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 registration of candidates and lists of nominating organizations that qualify as public benefit organizations:

Pursuant to Section 149 g) of the Ve., a nominating organization may be a party registered under Act XXXIII of 1989 on the operation and management of parties, or a social organization registered under Act II of 1989 on the right of association.

According to Section 55 (2) of the Ve., the competent election committee shall register every nominating organization, candidate, or list that meets the legal conditions within 2 days of its notification. According to Section 56 (3), the election committee shall refuse to register a list if the nomination does not meet the legal conditions.

Pursuant to Section 59 (4) of the Ve., the election committee may verify the right of the nominating organization to nominate in the register of social organizations registered by the court.

According to Section 2 (1) of Act CLVI of 1997 on public benefit organizations (hereinafter: Khsz.), a social organization registered in Hungary may be qualified as a public benefit organization, with the exception of insurance associations, political parties, and employer and employee interest representation organizations. According to Section 4 (1) d) of the Khsz., the founding document of the organization must state that the organization does not engage in direct political activity, its organization is independent of parties, and it does not provide them with financial support. Also, according to Section 26 d) of the Khsz., for the purposes of the act, direct political activity is: party political activity, as well as nominating candidates in parliamentary, county, or capital municipal elections.

Section 22 (4) and Section 23 of the Khsz. state that a public benefit organization is obliged to request the cancellation of its public benefit status or its reclassification to a lower public benefit level within 60 days if its operation does not comply with the conditions set out in Sections 4-5 of this Act, or the prosecutor may propose the cancellation of the public benefit status or the reclassification to a lower public benefit level with the court competent for the registration of public benefit status if the operation and use of assets of the public benefit organization do not comply with the provisions contained in this Act, in the founding document, or in the internal regulations drawn up on the basis thereof, and the organization does not change this even after the prosecutor's request.

The National Election Committee establishes that the restrictions contained in the Khsz. do not mean that nominating organizations that qualify as public benefit organizations may not nominate candidates and lists in county and capital municipal elections, given that the nomination of candidates and lists is done in accordance with the relevant provisions of the electoral legislation. A violation of the restrictions contained in the Khsz. entails the legal consequences under the Khsz.

Dr. Lajos Ficzere

President of the National Election Committee

* Text established by Resolution 5/2010 OVB