituency candidate, as well as a mayoral candidate, shall be registered by the local election committee, and a metropolitan mayoral candidate by the territorial election committee."

"Section 307/I (1)[5]The compensation list, the metropolitan compensation list, and the county list must be announced no later than the thirty-third day before the vote."

"Section 318 (1) A local nationality self-government candidate must be announced no later than the thirty-fourth day before the vote."

"Section 338 (1) The list must be announced no later than the thirty-fourth day before the vote."

Legal provisions taken into account during the interpretation:

Act CCIII of 2011 on the election of parliamentary representatives

"Section 6 A recommendation from at least five hundred voters is required for nomination in an individual constituency."

Act CXIII of 2003 on the election of members of the European Parliament

"Section 5 (2) A recommendation certified by the signature of at least 20,000 voters is required to create a list."

Act L of 2010 on the election of local government representatives and mayors

"Section 9[6](1) An individual list or individual constituency representative candidate is a person who has been recommended for candidacy by at least 1% of the voters of the given constituency.

(2) In a county constituency, a nominating organization can create a list if it has collected recommendations from 0.5% of the voters of the constituency.

(3) A mayoral candidate is a person who has been recommended for candidacy by at least:

a) 3% of the voters of a settlement with 10,000 or fewer inhabitants,

b) 300 voters in a settlement with more than 10,000 but not more than 100,000 inhabitants,

c) 500 voters in a settlement with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

(4) A metropolitan mayoral candidate is a person who has been recommended for candidacy by at least 5,000 voters of the capital."

Act CLXXIX of 2011 on the rights of nationalities

"Section 59 (1) A recommendation from five percent of the voters on the nationality voter register on the day the election is set, but at least five voters, is required for the nomination of a local nationality self-government representative."

Act XCIII of 1993 on occupational safety and health

"Section 87 5. Workplace: any open or enclosed space (including underground facilities, vehicles) where employees are present for the purpose of work or in connection with it. The place of work of a sole proprietor who does not employ others and performs their work exclusively in person (even if they have founded a sole proprietorship) must also be considered a workplace [...]"

Budapest, 09 February 2014

Dr. András Patyi
President of the National Election Committee

[1]Consolidated with the amendments contained in Directive 2/2018. NVB

[2]Modified by Directive 2/2018. NVB

[3]Modified by Directive 2/2018. NVB

[4]Modified by Directive 2/2018. NVB

[5]Modified by Directive 2/2018. NVB

[6]Modified by Directive 2/2018. NVB