NVB Directive 10/2014

on certain issues regarding the processing of applications for transfer to the polling station register [1]

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

directive:

During the election of parliamentary representatives, the increased protection of the data and rights of voters affected by a transfer requires that election offices take all necessary procedural actions to ensure that the decision on the transfer made on the basis of applications submitted after the 7th day preceding the vote is brought to the attention of the affected voter.

The directive aims to interpret the following provisions of the Ve.:

"2. § (1) When applying the rules of the electoral procedure, the following fundamental principles must be enforced:

a) safeguarding the purity of the election,

e) good faith and proper exercise of rights (...)”

Method of submitting the application

"91. § (1) A voter with a Hungarian address can submit an application related to the central voter register

a) in person to the local election office of their place of residence or stay or

b) by mail, through the Client Gate or the official website of the elections to the local election office of their address."

"110. § (1) The provisions of Section 91 (1) and Section 92 (1) a) shall be applied to the applications referred to in Section 103, Section 250, Section 259, and Section 307/A."

Mandatory content elements of the application

92. § (1) The application related to the central voter register must contain

a) the voter's

aa) name,

ab) birth name,

ac) place of birth,

ad) mother's name,

ae) personal identifier,

(2) A voter who does not have a Hungarian address must provide, and a voter who has a Hungarian address may provide, their postal address, email address, or fax number to which the notification referred to in Section 95 (3) is requested to be sent.

Deadline for submitting the application

"250. § (2) The application for a transfer must be received by the local election office no later than the second day preceding the vote, after the election has been scheduled."

Adjudication of the application

"93. § (1) The election office can only approve an application related to the register if the data of the voter in the application match the data in the register of personal and address data of citizens and the data in the register of documents proving Hungarian citizenship."

"112. § (1) The application - with the application of the provisions of Section 93 (1) - shall be adjudicated by the election office to which the application was submitted."

Communication of the decision

"48. § (3) The decision - if it was not communicated according to paragraph (1) a) - must be sent by a postal service provider or delivered by other means to the person concerned on the working day following its adoption. The decision must be delivered as an official document within the country. The decision - in the absence of a different instruction from the citizen - must be sent to the notification address of the person concerned in the central voter register, or to their address if there is no such notification address."

"95. § (1) The election office decides on the rejection of an application referred to in Section 84, Section 85, Section 97 (1) a) and Section 334, and on the deletion referred to in Section 97 (1) b) and (2) b) by a resolution. The provisions of Section 46 shall be applied to the resolution.

(2) If the election office approves an application referred to in Section 84, Section 85, Section 97 (1) a) or Section 334, it notifies the applicant of its decision.

(3) The election office's resolution or other decision referred to in paragraph (2) must be communicated to the applicant present by handing over the decision. If the applicant is not present, the decision must be communicated - according to the applicant's instructions - by email, fax, or in the manner specified in Section 48 (3). If the election office communicates the decision to an applicant with a Hungarian address by email or fax, the decision must also be communicated in the manner specified in Section 48 (3)."

"116. § (2) If the election office approves an application referred to in Section 250, Section 259, or Section 307/A, it informs the voter by handing over or sending a notification. Other decisions of the election office related to the polling station register must be communicated to the applicant according to Section 95 (3)."

Withdrawal of the application

"250. § (5) A voter who has transferred can modify or withdraw their application for a transfer until 4 p.m. on the second day before the vote. The application must contain the data specified in Section 92 (1) a)."

Legal provisions taken into account during the interpretation:

Act C of 2012 on the Criminal Code

"219. § (1) Anyone who, in violation of the legal provisions on the protection or management of personal data, for the purpose of financial gain or causing significant prejudice to interests,

a) unlawfully manages personal data or manages it for a purpose other than the intended one, or

b) fails to take measures to ensure data security,

is punishable for a misdemeanor with imprisonment for up to one year.

(3) The punishment is imprisonment for up to two years if the abuse of personal data is committed with special data.

