Repealed by Resolution 1/2007. (III. 19.) OVB

The National Election Committee, acting within its competence as laid down in Section 34 (2) a) of Act C of 1997 on Electoral Procedure (hereinafter: Ve.), issues the following

resolution

on the subject of the minority compensation list and the compensation list of a minority organization:

Chapter XIII of Act XX of 1949 on the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary states among the fundamental principles of elections, in Section 71 (1), that "members of the Parliament, as well as members of the local government representative body, furthermore the mayor and the metropolitan mayor of the capital are elected by voters on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, by direct and secret ballot."

Section 1 of Act LXIV of 1990 on the election of local government representatives and mayors (hereinafter: Övjt.) repeats the fundamental principles contained in the Constitution: "Suffrage is universal and equal, voting is direct and secret."

According to Section 29 (1) a) of the Övjt., "in a settlement with more than 10,000 inhabitants, a nominating organization may nominate a compensation list if it has nominated a candidate in at least one-quarter of the individual constituencies (Appendix 3). The number of candidates includes:
a) candidates nominated independently by the nominating organization concerned;..."

Section 44 (3) of the Övjt. contains the following provisions on the allocation of seats from the compensation list: "A compensation list receives seats in proportion to the fractional votes aggregated from the individual constituencies of the settlement. Fractional votes are votes cast for a candidate of a nominating organization in an individual constituency that did not result in a seat."

Sections 50 (1) and (3) of the Övjt. contain the rules for nominating a minority compensation list: "(1) In a mixed electoral system, all candidates who ran as either an independent minority candidate or a candidate of a minority nominating organization in an individual constituency must be included on a separate minority compensation list for each minority. Minority nominating organizations or minority candidates may also nominate a joint compensation list."
"(3) An individual constituency minority candidate may waive their candidacy on the minority compensation list in writing."

Section 3 c) and d) of the Ve. states among the fundamental principles of the electoral procedure that "in applying the rules of the electoral procedure, the participants in the election must give effect to the following fundamental principles:
c) equal opportunities between candidates and nominating organizations,
d) good faith and proper exercise of rights,..."

From the constitutional fundamental principle of equal suffrage and the principle of equal opportunities between candidates and nominating organizations, it follows that a candidate cannot form the basis for two lists, and a vote cast for one candidate cannot be transferred to two different compensation lists (the compensation list nominated by the minority organization and the minority compensation list).

Therefore, a minority nominating organization may only nominate its "own" compensation list based on the candidates it has nominated in a sufficient number of individual constituencies if those candidates waive their candidacy on the minority compensation list. The rules for the allocation of seats cited above can only be applied if this interpretation is accepted.


Budapest, August 8, 2002.

Dr. Lajos Ficzere
President of the National Election Committee
elnöke