European Parliamentary Elections
European Parliamentary Elections
In the European Parliamentary Elections, citizens of EU member states elect representatives to one of the European Union’s main institutions, the European Parliament, with the aim of representing the interests of EU citizens at the European level.
European Parliamentary elections are held every five years, within a specified period throughout Europe. In Hungary, the exact date of the elections is set by the President of the Republic. The last European Parliamentary elections were held between Jun 6 and 9, 2024 in the member states of the Union, and in accordance with common principles, they were held in Hungary on June 9. The conduct of the elections is the responsibility of each country, with the proviso that countries must apply common principles:
- the elections last four days, from Thursday to Sunday,
- the number of MEPs elected from a political party is proportional to the number of votes the party list receives,
- based on one of the rights of European citizenship, EU citizens residing in another member state can vote (active voting rights) and run for office (passive voting right) in the EU country where they live,
- each citizen can only vote once.
In Hungary, the substantive legal rules governing elections are stipulated in Act CXIII of 2003 on the election of the Members of the European Parliament, which defines the elements of the electoral system, the conditions for drawing up lists, and the rules for determining the results.
Right to vote
In Hungary, the following persons are eligible to vote in European Parliamentary elections
- those who have reached the age of 18 by the date of the election or who are of legal age because of being married before reaching the age of 18,
- Hungarian or EU citizens residing in Hungary (in case of EU citizens, if they make a declaration that they wish to exercise their right to vote in Hungary and prove that they are resident in Hungary; the necessary application can be submitted here ),
- is a Hungarian citizen who is not resident in Hungary or in the European Union (registration is required),
- has not been disenfranchised from voting by a final court decision.
You can read more about the additional rules governing participation in the election of the Members of the European Parliament here.
Number of MEPs
The number of representatives elected from each EU country is agreed upon before each election and is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, which means that an MEP from a larger country represents more people than an MEP from a smaller country.
The total number of MEPs is set to no more than 750 + 1 (the President).
In the last election in 2024, 720 MEPs were elected, 15 more than in the election prior to 2024. In Hungary, 21 MEPs were elected in the 2024 election, the same number as in the 2019 election.
Election of representatives to political groups
When electing representatives to the European Parliament, the electoral system of each member state must ensure proportional representation in accordance with EU law, which means that the number of representatives elected from each party depends on the proportion of votes obtained by that party.
The election of Hungarian representatives to the European Parliament takes place under a proportional system, by voting for a list, in which voters can vote for one list. Votes can be cast for parties that obtain the required number of valid recommendations by the deadline specified by law.
Once MEPs have been elected, most of them join a transnational political group. MEPs are therefore in a group not on the basis of their nationality, but on the basis of common political ideas, while those who do not join a political group are independent MEPs. At least 23 members, who are representing at least one quarter of the Member States, are required to form a political group. Members may belong to only one political group at a time. There are currently seven political groups in the European Parliament.
Constituency
The territory of Hungary constitutes a single constituency, which means that everyone can cast their vote for the same lists.
List submission
Lists may be submitted by parties registered in Hungary that are legally listed in the court registry of civil organizations at the time of the election. Parties intending to submit a list for election must register as nominating organizations at the National Election Commission or any regional election commission after the election has been announced. A party may submit a list if it collects at least 20,000 recommendations. Parties may submit an independent or a joint list. A voter may recommend more than one list but can only recommend the same list once. A person may only accept nomination on one list.
Further information on registering as a nominating organization can be found here.
Further information on submitting a list can be found here.
Establishing the results
The threshold for obtaining a mandate
The Hungarian electoral system applies a 5% threshold. The threshold is not affected by the number of parties participating in the list. Based on the total number of valid votes cast for the lists, it is determined which lists have received less than 5% of the total number of votes. These lists are not eligible for seats.
Distribution of mandates
Mandates shall be distributed among the lists that have reached the threshold for obtaining seats using the d'Hondt method:
- a table must be drawn up, with the first row containing the number of votes cast for each list
- a column of numbers must be created under the votes for each list, with the first number being half of the votes for that list, the next number being a third, a quarter, etc.
- the largest number in the table must be found; the list in whose column this number is found receives one seat; then the next largest number must be found; the list in whose column this number is found receives one seat; this procedure is continued until all seats have been allocated. If the last mandate to be allocated would be awarded to more than one list due to the next highest number being identical, the mandates shall be allocated in the order determined by a drawing lots conducted in advance by the National Election Commission.
Candidates on the list obtain seats in the order determined in advance by the nominating organization; voters cannot influence this order with their votes (closed list).
Further information about the European elections can be found here.
Further information about the European elections in Hungary can be found here.