The condition for submitting a list is gathering 20,000 voters’ valid recommendation certified by their signatures..

Requesting and receiving recommendation sheets and collecting recommendations

Recommendation can be collected on a recommendation sheet requested from the National Election Office (NEO). Only nominating organizations, which has been officially registered by the National Election Commission following the announcement of the election, are eligible to request recommendation sheets. The request for the sheets is made on the A3 form as defined by the law.

Based on the preliminary requests, the NEO will provide the recommendation sheets no earlier than the 50th day before the election, between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM.

If the nominating organization deems that the previously requested sheets are insufficient to collect the required 20,000 valid recommendations, it may request additional sheets until the deadline for submitting the list, i.e., by 4:00 PM on the 37th day before the election.

The NEO will list the names of all nominating organizations that are part of a joint list on the recommendation sheets, and each sheet will be assigned a unique identifier.

Upon receipt of the recommendation sheets, the NEO will issue a receipt. Copying recommendation sheets, even when they are not yet filled in, is strictly prohibited!

For the election of Members of the European Parliament, Hungarian citizens who reside in Hungary but do not have a registered address and those Hungarians who live outside the European Union are also eligible to vote and recommend candidates. Therefore, separate recommendation sheets are used to gather recommendations from voters who have a Hungarian address and personal identification number, and from those who do not.

Voters residing in Hungary with a Hungarian address and personal identification number must provide their name, personal identification number, and Hungarian address on the recommendation sheet and sign it themselves. Voters without a Hungarian address must provide their name, the number of a Hungarian ID card, passport, or driving license, and their date of birth, and must also sign the sheet. In both cases, the voter’s signature is essential.

A voter can recommend multiple lists, but can only support one list with a single recommendation.

Recommendations may be collected anywhere without harassment, except for the following places:

• At the workplace of the person gathering the recommendations during working hours,
• At the workplace of the voter recommending a candidate during working hours,
• While fulfilling work obligations stemming from an employment or similar legal relationship of the person gathering recommendations,
• While fulfilling the work obligations stemming from an employment or similar legal relationship of the voter recommending a candidate ,
• From members of the Hungarian Armed Forces or a central government employee at their workplace or while fulfilling their duties,
• On public transportation,
• In the offices of state, local, and national minority self-government bodies,in higher education and public education institutions,
• in healthcare service facilities,
• on private property open to the public without prior written consent of the owner.
• Any recommendations collected in violation of these rules are invalid.

It is prohibited to offer or promise any benefits or advantages in exchange for a recommendation.

The name, personal identification number, or the number of the person’s ID card/passport/driving license, as well as the signature, must be provided on the recommendation sheet. It is crucial that nominating organizations ensure that the person collecting the recommendations provides accurate and complete information on the form. If the data provided by the person who gathers recommendations are incomplete or incorrect (e.g., if the personal ID number is mistyped or the given name differs from the birth name), it could invalidate all the recommendations on the form.

A party can submit a list if it has gathered at least 20,000 valid recommendations from voters.

A party may participate in the submission of only one independent or joint list.

The list may contain up to three times as many candidates as the number of mandates available for the list, i.e., a maximum of 63 candidates.

The candidates on the list are listed in the order determined by the party, and this order cannot be modified after the list is submitted. The same candidate can only appear on one party’s list.

Submission of the List

The list, along with the recommendation sheets, must be submitted to the National Election Commission (address: 1054 Budapest, Alkotmány Street 3.) by 4:00 PM on the 37th day before the election.

For submitting the list, the L3 form is used, while for providing the data of candidates on the list, Hungarian candidates use the SZ2 form, and non-Hungarian candidates use the SZ3 form.

Returning the Recommendation Sheets

All the recommendation forms requested must be returned to the National Election Office by 4:00 PM on the 37th day before the election (the deadline for submitting the list). Any recommendation sheet that does not contain a recommendation must be returned by 4:00 PM on the 36th day before the election. A recommendation sheet is considered empty if it contains no data. A recommendation sheet on which the entered data has been crossed out, erased, or made illegible by correction fluid or other means cannot be considered a blank sheet.

Anyone can submit the forms to the National Election Office without a power of attorney. If the obligation to return the forms is not fulfilled, the National Election Commission must impose a fine. The fine is 1,000 HUF for each missing recommendation sheet. A fine imposed by the election commission shall be borne by the nominating organization that submitted the list in the case of an independent list, and, in the case of a joint list, jointly and severally by all nominating organizations participating in the submission of the list.

There is no possibility of exemption from this obligation, and the fine must be paid even if the recommendation sheets were lost or destroyed due to reasons beyond the control of the nominating organization.

However, no fine can be imposed for recommendation sheets that are submitted after the deadline for the list submission, but before the last possible day to submit the recommendation sheet, without any recommendations.

Verification of Recommendations

The National Election Office will verify the submitted recommendations within 3 days of the submission of the list.

The representative of the nominating organization may be present during the verification process but cannot interfere with it. Additionally, if requested, the National Election Office will inform the nominating organization about the results of the verification.

Registration of the List

The National Election Commission will register the list that meets the legal requirements no later than 4 days after the submission.

The National Election Commission will refuse to register the candidate or remove him / her from the list if the / she has been registered as a candidate in another European Union member state or if he / she is not eligible to vote according to the competent authorities in his / her country of citizenship.

List or Candidate Disqualification

A registered list is disqualified if:

• The nominating organization withdraws the list.
• All candidates on the list are disqualified before the start of the election.
• The National Election Office removes the nominating organization, or all nominating organizations involved in a joint list, from the register of nominating organizations, candidates, and lists before the election starts.

Candidate on the list are disqualified if:

• They are removed from the central electoral register before the start of the election.
• They lose their right to be elected.
• The nominating organization that nominated them, or all nominating organizations in a joint list, is removed from the register before the election begins.
• They submit a written resignation by 4:00 PM on the second day before the election, via electronic means after electronic identification or in person to the election office or by a proxy.

If a candidate is disqualified, the next candidate on the list will take his / her place. No new candidates can be added to the submitted list.

The disqualified list or candidate will be removed from the register of nominating organizations, candidates, and lists, as well as from the ballot papers.