(4) The punishment for a felony is imprisonment for up to three years if the abuse of personal data is committed by a public official or by using a public mandate."

"350. § (1) Anyone who, during an election, referendum, or European citizens' initiative falling under the scope of the Act on Electoral Procedure or the Act on the Initiative of a Referendum, the European Citizens' Initiative, and the Referendum Procedure,

(…)

d) signs without authorization, provides false data,

e) hinders an authorized person in the election, referendum, referendum, or European citizens' initiative, or seeks to influence them with violence, threats, deception, or material benefits,

(…)

commits a felony and is punishable with imprisonment for up to three years."

Justification

According to Section 250 of the Ve., a voter who is in the territory of Hungary on the day of the vote but in a polling district different from their Hungarian address can submit an application for a transfer to the local election office of their address no later than 4 p.m. on the second day before the vote (in the case of the current parliamentary election, on Friday, April 4, 2014). If the election office approves the application for a transfer, the voter is deleted from the polling station register of their address and is simultaneously entered in the register of the designated polling station. The voter who has transferred can modify or withdraw their application for a transfer until the referenced deadline.

Section 91 of the Ve. regulates the method of submitting an application related to the central voter register, and this provision is also applicable to applications for a transfer based on Section 110 (1) of the Ve. Accordingly, the voter can submit their application, among other ways, through the official website of the elections (i.e., online), in addition to submitting it in person to the local election office of their place of residence or stay, by mail, or through the Client Gate.

In the case of submitting an application online without identification of the person and in the case of submitting an application by mail, the exclusion of abuse is served by the fact that, according to Section 93 (1) of the Ve., the application can only be accepted if the voter's data in the application match the data in the register of personal and address data of citizens, and according to Section 95 (3) of the Ve., the decision on the adjudication of the application must be sent to the voter's address.

II.

However, within the framework of online administration without personal identification, it cannot be ruled out with complete certainty that someone submits a fraudulent and bad-faith application related to the register on behalf of another voter using their data. This act could also meet the elements of several serious felonies defined in the special part of Act C of 2012 on the Criminal Code.

In order to ensure the guarantees of the right to vote as a fundamental civic right and to protect the purity of the election, the election bodies must strive to be able to effectively handle the problem and ensure the exercise of the voter's right to vote if the above-mentioned act occurs.

From the 7th day preceding the election of parliamentary representatives, the delivery of the decision on applications related to the polling station register by mail is not guaranteed for the applicant until the day of the vote, so it is extremely important to notify the citizen of the decision made on the application for a transfer in order for them to be able to take action to withdraw or modify the application for a transfer within the deadline specified in Section 250 (5) of the Ve. (i.e., in the case of the current parliamentary election, until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 4, 2014).

Based on the above, in order to enforce the fundamental principles of the electoral procedure, it is advisable for election offices to proceed as follows.

The local election office should ensure that the decision on the result of the transfer is delivered by other means specified in Section 48 (3), Section 95 (3), and Section 116 (2) of the Ve., such as by a short route (e.g., courier, official messenger, etc.) to the address of the affected voter, so that they can become aware of it even in the last few days before the election and can take action to withdraw or invalidate the application that may have been submitted fraudulently and in bad faith, by abusing their data.

The competent local election office must also ensure that the decision on the transfer made from the 7th day before the vote is available - with the applicant's name indicated, in a sealed envelope - to the minute-taker working next to the vote counting committee of the polling place before the transfer, so that the voter who appears on the day of the vote can be notified of the decision made on the application for a transfer.

According to the National Election Committee's position, in order to enforce the guarantees of the right to vote, to carry out the organizational tasks described above, to ensure the necessary technical background, i.e., to enforce the provisions of this Directive, it is justified for the President of the National Election Office to issue a direct instruction to the election offices within their competence as laid down in Section 71 of the Ve.

Budapest, 27 March 2014

Dr. András Patyi
President of the National Election Committee
elnöke

[1] Repealed by Directive 1/2021. NVB, Ineffective: from 4 November 2021